Chapter 8: Reading Them In: Using LGBT Child and Young Adult Literature in Preservice Teacher Education

A young woman is standing in line at a university café. An older woman is next to her in the queue and strikes up a conversation. They talk briefly about their courses and about the lunch menu, and—of all things—motorbikes; the younger woman is carrying a helmet under her arm. The older woman asks, “So when did you come out?” The younger woman replies, “Um … Just then?”

This is—fairly obviously—not my coming out story. However, this is a true account of the experience of a friend of mine who has kindly agreed for me to print it here. This is because both of us are queer-identifying teachers who have worked with young people in the tertiary sector over many years, and we know well the powerful effect on identity and identity formation that is wrought by the university education system. For us, going to university was bound up in questions about our politics, our aspirations, and our sexuality. Even in the queue at the café, it seems there was a lot to be discovered.