Chapter 4: Constructions of Children and Childhood: Implications for LGBTIQ Inclusion and Teacher Preparation Programs

In today’s society, 3% to 4%¹ of the population self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual and 0.3% of adults in the United States self-identify as transgender (Gates, 2011). In a school of 500, this might mean that 15–20 young people may be gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or questioning their sexual identity, and one or two people may experience dissonance between their biological sex and their gender identity. While these percentages are based upon adults in the United States, LGBT individuals are coming out at increasingly younger and younger ages (Shilo & Savaya, 2011). Especially with the support of YouTube “coming out” videos, most notably the “It Gets Better” Project, LGBT young people are bravely declaring who they are in sometimes very public ways. In addition to the young people who may self-identify as LGBT, current studies estimate that 3 children per 1,000 are living in a same-sex headed household (Gates, 2013). But given the current limitations measuring same-sex households (Walther, 2007), this number is likely highly underestimated. Given the increased number of young people who are questioning their sexual or gender identity, who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, or questioning (LGBTIQ), or are children in same-gender-headed households, it is contingent upon teacher education programs to effectively prepare teachers and administrators who will be serving these young people and their families.