Multiple and Simultaneous Identities in LGBTQ Families and Experiences at School

• In Event: 47.095 - MTCC Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: 47.095-2 - Expanding Scholarly Discourses on Family Engagement

Abstract

The goal of this paper to report on the findings of a 6-year interview study with 36 LGBTQ (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and queer) families from Ontario, Canada, about the issues they experience at school and how they work with teachers and principals to create safer and more respectful learning environments for their children. Families report that the multiple and simultaneous identities they bring to school impact on their experiences of at school. For example, a Chicana lesbian mother talked about how her masculine gender performance had outed her four-year daughter as a child from a LGBTQ family although she wanted the decision to come out or not to be her daughter’s decision.

Authors

• Tara Goldstein, OISE/University of Toronto

• Pamela Baer, Brock University

• Austen Koecher, University of Toronto

• benjamin lee hicks, University of Toronto

• Kate Reid, University of Toronto

• Edil Ga'al, University of Toronto

• Yasmin Owis, University of Toronto