Abstract
This paper features one gay parent activist in the complex social milieu of his child’s school and his community, his actions meeting both resistance and concurrence as a larger movement operated locally and nationally to make schooling more accepting of and acceptable to gays and lesbians. The paper traces this man’s parenting processes and their effect on the schooling of many children, not only his own, and then contrasts his voice with the reluctant, often denying, and finally acquiescent voices of school people. The narrative captures the essence of cultural and identity change as well as individual and institutional processes. Turning to theory, I use postmodern dilemmas to define the episodic movements of the groups and the multipositionality of the individuals involved. Agency, social roles, and collaborative and individual activity illuminate the agenda of social groups effectively working with and through this parent to meet political goals for students.
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The author wishes to thank anonymous reviewers for critiques as well as Linda Meixner for editorial suggestions and Tricia Niesz for a review of the final manuscript.
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Kroeger, J. Stretching performances in education: the impact of gay parenting and activism on identity and school change. J Educ Change 7, 319–337 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-006-9000-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-006-9000-z