ABSTRACT
In 1996, I published an article “Smear the Queer” in Feminist Teacher (Loutzenheiser, 1996) about the climate of schooling for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth (LGB). I wrote about the statistics of risk and curricular othering of LGB bodies, the conditions and climate for LGB students, and the fear of teachers who wished to address homophobia. Here, I revisit the assumptions and pedagogies upon which the 1996 article was built with the intention of reanalyzing “Smear the Queer” theoretically and in relation to a reworked notion of praxis. This chapter explores how queer theories and queering pedagogies are important, yet tension-filled and contested elements of teaching across difference. Moving away from single-issue approaches and identity politics as the central focus of social justice education, this chapter envisions queering pedagogies as an attempt to address the relationships between sexuality and other oppressions, particularly race and sexuality/gender identity in educational contexts
In 1996, as a new graduate student, I published an article “Smear the Queer” in Feminist Teacher (Loutzenheiser, 1996) about the climate of schooling for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth. I wrote about the statistics of risk and curricular othering of LGB bodies, the conditions and climate for LGB students and the fear of teachers who wished to address homophobia and heterosexism.
