The Fear In/Of The Closet: Coming Out in the Classroom from the Perspective of Two Queer Male Secondary Teachers

Abstract

LGBTQ students need out queer role models in order to feel supported and understood through the homophobic bullying that can affect their academic and personal development. The research study is based on a qualitative study that sought to understand the effect of LGBTQ teachers, both in coming out and being out, on students’ personal development and self- perceptions. The semi-structured interviews, which were conducted with two queer-identifying male secondary school teachers in Toronto, revealed three outcomes of having queer teachers in the classroom with analysis through the lens of a combined theoretical framework that utilizes queer theory and transformative learning theory. First, by disclosing personal information, such as their identities and issues at home, it was shown that queer students feel more comfortable with out queer teachers than traditional resources, such as guidance counsellors. Next, systemic attitudes and beliefs carried in society shift toward acceptance over time, but religious and cultural beliefs of the family allow this shift to be negated in passing these attitudes on to the children of the family. Finally, the decision to come out is difficult to make and requires thoughtful consideration of different factors, including but not limited to age, environment, and personal views. Recommendations stemming from this study are made to the Ontario Ministry of Education, faculties of education across Ontario, and administrators that outline the need for more discrete language in policy documents, integration of pre-service teacher education into schools, and availability and diversity of resources for LGBTQ students and staff.