The courage to be: LGBTQ+ youth within the heteronormative and cisgenderist school environment

Abstract

Recent research studies tend to view LGBTQ+ youth through lenses of marginal-ization and victimization, or through ideas of resilience and accommodation to heteronormative and cisgenderist practices. Insufficient attention has been paid to the courage many LGBTQ+ students display through daily life at school to con-tinuously stand up to these norms. This study explores the experiences of students who identify as LGBTQ+ in in 10 secondary schools in southern England gathered through 11 focus groups (total n = 67). Using corpus-assisted discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis, we identify a number of ways in which LGBTQ+ students display courage in navigating their day-to-day existence, often challenging hetero-and cisgenderist norms. The authors urge schools to rethink and promote affirmative action, as courage to instigate change should not fall solely on the shoulders of LGTBQ+ students and a handful of allies.