ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the perceptions of lesbian and gay youth about educators based on data from Southern youth between 1986 and 1988 who recently graduated from high school. It presents survey data gathered from school counselors and prospective teachers regarding their personal attitudes and feelings about homosexuality. The prospective teacher questionnaire included two standardized attitudinal instruments: the modified Attitudes Toward Homosexuality (ATH) and the Index of Homophobia (IH). In addition, they also completed a questionnaire with items related to their encounters with homosexual students as a high school student, knowledge about homosexuality, professional attitudes regarding homosexuality in the school curriculum, and projected professional behaviors regarding homosexual students. The vast majority of counselors observed that few, if any, of their school's teachers were supportive of gay and lesbian students, discussed homosexuality in the classroom, or considered it an alternative lifestyle.
