Staking a Claim in Mad River

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) teachers have fought for their rights for a long time.¹ For most of the twentieth century, any hint of same-sex desire or departure from binary gender norms could imperil the social standing, employment, housing options, freedom, and very lives of all LGBT people in the United States, including educators. But teachers have evoked a particular animosity from antigay activists. Because of teachers’ work with vulnerable children, because of teachers serving as role models in classrooms and communities, and because of homophobic rhetoric that falsely equates gayness with pedophilia, LGBT teachers have sometimes borne the