Advocating for LGBTQ+ Students in Bilingual Classrooms: Creating Solidarity and Building Coalitions Across Communities

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 7:45 am
  In Poster Session: Innovating Curricular Designs for Bilingual Teacher Education in the US: Programs, Policies and Partnerships

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigates the complex intersections between bilingual teacher education and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ students, with particular emphasis on the lived experiences of queer and trans youth within multilingual and multicultural educational settings. The research centers on examining the educational practices, discursive constructions, and teacher preparation curricular frameworks that shape how queer and trans students are recognized, supported, or systematically excluded in bilingual learning environments. The study highlights the persistent inadequacies within current teacher education programs, which frequently lack the conceptual and pedagogical tools necessary to address the multifaceted identities of LGBTQ+ students, particularly those who simultaneously navigate linguistic, cultural, racial, and migratory forms of marginalization.
Theoretical Framework: The study is grounded in a critical theoretical framework that draws on queer theory, critical pedagogy, bilingual education, and intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2013; García & Wei, 2014; Staley & Leonardi, 2021). These perspectives are mobilized to propose a transformative approach to bilingual teacher education, not only to affirms diverse gender and sexual identities but to actively disrupt CIS heteronormative and monolingual norms that are often reinforced through traditional teacher education programs.
Methods: Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative design rooted in critical interpretive inquiry. It consists of an extensive literature review and theoretical synthesis of scholarly texts in the fields of bilingual education, queer and trans studies, and teacher education. The data corpus includes case studies, institutional reports, firsthand testimonies from educators and students, and bilingual curricular materials. These sources are analyzed through a lens of critical discourse and content analysis to identify both systemic exclusions and innovative practices that support LGBTQ+ inclusion in bilingual settings.
Findings: Key findings point to an alarming lack of LGBTQ+ inclusive training in bilingual teacher education programs, leaving educators underprepared to address issues of gender and sexuality in culturally and linguistically responsive ways. The analysis reveals a pressing need to integrate queer and trans pedagogies, such as queer linguistics and culturally sustaining teaching practices, to validate the full identities of students in both their home languages and their expressions of gender and sexuality. Furthermore, the study identifies strategic interventions, such as teacher self-reflection, inclusive curricular design, and coalition-building across communities, as central to transforming bilingual classrooms into truly affirming spaces.
Significance: The scholarly significance of this work lies in its contribution to bridging a critical gap in the literature on curriculum designs for bilingual teacher education, which has yet to adequately address how sexual and gender diversity intersects with bilingual teacher education. By offering practical strategies and a clear theoretical roadmap, this study equips educators, policymakers, and researchers with the tools to create liberatory bilingual learning curricula that reflect the realities of queer and trans students, particularly those from immigrant and racialized communities. In the face of growing political and institutional hostility toward LGBTQ+ identities, the study underscores the urgent role that bilingual teacher education can play in fostering advocacy, solidarity, and transformative justice in schools.

Authors

• Carol Brochin, University of Arizona

• Anthony Diaz-Vazquez, University of Arizona

• Em Bowen, University of Arizona