Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in
Academic Studies Advisory Committee

Function:  To develop plans for making the NCTE annual convention a safe and welcoming place for lesbians and gay men to be out and at ease in their identities; to initiate, sustain, and provide a space for a conversation about the relevance of gendered, sexual and affectional identities to reading and writing lives, to teaching lives, and to the well-being of students; to promote inquiry into issues of sexuality and identity in the teaching of literacy and literature, to encourage the proposal for presentation of such inquiry through public meetings such as the annual convention, and to support individuals in the production of publishable written reports of such inquiry; to move away from post-hoc preparation of sessions toward a program that is selected completely from sessions proposed, by the deadline, through the regular process; and to select excellent proposals for inclusion in the LGBT strand for annual convention.

What major actions or projects have been completed by your group since July 1, 2006?

We have been planning national convention sessions, suggesting keynote speakers, working on resolutions, creating bibliographies, and discussing changing and challenging language issues. We have also discussed having an advisory role in NCTE publications work.

What projects, initiatives, or studies are “in progress” at this time?

Completing resolutions for convention, considering writing articles for publication in English Journal and other venues, and working on papers about changing language and the committee’s having an advisory role on NCTE publications and language use.

Strategic Governance: Over the past three years, the NCTE Executive Committee has established outcomes and priorities relating to these key topics in our field: Teacher Quality, Adolescent Literacy, Assessment, Writing, Multimodal Literacy and Technology, Research and Teaching, English Language Learners, and Professional Development. Currently, they are investigating how to expand access to reading research, how NCTE can help close the “achievement gap” in English language arts, and other audiences that NCTE could be serving. Does your group have research findings or suggestions to contribute that are relevant to on-going work on these strategic governance topics?

Yes. LGBT students, their allies, those questioning their sexual orientations and gender identities, and those perceived to be LGBT encounter so much hostility in schools that they face a number of risk factors, including a rising drop-out rate, and when harassed are unable to concentrate on school work. Those whose minority sexual and gender identities intersect with stigmatized racial groupings are at even greater risk of dropping out and falling behind in school.

Kevin Kumashiro at University of Illinois, Chicago, has published a great deal in the area of intersecting identities. His books: Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality: Queer Students of Color and Anti-Oppressive Education, Rowman & Littlefield (2001); and Troubling Education: Queer Activism and Anti-Oppressive Pedagogy, RoutledgeFalmer (2002) contain a number of useful resources. Kathryn Snider's article "Race and Sexual Orientation: The (Im)possibility of These Intersections in Educational Policy" Harvard Educational Review, v66 n2 p294-302 Sum 1996 also might be useful for understanding and tackling these problems.

Roxanne Henkin’s book, Confronting Bullying: Literacy as a Tool for Character Education, Heinemann, 2005, discusses the high incidence of LGBT bullying in middle schools as well as other forms of bullying and the important role of literacy in reducing bias and harassment in educational settings.

Paula Ressler’s book, Talking about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity with High School Students through Drama, Heinemann 2002, suggests multiple ways to open up conversations in high school classrooms about sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersecting identities.

William Spurlin’s book, Lesbian and Gay Studies and the Teaching of English: Positions, Pedagogies, and Cultural Politics, NCTE 2000, continues to be useful for ELA teachers interested in social justice teaching through a queer lens and critical literacy.

Paula Ressler, Chair