Introduction: Transforming Discourses of Queer Youth and Educational Practices Surrounding Gender, Sexuality, and Youth

Abstract

This book is an intervention into the ways we conceptualize, represent, and work with all young people, but especially with queer youth. At a moment in which some argue that issues of access to public education and safety in peer groups will be the next major civil rights struggle facing schools in the West, we put forward this book as a strategic intervention aimed at altering the very premises that guide the actions of teachers, counselors, youth workers, and researchers. As school systems address bullying, harassment, and legal threats for failing to provide equal educational access, an entire army of professionals is being marshaled to create effective responses to newly identified “problems” related to gender, sexuality, schooling, and youth cultures. The editors of this volume have grave concerns about a range of policies and activities that are emerging internationally and that are intended to “protect” queer youth, create “safe” school cultures, and effectively divide “queer youth” from “straight youth.” In this context we deploy the term “queer” to refer to individuals and communities of young people who may identify themselves as not straight.