This is a collection of more than 30 accounts by gay and lesbian teachers from schools and universities across the country. Each narrative recounts its author's experiences either as an openly gay or lesbian teacher or during the period of coming out. Specific school settings, such as the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, are mentioned. Common themes discussed are student/teacher relationships, teacher/teacher relationships, AIDS, support groups, the process of coming out, and community reactions. This book will be useful for studying the culture of schools at all levels. An appendix contains biographies of the teachers who tell their stories, a list of support groups, and, most importantly, an essay on the legal history and current state of gay and lesbian rights across the country. For most education collections.
Nancy E. Zuwiyya, Binghamton City Sch. Dist., N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
To ensure that these gay and lesbian teachers' stories would come from a range of communities that differed in tolerance of homosexuality, editor Jennings stressed that respondents to his call for manuscripts did not have to be out. Nevertheless, he points out, few Southerners responded. Most contributors are East and West Coasters. Few midwestern voices are heard, and despite the fact that education is predominantly a woman's profession, mens' perspectives make up more than 60 percent of the book. Moreover, a third of the female contributors use pseudonyms (only one man does), and most contributors of color withdrew as publication approached. Social change, Jennings concludes, has far to go before institutional barriers of regionalism, sexism, and racism fall everywhere. The stories that remain tell of internal and external struggles, small victories, and growth as their authors cope with ignorance, fear, and hostility. The worthy appendixes include an overview of gay, lesbian, and bisexual teachers' rights and a listing of national gay and lesbian teachers' organizations. Whitney Scott
From Kirkus Reviews
A book devoted to the experiences of lesbian and gay teachers and the innumerable pressures on them to remain closeted. Homophobic parents, the cruelty of kids, unsupportive administrators, concern about exacerbating cultural differences between oneself and one's students are just a few of the trials described by the 37 teachers who contribute their stories to this book. Others encountered physical threats from students or community members, or political opposition from the religious right. However, all attest to the importance of coming out to students. Gay, bisexual, and straight students benefit from gay role models; a third of teen suicides occur among gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, and many more heterosexual teens grow up violently homophobic--in part because they don't think they know any gay people. Many of the contributors discuss, too, the psychic toll of lying to, or misleading, colleagues and students about one's sexuality. Edited by Jennings (Becoming Visible, not reviewed), executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN), the book should initiate worthwhile dialogue in schools. However, it is marred by repetition--many of the teachers tell the same story, and in similar language. Furthermore, self- lionizing is all too prevalent: Everyone emphasizes his or her own bravery, dedication, and willingness to stand by their convictions; one teacher even compares himself to Martin Luther King Jr. Common therapeutic vocabulary (phrases like ``personal growth'' or ``sharing'' rather than ``saying'' something) is rampant. The resources at the end of the book, however, are excellent; one appendix gives a legal overview of the rights of nonheterosexual teachers, another lists relevant national and regional organizations. A useful introduction to some of the obstacles gay teachers face, but this subject merits much livelier treatment. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Kevin Jennings is the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. He lives in New York City.
