ABSTRACT
Children identifying as LGBTQIA+ do so as young as kindergarten. However, teacher education programs are woefully underprepared to address the particular needs of LGBTQIA+ children as part of their curriculum. Recent data indicate that 75% of the more than 150,000 transgender students in middle school and high school in the United States felt unsafe because of their gender expression. The statistics indicate that LGBTQIA+ students face bullying, harassment, and discrimination to such an extent that more than 85% of students share that they feel unsafe at school, solely because of their sexual orientation or gender expression. Negative experiences in school led to absenteeism, lower GPAs, depression, and self-esteem issues. In addition, the dominance of heteronormative positions can be traced to the global issue of homophobic and transphobic bullying in violation of human rights. In this chapter, we illustrate for the reader the reality of the experience of education for LGBTQIA+ students and their families. Additionally, we address the lack of inclusionary and anti-oppressive instruction in elementary teacher education programs and how that manifests in the colonizing effects of heteronormativity, especially as it relates to cisgender assumptions of teacher candidates.
