School's Out: Gay and Lesbian Teachers in the Classroom

How do gay and lesbian teachers negotiate their professional and sexual identities at work, given that these identities are constructed as mutually exclusive, even as mutually opposed? Using interviews and other ethnographic materials from Texas and California, School’s Out explores how teachers struggle to create a classroom persona that balances who they are and what’s expected of them in a climate of pervasive homophobia. Catherine Connell’s examination of the tension between the rhetoric of gay pride and the professional ethic of discretion insightfully connects and considers complicating factors, from local law and politics to gender privilege. She also describes how racialized discourses of homophobia thwart challenges to sexual injustices in schools. Written with ethnographic verve, School’s Out is essential reading for specialists and students of queer studies, gender studies, and educational politics. “Catherine Connell’s study of gay and lesbian teachers in California and Texas gives the lie to the idea that the closet is no longer relevant in American culture. Because they have often been seen as guardians of morality, teachers―particularly those who transgress gender norms―must carefully negotiate their private and professional identities. School’s Out vividly documents the difficulties they face in reconciling gay pride and professionalism.”―Arlene Stein, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University “Through interviews with and observations of public school teachers in California and Texas, Catherine Connell brilliantly highlights how―under the guise of ‘professionalism’―gay and lesbian teachers are subject to homophobically motivated discipline and dismissal. School’s Out is a wake-up call, encouraging us to think about how we might ‘queer’ schools in order to make them safer educational environments for students and teachers alike.”―C.J. Pascoe, Department of Sociology, University of Oregon, and Chair, Sex and Gender Section of the American Sociological Association “Catherine Connell’s fascinating study of teachers’ classroom experiences with coming out reveals the challenges and opportunities faced by lesbian and gay teachers. This clear and insightful book raises important questions for educators, policy makers, scholars, and activists about what a gay- or queer-friendly school means and which strategies are truly transformative.”―M.V. Lee Badgett, author of When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage Catherine Connell is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston University.