“Why's a Nice Dyke like you Embracing this Postmodern Crap?”

Abstract

In this article, I present a historical overview of the queer rights movement in the United States, from the late 1940s to today, weaving snapshots of my own life into the narrative, from living in the closet to being totally out, both personally and professionally. Because I was closeted at the beginning of my career my research agenda did not initially address issues of queer rights. Instead, my central focus was U.S. political right-wing movements in general and the Protestant Right in particular and how they worked to shape educational politics and policy. I also illustrate how intersectional and multidimensional analyses can uncover the ways that shifting/multiple identities shape the policies and practices of U.S. public schooling by drawing on the work of scholars and activists who acknowledge the intersections and multidimensionality of our constructed and assembled identities (Francisco Valdes, Darren Lenard Hutchinson, Kenji Yoshino and Riki Wilchins). I also draw from the earlier work of social scientist Erving Goffman, who examined how stigmatized populations navigated their social worlds. I conclude this article by exploring the notion of differentiated citizenship and what mplications it may hold for public school policy and the politics of education.