"Camaraderie With the Fringes": Lesbian and Gay Teachers' Experiences With Sexual Identity at School

• In Event: Exploring Dimensions of Teacher Stress Using Diverse Methodologies

Abstract

Theoretical Framework: There have been a number of qualitative inquires into gay and lesbian individuals who teach in K-12 settings. Researchers have found that most LG teachers are not completely open about their sexual orientation at school (Endo, Reece-Miller, & Santavicca, 2010; Rudoe, 2010) and that many face discrimination as a result of their orientation or perceived orientation (Endo et al., 2010; Hooker, 2010). Rudoe (2010) found that lesbian teachers felt the need to be respected and held to a higher standard because of their sexual orientation, while Jackson (2007) found that many LG teachers use their identity as sexual minority individuals in their work.

Objectives: The current study sought to investigate LG teachers’ experiences with sexual identity in their school environments by answering the following research question: how do LG teachers make meaning of their sexual identity at school?

Methods: Snowballing procedures (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003) were used to recruit 11 LG K-12 teachers who had taught between 2 and 28 years, primarily identified as white (9 out of 11) and female (7 out of 11), were between 24 and 50 years old, taught a range of content areas, and were geographically diverse. Participants took part in an initial one- to two-hour interview and a short follow-up interview.

Data A team of four researchers with different experience with teaching and the LG community analyzed the data. All members are white females; two are straight and two are gay. Two are former teachers. Three are doctoral students. We analyzed the interviews following the guidelines of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) (Hill, Thompson & Williams, 1997). We first developed larger topics of the interviews, and then coded all of the interviews. Each team member coded interviews individually before meeting to reach consensus.

Results: Results indicated that LG teachers in our study dealt with troubling experiences, but also felt their sexual identity helped them in their role as teachers. For example, three teachers spontaneously mentioned that they had no legal job protections, which they saw as a hindrance, and six teachers had a desire for more openness about their sexual orientation at school. On the other hand, ten teachers mentioned that they had a heightened awareness of what it felt like to be different or bullied. They felt uniquely qualified to help those students who feel like outsiders. Six teachers also mentioned that they worked to ensure that their classroom was an open and inclusive place where all students felt welcome.

Significance America’s public schools are arguably some of the most homophobic work environments (DeLeon & Brunner, 2013), and even within those environments our participants demonstrated how their sexual orientation helped them be more empathic and effective teachers. The full paper will address the full results and implications.

Authors

• Sally Lineback, The University of Texas - Austin

• Molly Allender, The University of Texas - Austin

• Rachel E. Gaines, The University of Texas - Austin

• Christopher J. Mccarthy, The University of Texas - Austin

• Andrea Butler