Advancing Research on LGBTI/SOGIE Issues in International and Comparative Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Thurseday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: New and emerging directions in research on SOGIE issues in education

Proposal

In recent years, we have seen increasing international attention to the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) students in schools (these themes are also referred to as Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression—SOGIE—issues). However, there continues to be a paucity of research on LGBTI students globally, particularly in developing countries. UNESCO recently completed the first-ever international consultation on homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools and released two related publications: "Review of Homophobic Bullying in Educational Institutions" and "Education Sector Responses to Homophobic Bullying". Findings from UNESCO's international consultation suggest that in many countries, civil society organizations have played an important role in addressing homophobic bullying by documenting and providing evidence on the extent of the problem.

Increasing numbers of NGOs and multilateral organizations are also focusing on SOGIE/ LGBTI experiences outside of the classroom. Scholars and activists are beginning to look more closely at the connections between global human rights movements and SOGIE rights movements, at the plight of LGBTI refugees, and at how the treatment of LGBTI peoples is influenced by geopolitical power dynamics.

In 2018, several members of CIES launched the SOGIE SIG, in order to encourage research and collaboration and raise awareness about this important research topic. Members of CIES have coordinated panels related to LGBTI issues since 2008, and we see an increasing interest by scholars and practitioners alike. In the spirit of this year’s theme of Education for Sustainability, we propose this roundtable to discuss the current status and future directions of research on SOGIE/LGBTI youth in international contexts. In this interactive session we will discuss the following questions: What are the challenges and opportunities for scholarship on this issue? How could we better situate research on SOGIE/ LGBTI issues in the CIE field and in mainstream journals? We envision this session to allow for discussion and networking. Rather than including 3-4 individual papers, each participant will be invited to share perspectives on the topic. After brief statements by attendees we will engage in group discussion.

Authors

• Oren Pizmony-Levy, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Naomi A Moland, New York University