Federal court cases are examined in an effort to view recent First Amendment rights infringements which have occurred in Mississippi. Case law reinforces students' rights to wear same-sex outfits to school functions as well as to bring same-sex dates. Connection to a recent civil rights investigation by the NAACP into a north Mississippi middle…

In this paper, I consider the abiding value as well as the limits of queer; navigating the contradictions of a politics and ethnographic practice based on a refutation of an abiding subject; resisting subjectivation and needing recognition; and "coming out" in school ethnography framed by queer theory. The paper moves from the work of Michel…

This commentary focuses on the shortcomings of LGBT-inclusivity by concentrating on the problem of heteronormativity and the promise of intersectionality. The authors do so with a deliberate focus on adolescents and adults engaging in literacy practices, construed broadly, in both in-school and out-of-school contexts.

While LGBTQ people may no longer need be considered the "invisible minority," LGBTQ books are often taken to be positive or affirmative based on their mere inclusion of gay people as characters. The authors believe the catalog of LGBTQ texts must continue to increase in both quantity and quality and that teachers must explicitly engage students in…

Ressler's "Dramatic Changes" is a powerful guide for anyone brave enough to create a space for young people to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity. Her accessible style and tangible suggestions describe a creative and educationally sound approach to supporting youth in thoughtfully wrestling with one of the most controversial social…

Gender and socio-economic background are widely acknowledged factors influencing the educational choices of young people. Following their compulsory education, young people in Finland choose between academically oriented general upper secondary schools and vocational upper secondary schools. Gender and class intertwine in these choices in many…

This article is a critical examination of the ideologies and practices that educators bring to bear on their classrooms in order to create inclusive, safe, and welcoming environments for all children, but particularly for children with gender variant behaviors and interests. Using a feminist perspective, this article offers a new conceptual lens…

Objective: To estimate and compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity among self-identified lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual college age women. Methods: A secondary analysis of the Spring 2006 National College Health Assessment was conducted with 31,500 female college students (aged 18 to 25 years) to compare body mass index (calculated…

This paper presents data from a qualitative study of urban high school students that asked students to reflect on the experiences of their lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning peers. The focus group participants wrote letters to an imaginary new student at their school, discussed what they see and hear in their schools, and kept…

Although Western mass media aimed at juvenile audiences aggressively eliminates any references to same-sex desire and behavior, it inspires a tremendous amount of homoerotic fan art. To determine how same-sex potential is portrayed in juvenile fan art, a content analysis was conducted of 872 male homoerotic images by 442 juvenile male and female…

Guided by the American Psychological Association's principles of evidence-based practice, this article reviews a single-case treatment outcome study whereby a client characteristic, sexual identity, was integrated into the assessment and treatment of social anxiety symptoms. The case involved a young adult European-American male who presented to a…

We present data from 4 lesbian and 5 gay male same-sex couples who have been together 20 years or more. Couples included those legally married and unmarried, with and without children, and were interviewed within the first year legalized same-sex marriage was enacted in Massachusetts. Using life course theory and case study methodology, we…

Angela Piehl is a contemporary artist and lesbian who has exhibited in the United States and the United Kingdom. She is Assistant Professor of drawing, painting, and digital art at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Piehl's artwork consists of loosely autobiographical narratives that address society's narrow definitions of gender roles. Her…

It is not my intent to critique individual contributions in this special issue but to assess scholarly progress since the last special issue devoted to sexual orientation in Developmental Psychology (Patterson, 1995). Because not all steps forward can be catalogued in this limited forum, I focus on several long-standing challenges faced by…

As educators, we strive to provide a safe and accepting environment for our students in which to learn. We want our students to feel comfortable so their academic and social success is not hindered. However, as far as we have come in this pursuit, there is still room for growth as there are students who still long for their guarantee of feeling…