Not Alone: Lgb Teachers Organizations from 1970 to 1985

Between 1970 and 1985, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) educators publicly left their classroom closets, formed communities, and began advocating for a place of openness and safety for LGB people in America's schools. They fought for protection and representation in the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, as well as building community and advocacy in major gay and lesbian teacher organizations in New York, Los Angeles, and Northern California. In so doing, LGB teachers went from being a profoundly demonized and silenced population that suffered as symbolically emblematic of the harmful "bad teacher" to being an organized community of professionals deserving of rights, capable of speaking for themselves, and often able to reframe themselves as "good teachers." This prescient book shows how LGB teachers and their allies broadened the boundaries of professionalism, negotiated for employment protection, and fought against political opponents who wanted them pushed out of America's schools altogether.

ISBN-13: 9781978825895

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Publication Date: 12-15-2023

Pages: 242

Product Dimensions: 9.00h x 6.08w x 0.35d

Series: New Directions in the History of Education