"Don't be so gay!"
Subtitle: queers, bullying, and making schools safe
By: Donn Short
Series: Law & society; Law and society series (Vancouver, B.C.)
Publisher: UBC Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Vancouver
Language: eng
Number of pages: 289
ISBN-13: 9780774823289; 9780774823265; 9781283993449; 9780774823296
Subjects: Bullying in schools; Case studies; Homophobia in high schools; Gay high school students; Social conditions; Prevention; Government policy; EDUCATION; Secondary
Description: Drawing on interviews with queer youth and their allies in the Toronto area, the author considers the effectiveness of safe school legislation and concludes that the current legislation is often more responsive than proactive.

"Recent cases of teen suicide linked with homophobic bullying have thrust the issue of school safety into the national spotlight. In "Don't Be So Gay!" Queers, Bullying, and Making Schools Safe, Donn Short considers the effectiveness of safe school legislation. Drawing on interviews with queer youth and their allies in the Toronto area, Short concludes that current legislation is often more responsive than proactive. Moreover, cultural influences and peer pressure may be more powerful than legislation in shaping the school environment. Exploring how students' own experiences, ideas, and definitions of safety might be translated into policy reform, this book offers a fresh perspective on a hotly debated issue."--Page 4 of cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Participants: Schools, Students, and Teachers; title: Introduction: Navigating Safe and Equitable Schools; title: Safe Schools: The Struggle for Control and the Quest for Social Justice; title: How Schools Conceptualize Safety: Control, Security, Equity, Social Justice; title: Not Keeping a Straight Face: Heteronormativity and the Hidden Curriculum; title: Obstacles to the Implementation of Equity Policies; title: The Long Arm of the Law? Mapping (Other) Normative Orders in Youth Culture; title: 7 Barriers to the Effectiveness of State Law; title: Conclusion.