Understanding Gender Identity in K-12 Schools

“My voice speaks for itself”: The experiences of three transgender students in American secondary school choral programs

“…Especially for trans students, who disrupt the normative gender practices of American high schools (Pascoe, 2007), policies shape day-to-day experiences in a tangible way. Policies that fail to support trans students or explicitly restrict students’ gender expressions to the sex listed on their birth certificates can cause confusion and frustration, both among students and among the teachers who are meant to educate, protect, and mentor them 20 (Callender, 2008; Luecke, 2011; Meyer, 2010, 2014; Roberts et al, 2007; Sausa, 2005). Some relatively simple policy changes can make a difference in the musical lives of trans choral musicians.…”

Thriving or Surviving? Raising Our Ambition for Trans Children in Primary and Secondary Schools

“…There is a pervasive culture of silence (Ullman, 2014 ; Ullman and Ferfolja, 2015 ; Frohard-Dourlent, 2016 ); around trans lives at school that has a negative impact on trans children (Ryan et al, 2013 ). This culture of silence is reinforced through multiple means, from formal legislation against LGBT inclusion in school 5 (Carlile, 2019 ), to teacher self-censure (Roberts et al, 2007 ), through to approaches that police offensive language without empowering teachers to provide alternative positive narratives (DePalma and Atkinson, 2009a ).…”

Confronting Homophobia at School: High School Students and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles

“…This negotiation can be problematic for a straight-identifying student, but is especially challenging for a gay or lesbian student. The perception of heteronormativity is incredibly important to most middle and high school students (Gray, 1999;Herdt, 1989;Mayberry, 2006;Savin-Williams, 2000;Schneider & Dimito, 2008) and any indication of gender non-conformity at any age is difficult for many students to navigate, gay or straight (Baker, 2002;Lipkin, 1999;Roberts, Allan, & Wells, 2007;Sears, 1999;Thorne, 2004). One other common area in the research is finding students who are confronting and dealing with their own internalized fears of being gay in a heteronormative world, whether they will eventually identify as gay or not (Bergling, 2001;Gallagher, 2006;Gray, 1999;Herdt, 1989).…”

“…This notion of identifying peers of their "kind" is typically centered around gender and race, or culture. Gender nonconformity-in behavior, appearance, or attitude-is a wide arena in which children can find difference among their peers (Gallagher, 2006;Harris & Bliss, 1997;Malinsky, 1997;Roberts et al, 2007;Woolfolk, 1998). Without education to the contrary, it is easy for kids to fall prey to stereotyping when it comes to dealing with this kind of nonconformity or minority sexualities (Baker, 2002).…”