Our Goal

The goal of this project was to video interview LGBTQ families across Ontario about their experiences in public schools and share our findings from these interviews with teachers, community educators, and other LGBTQ families.

We use the initialism LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) with the intention of including people who identify as transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally, pansexual, agender, gender queer, gender variant, and/or pangender. We understand the names people use to describe their gender and sexual identities are always evolving and that the most important thing is to be respectful and to use names that people prefer.

This project includes:
  • video and audio interviews with 37 LGBTQ parents, youth, and families in seven Ontario cities (Toronto, Oshawa, Ottawa, Sudbury, London, St. Thomas, and Acton) and surrounding suburbs and rural communities;  
  • an archive of approximately 300 video clips from the interviews on this website; and
  • a multi-media verbatim monologue theatre production, called OUT AT SCHOOL, which includes direct conversations and monologues from the interviews, a set of visual images, and three original songs.

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​To read the Final Summary Report of the LGBTQ Families Speak Out project: download the PDF here:  
LGBTQ Families Speak Out_Final Report_September_2019.pdf
File Size: 533 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

​Teaching Gender and Sexuality at School: Letters to Teachers
​by Tara Goldstein; with contributions by benjamin lee hicks, Jenny Salisbury, and Pam Baer. (2019)
In a set of engaging letters to teachers, Tara addresses a full range of issues facing LGBTQ students and families in elementary and secondary school. She also talks to teachers about normalizing LGBTQ lives in the curriculum, challenging homophobic and transphobic ideas, and building an inclusive school culture that both expects and welcomes LGBTQ students and their families. The book also includes the plays, Snakes and Ladders and Out at School, and a terrific, nuanced glossary of terms and definitions written by research team member, benjamin lee hicks.
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Order your copy of Teaching Gender and Sexuality at School: Letters to Teachers at: amazon.ca.
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A selection of our video clips...