Abstract
This paper explores the connections between two common circulating discourses about queer youth and the ways that these discourses are wielded in the name of creating safe spaces for queer youth. First, the discourse of innocence is still applied to queer youth, however, the application has shifted to focus largely on the ways that queer youth are innocent victims in a society structured around heteronormativity. Second, a common response to this innocent victim discourse has been to position queer youth within a discourse of activist educators. “Discourses not only represent the world as it is (or rather is seen to be), they are also projective, imaginaries, representing possible worlds which are different from the actual world, and tied into projects to change the world in particular directions” (Fairclough 2003, p. 24). Gay Straight Alliances are one example; GSAs have sprung up across the country because adults, queer adults and allies in particular, have employed both of these discourses in policy decisions and discussions regarding queer students. This paper will highlight some of the ways the discourses of innocent victims and activist educators have been used in the GSA movement. The paper will apply a queer theory lens to the relationship between these discourses and the GSAs to tease out the ways that they work to simultaneously support queer students and serve to limit how queer students and their schools are imagined. The paper will conclude with a discussion of some possibilities for reworking, rupturing, or transforming these discourses so that schools, as well as the queer students and teachers within them, might be better served.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
At the time my family consisted of my partner and our young son—we were read and referred to as a “lesbian family” or “the two-mom family.”
References
Blount, J. M., & Anahita, S. (2004). The historical regulation of sexuality and gender of students and teachers: An intertwined legacy. In M. L. Rasmussen, E. Rofes, & S. Talburt (Eds.), Youth and sexualities: Pleasure, subversion, and insubordination in and out of schools (pp. 63–84). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Britzman, D. P. (2000). Precocious Education. In S. Talburt & S. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Thinking queer: Sexuality, culture and education (pp. 33–60). New York: Peter Lang.
Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.
Cooper-Nicols, M., & Bowleg, L. (2010). “My voice is being heard”: Exploring the experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth in schools. In C. C. Bertram, M. S. Crowley, & S. G. Massey (Eds.), Beyond progress and marginalization: LGBTQ youth in educational contexts. New York: Peter Lang.
D’Augelli, A. R. (1996). Enhancing the development of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths. In E. D. Rothblum & L. A. Bond (Eds.), Preventing heterosexism and homophobia (pp. 124–150). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. New York: Routledge.
Friend, R. A. (1993). Choices, not closets: Heterosexism and homophobia in schools. In L. Weis & M. Fine (Eds.), Beyond silenced voices: Class, race, and gender in United States schools (pp. 209–235). New York: State University of New York Press.
GLSEN. (2008). 2007 National school climate survey: Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students harassed. Retrieved 11 November 2009, from http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/2340.html?state=research&type=research.
Griffin, P., Lee, C., Waugh, J., & Beyer, C. (2004). Describing roles that gay-straight alliances play in schools: From individual support to school change. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Issues in Education, 1(3), 7–22.
Grossberg, L. (2005). Caught in the crossfire: kids, politics, and America’s future. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
Kilman, C. (2007). This is why we need a GSA. Teaching Tolerance (31): 30–37.
Mayo, C. (2004). The tolerance that dare not speak its name. In M. Boler (Ed.), Democratic dialogue in education: Troubling speech, disturbing silence (pp. 33–47). New York: Peter Lang.
Mayo, C. (2006). Pushing the limits of liberalism: Queerness, children, and the future. Educational Theory, 56(4), 469–487.
Mayo, C. (2007). A queer sense of space. Paper presented at the Third International Qualitative Inquiry Congress.
Miceli, M. (2005). Standing out, standing together: The social and political impact of gay-straight alliances. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Morris, M. (2000). Dante’s left foot kicks queer theory into gear. In S. Talburt & S. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Thinking queer: Sexuality, culture and education (pp. 15–32). New York: Peter Lang.
Reyes, E.d. l. (2002). Moving from the field of terror to the field of hope: Project 10 East, a gay-striaght alliance. In E. d. l. Reyes & P. Gozemba (Eds.), Pockets of hope. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
Rofes, E. (2005). A radical rethinking of sexuality & schooling: Status quo or status queer?. MD: Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Pulishers, Inc.
Russell, S. T. (2002). Queer in America: Citizenship for sexual minority youth. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 258–263.
Sedgwick, E. K. (1990). Epistemology of the closet. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Talburt, S. (2004). Intelligibility and narrating queer youth. In M. L. Rasmussen, E. Rofes, & S. Talburt (Eds.), Youth and sexualities: Pleasure, subversion, and insubordination in and out of schools (pp. 17–39). New York: Palgrave McMillan.
Talburt, S., Rofes, E., & Rasmussen, M. L. (2004). Introduction: Transforming discourses of queer youth and educational practices surrounding gender, sexuality and youth. In M. L. Rasmussen, E. Rofes, & S. Talburt (Eds.), Youth and sexualities: Pleasure, subversion, and insubordination in and out of schools (pp. 1–13). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Thompson, A. (1998). The adult and the curriculum. Paper presented at the Philosophy of Education Society.
Unks, G. (2003). Thinking about the gay teen. In A. Darder, M. Baltodano, & R. D. Torres (Eds.), The critical pedagogy reader (pp. 322–330). New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hackford-Peer, K. In the Name of Safety: Discursive Positionings of Queer Youth. Stud Philos Educ 29, 541–556 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-010-9197-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-010-9197-4