An Exploration Of How Teachers Are Integrating LGBTQ+ Young Adult Literature Into The Secondary English Language Arts Classroom

Many local and national teaching associations and teacher preparation programs have called for the integration of LGBTQ+ Young Adult literature in the secondary English language arts classroom. However, in practice, classroom teachers continue to rely on classic, canonical works which often represent a white, cisgender male, heterosexual point of view. In choosing these canonical texts, the identities and experiences of the spectrum of LGBTQ+ students are excluded. The effects of this exclusion are harmful to both LGBTQ+ students and their peers. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: 1) explore how LGBTQ+ YA literature is currently being used in secondary English Language Arts classrooms and 2) provide a list of exemplary LGBTQ+ texts that teachers can integrate into their curriculum. In exploring these topics, I discuss various teacher hesitations in using LGBTQ+ texts in their classroom as well as successful ways teachers are currently integrating these texts into their curriculum. At the conclusion, I provide recommendations for novel selections and classroom appropriacy.