CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter two presents a review of the literature. It begins by examining the experiences of lesbian teachers before exploring the challenges of rural life for the lesbian teacher. The next section examines the social construction of rurality before concluding with an exploration of what it means to be a member of a community.

LESBIAN TEACHERS

In this section, I review the literature on lesbian teachers. I explore the changes to equalities legislation and the impact of this on lesbian teachers’ feelings of safety. Utilising the poststructuralist framework that underpins this book, I examine the concept of institutional heteronormativity in schools and investigate the strategies adopted by lesbian teachers to manage the intersection of their professional and personal identities. I explore the literature examining the complexities of coming out as a lesbian teacher and the tensions that exist between adopting a position of safety, shattering homophobic myths, and becoming a role model for young people. I interrogate the depiction of lesbian teachers as recruiting young people to lesbian and gay lifestyles and explore the extent to which lesbian teachers fear they will be perceived as predatory. Finally, drawing on the literature, I explore the way in which lesbian teachers may be agents of power by subverting the heteronormative discourse and engaging in subtle acts of resistance that ‘trouble’ the presumed heterosexuality of school staff. A report from the United Kingdom Teacher Support Network (2006) states that, “There are more than 25,000 LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) teachers in the UK. 99.1% of these teachers are too scared to come out” (p. 1). Further statistics from the same report suggest a possible reason for this: Two thirds of LGBT teachers and lecturers have experienced harassment and discrimination at work because of their sexual orientation … Some teachers and lecturers have experienced physical and sexual assault, damage to property and threatening behaviour. (Teacher Support Network, 2006:1) These statistics suggest that despite protective legislation, such as the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003) and the Equality Act (2006), lesbian and gay teachers continue to both fear and experience discrimination and harassment in their day-to-day working lives. In February 2013 teachers at the

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United Kingdom National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Consultation Conference heard that: • Over three quarters of LGBT teachers said they had experienced bullying and harassment during their teaching careers; • 60% of LGBT teachers said their school has no policy which explicitly opposes homophobia, biphobia and transphobia; • Two thirds of LGBT teachers said it was not safe for LGBT teachers to be out at work. (Union-News.co.uk 25th February, 2013) Academic research into the experiences of lesbian teachers both in the United Kingdom and internationally report many common themes. These include institutionalised heterosexism, the management of personal and public identities, the psychological impact of being marginalised and silenced and covert and overt workplace harassment, (see for example, Khayatt, 1992; Clarke, 1996; Epstein & Johnson, 1998; Rudoe, 2010). Much of the early literature about the experiences of lesbian teachers is concerned with the effect legislation had on the position of lesbian teachers in the school community. In the UK, the Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher was responsible for the implementation of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that: A local authority shall not – (a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality; (b) promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship. Although Section 28 referred only to local authorities, the common belief at the time was that schools under local authority jurisdiction were indirectly bound by the same rules (Gray, 2010). Though the Section 28 legislation was never enforced, in the 15 years between 1988 and its repeal in 2003, many lesbian and gay teachers feared the loss of their jobs if their sexuality was revealed. Several researchers recorded the climate of fear and homophobia that lesbian teachers endured in their day-to-day lives at school (see, for example, Sullivan, 1993; Clarke, 1996). Since the repeal of Section 28, several pieces of legislation have helped to give lesbian teachers a degree of occupational security. The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and Part 3 of The Equality Act 2006 gave staff the right to be protected from homophobic bullying, making it illegal for any employer to discriminate against, or to harass workers, on the grounds of their actual or perceived sexual orientation (Rudoe, 2010). This legislation was replicated more recently in the Equality Act, 2010. As this literature review of lesbian teachers draws on authors in English speaking countries beyond the UK, it is worth briefly commenting on the legal position for teachers in those countries. As in the UK, in the USA, Canada and Australia,

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