In a Queer Voice: Journeys of Resilience from Adolescence to Adulthood
A careful investigation into the lives of several GLBT young people, exploring how they overcame obstacles to find their voice. Sadowski, a professor of education at Bard College and former high school teacher, presents case studies based on personal interviews with out GLBT youths. The first interviews document their experiences in middle and high school, looking at the ways in which they were discouraged from exploring and accepting their sexual orientation or gender expression, whether from a hostile, homophobic school environment, nonsupportive family members, or both. The next interviews, conducted years later, explore the avenues they discovered that allowed them to become comfortable with themselves, from changing to an accepting, tolerant school to moving to a more urban environment for college. While the subjects come from different backgrounds and walks of life, their experiences are equally compelling: the transgender woman who began transitioning after high school but had to stop after health problems made it dangerous; the young woman who endured physical, emotional, and sexual abuse from her own father, who now works toward a doctorate in divinity school; the hearing-impaired young man dealing with discrimination within the GLBT community. An important contribution to the argument for a more nurturing environment for young GLBT people. (Jan.)