Tackling Homophobia, Heterosexism, and Heteronormativity

One of the main concerns for teachers in this study was how to respond when antigay views were expressed in their classes. This chapter analyzes the issues and dilemmas the teachers encountered, and the strategies they used, in responding to these anti-gay views. Quite a few teachers were concerned about homophobia; their pedagogic focus was exploring negative feelings or fears about gay and lesbian people. Other teachers focused on heterosexism, setting up debates and eliciting opinions about controversial social issues involving sexual minorities. A few teachers focused more on hetero normativity, analyzing discourse practices and sociolinguistic norms pertaining to sexual identities. Although the latter approach was the least evident among the teachers in this study, I show why it seems the most promising.