Resistance "Within the Terms of the Law": Localized Responses to Anti-LGBTQ+ Governance in Schools

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Trans Disciplinary Approaches to Improving Queer, Trans Climate (Table 18)

Abstract

This paper provides examples of how local stakeholders respond to recent anti-LGBTQ+ educational legislation. We draw from a queer theoretical understanding of resistance that calls back to the early Queer Liberation Movement, with particular attention to the Black and Brown leadership in this resistance, to conceptualize participants’ “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!” resiliency. In doing so, we hope to inspire the strength in folks having to contend with anti-LGBTQ+ policies in their school communities to figuratively “throw bricks” at laws that attempt to erase us in order to maintain and/or establish LGBTQ+ affirming spaces. Our findings reveal the tactical and strategic responses to legislation that emphasize the collective feeling of solidarity and reinvigoration for this fight.

Authors

• Bryan J. Duarte, Purdue University

• Sarah Simi Cohen, University of Texas at Austin