Working Within and Against Heterosexist and Homophobic Schools: Social Justice and High School Journalism

At the beginning of the school year, the center spread editor led the charge. A highly opinionated, politically conservative female with true steadfast dedication to the newspaper, she promptly told the class, “We need to start tackling more serious social issues on our center spread than ‘My 50 favorite things to do over the winter break.’ ”

So the class began brainstorming possible topics for all seven issues of the year. One student mentioned that the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death was approaching. She discussed how this teen’s brutal death in Laramie, Wyoming, brought hate crimes against homosexuals to the American forefront. Another student mentioned that many schools in St. Louis have student-led gay-straight alliances and asked, “Why doesn’t our school have one?”