The Pathologizing and Exclusionary Tactics of LGBTQ+ Identities: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Florida Middle School English Curricula

• In Event: Literacy Landscapes of Identity: Speculation, Queerness, and the Deconstruction of Social Norms

Abstract

Through a Critical Discourse Analysis of middle school English texts in Florida public schools, this research explored how distorted discourses about LGBTQ+ communities are perpetuated through curriculum and the ways LGBTQIA+ students’ identity are suppressed. The findings revealed a clear absence of LGBTQ or gay experiences in the textbooks and heteronormative structures permeating some of the texts, asserting their normalcy in literature and society. Strategies of including counternarratives from LGBTQ+ students into school curriculum are discussed.

Authors

• Kristopher Miguel, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Katrina Liu, University of Nevada, Las Vegas