Uncomfortable Territory

This chapter reviews the historical and cultural emergence of the categories of LGBTQ+ identities and seeks to understand why knowing this background matters for the work of designing inclusive policies and welcoming school spaces: focusing on the normative system that produces and polices sexual and gender “deviance” is a crucial part of understanding what we are trying to change. The chapter will also provide an overview of the approaches to gender creative children in order to illustrate why affirming someone's gender entails engaging with the assumptions behind the concept of gender itself. It will argue that expanding the possibilities of gender identification additionally positively impacts not only queer students, but all of us. It provides readers the chance to think about how deeply their own gender runs through their assumptions and to understand what is at stake for this culture when we ask to include LGBTQ+ identities in school curricula and policies.