That's so Gay!- Homophobia in Canadian Catholic Schools

Because Catholic doctrine about homosexuality is contradictory and fundamentallyhomophobic some lesbian gay bisexual transgender or queer(LGBTQ) teachers find themselves having to deny their sexuality and resort tohiding in a metaphorical Catholic closet when teaching in Canadian Catholicschools. Educational researcher Tonya Callaghan employs a multi-methodqualitative framework to uncover how homophobia is institutionalized inthese schools. Callaghan first theorizes the problem and examines pertinentCatholic documents as well as key Canadian legal decisions. Then using interviewswith six LGBTQ teachers and her own experience as a lesbian teacherCallaghan retells the teachers' stories in the form of life-narrative vignettes.This varied research design provides much needed insight into a previouslyuntold aspect of Canadian schooling. It offers a valuable perspectivethat may be beneficial to LGBTQ teachers and their colleagues school administratorsgovernment officials teachers' unions and human rights activists.This book also may be of interest to researchers in the fields of educationsociology law ethics sexuality studies and religion.