Gay-Straight Alliances' Queer Pedagogical Role in Canadian Public and Catholic High Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Considering School Practices and Student Identities in Particular National Contexts

Abstract

This paper investigates the roles and purposes of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and it explores how club members are engaging in anti-homophobic/anti-transphobic education in Canadian public and Catholic high schools. Queer theoretical perspectives are employed to interrogate the (hetero/cis)normative foundation of schooling and address sexual/gender oppression in terms of deconstructing normalcy and heterosexual/cisgender privilege. A multiple case study was facilitated with four cases - two Ontario public school GSAs and two Ontario Catholic school GSAs. Data, in the forms of participant observation, 19 semi-structured interviews with students and advisors, semi-structured student diaries, and visual artifacts were collected and are currently being analyzed using first and second cycle coding methods (Saldana, 2013).

Author

• Alicia Anne Lapointe, The University of Western Ontario