Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students: Conceptual Approaches in Research Literature

Educational research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth began in earnest in the 1980s. Since that time a robust body of educational research literature on LGBTQ issues in education has been produced. This entry examines this body of research literature by describing its conceptual frames. Most educational research on LGBTQ issues conceptualizes LGBTQ youth in one of four ways:

• 1.
  LGBTQ youth as at-risk
• 2.
  LGBTQ youth as victims
• 3.
  LGBTQ youth as resilient
• 4.
  LGBTQ youth as “post-gay”

This entry provides a brief description of each of these four frames, their relationships, and critiques of each frame. It concludes with a discussion of how all four frames conceptualize heterosexism and its manifestations as an individual and not a systems-level phenomenon.