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School Psyched
LGBTQ Youth in Schools
Annotated Bibliography

1. Donovan, C., & Hester, M. (2008). 'Because she was my first girlfriend, I didn't know
any different': Making the case for mainstreaming same-sex sex/relationship education.
Sex Education, 8(3), 277-287. doi:10.1080/14681810802218155
This article presents the case for same-sex relationships to be included in sex and
relationship education in schools. Research on sex education and domestic violence prevention
for schools has highlighted issues of gender, power, the importance of understanding context in
providing skills and knowledge for safer sex and non-abusive relationships. Four themes arose
from the qualitative data that provide a rationale for the provision of sex and relationship
education to these young people: first same sex relationships as an affirmation of identity; and
lack of knowledge about what to expect in same-sex relationships; of embeddedness in lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer friendship networks; and of resources to seek help. The
article provides ways to include inclusive relationships in sex education.
2. Fulcher, M. (2014). Teaching the rainbow: A guide to including gender and sexual
diversity in school curriculum and culture. Psychology of sexual orientation and gender
diversity, 1(2), 196-197. doi:10.1037/sgd0000036
This article points to the heteronormative structure of curriculum, traditions, and
organization that highlight heterosexuality throughout childrens days. Cherished school
traditions are places where gender and sexuality are highlighted but not noticed until a someone
breaks the heteronormative expectations. Most schools missions include language about

nurturing the whole child, safety for every child, and providing all children with an enriching
learning environment. Bryan reminds us that the responsibility for protecting children is more
than physical safety. To learn and thrive students need to be seen and recognized as themselves
and to fit into the social landscape of their school.
3. Gleich, P. K. (2015). Review of sexuality in school: The limits of education. Sociological
Inquiry, 85(4), 654-657. doi:10.1111/soin.12090
This article offers examples of best practices to reshape and expand long-held views of
sex and sexuality and to acknowledge the central position of sexuality, as well as the role of
family and family messages in the maturation of childrens sexuality. The article suggests that for
an educational curriculum to be more inclusive of differences, those who create the curriculum
must reect, write, and act from a more honest and accepting view of their own sexuality, and
recognize that in creating hospitality in education.
4. Ollis, D. (2010). 'I haven't changed bigots but ': Reflections on the impact of teacher
professional learning in sexuality education. Sex Education, 10(2), 217-230.
doi:10.1080/14681811003666523
This article reports on a study examined the factors and conditions that encourage and
influence secondary school health education teachers to include and afrm gender and sexual
diversity in their teaching. The study found that whilst there was a range of personal and
structural barriers inhibiting change, professional development and access to teaching and
learning resources could indeed impact positively on teachers willingness and ability to include
and afrm diverse sexualities in their health education programs. The article also discusses the

benefits of professional learning on educators attitudes towards gender inclusiveness leading to

a more welcoming environment to diversity.
5. Payne, E., & Smith, M. (2014). The big freak out: educator fear in response to the
presence of transgender elementary school students. Journal of homosexuality, 61(3),
399-418. doi:10.1080/00918369.2013.842430
School professionals who have worked with transgender children were interviewed
about their experience with these students, perceptions of their schools success in supporting
them, and recommendations for information and resources needed by schools to provide support.
In the absence of meaningful knowledge about gender identity, gender variance, or transgender
identity, educators framed the presence of a transgender child as a crisis in which the order and
civility of the school was being threatened. Findings indicate that fear and anxiety are common
educator responses to the presence of a transgender child and the disruption of the gender binary,
and these emotions are limiting the possibilities for schools to afrm transgender identity.
6. Peter, T., Taylor, C., & Campbell, C., (2016) You can't breakwhen you're already
broken: The importance of school climate to suicidality among LGBTQ youth, Journal
of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 20(3), 195-213, doi: 10.1080/19359705.2016.1171188
The goal of the article was to examine the link between suicidality and school climate
within a theoretically informed framework and a mixed methods approach. Qualitative and
quantitative findings are presented using data from more than 3,700 secondary students from the
National Climate Survey of Homophobia and Transphobia in Canadian Schools. The findings
show that even modest efforts to shift the balance of heteronormative discourse on behalf of
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) students can have profound

effects on the experiences and perceptions of sexual and gender minority youth and reducing
incidents of suicidality among LGBTQ youth. Similarly, U.S. studies have shown that LGBTQ
students in schools with comprehensive safe school policies that explicitly address homophobia
report lower levels of harassment and victimization, more staff intervention, and more
willingness to report harassment and assault to school staff member.
7. Preston, M., (2016) They're just not mature right now: teachers' complicated
perceptions of gender and anti-queer bullying, Sex Education, 16:1, 22-34, DOI:
10.1080/14681811.2015.1019665
This article considers the ways in which sexuality education teachers conceptualize
gender and anti-queer bullying to explore the ways in which teachers understand their own role
in the systems of power that lead to gender policing and anti-queer bullying. The study nds that
teachers notions of gender are often linked to essentialist and stereotypical notions of sex and
that their beliefs about anti-queer bullying reinforce problematic discourses that dismiss bullying
as immature and silence queer potentials for young people. The article suggests reframing
bullying to incorporate an understanding of the ways in which school culture encompasses
systemic modes of power and oppression, particularly gendered hierarchies, that anti-queer
bullying articulates and reproduces.
8. Rollins, J. (2012). Review of the right to be out: sexual orientation and gender identity in
America's public schools. Law & Society Review, 46(4), 940-942. doi:10.1111/j.1540583.2012.00529
This article brings the homophobic and transphobic climate of schools to the surface. It
discussed the prevalence of bullying aimed at the LGBTQ community in schools by students,

teachers, and principles themselves. The bullying this group of youth experiences results in
depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even suicide. The article calls for
the need of K-12 teachers and administrators to have mandated diversity training that addresses
LGBTIQ people and their needs, as well as the consequences are for promoting homophobia and
transphobia in public schools.
9. Schmidt, S., Wandersman, A., & Hills, K. (2015) Evidence-Based Sexuality Education
Programs in Schools: Do They Align with the National Sexuality Education Standards?,
American Journal of Sexuality Education, 10(3), 177-195. doi:
10.1080/15546128.2015.1025937
This article reviews the content of evidence-based sexuality education programs in
schools (n = 10) from the Ofce of Adolescent Health (OAH) to assess the extent to which
programs are following a comprehensive model of sexual health endorsed by the National
Sexuality Education Standards (NSES). Results indicate that the majority of programs provide
education on sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy, abstinence, and
contraceptive use. Far fewer address components related to healthy dating relationships,
including interpersonal violence and an understanding of gender roles. No programs address
non-heterosexual orientations. Though the NSES emphasizes ongoing discussions of sexual
orientation, no evidence-based programs addressed homosexuality. Programs typically operated
under the assumption that students were going to engage in opposite sex relationships. There
exists no evidence-based, sexuality education interventions designed for sexual minority
teenagers, despite preliminary evidence that including information specically geared toward
these teens may be benecial.