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Author Bio

Linsay DeMartino, Ph.D. (she/her), is an Assistant Professor in the Division for Advancing Education Policy, Practice, and Leadership housed within Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU). Dr. DeMartino considers herself a scholar-practitioner. As a former P–12 educational practitioner in Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Dr. DeMartino served as a special education teacher, inclusion specialist, special education department chair, and instructional data and intervention administrative coordinator. Her current scholarship examines transformative actions, equitable community collaboration, and critical inclusivity in schools.

S. Gavin Weiser, Ph.D. (they|them) is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations and coordinator of the College Student Personnel Administration master’s program. Gavin is also core faculty at Illinois State University (ISU) in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies as well as affiliated faculty with Latin American/Latino/a Studies. Gavin’s scholarship focuses on the application critical theoretical models into educational leadership, and the experiences of queer, trans, and nonbinary individuals within educational spaces.

Abstract

This article presents the preliminary ruminations of an ongoing project to build critical inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and the countless affirmative ways in which people choose to self-identify (LGBTQIA2S+) youth. This article begins with a brief review of the current data on the LGBTQIA2S+ experience in preK-12 schools and pivots to the literature on hopeful practices, like gender and sexuality alliances (GSAs) and critical inclusivity, or the policies and processes that fully integrate the intersectional queer experience. This work is framed by the criticality of queering space by creating a nepantla, an in-between space, by shedding the past while living in the present with a keen eye on the future (Anzaldúa, 1999; 2002; Muñoz, 2009). To build the foundation for a queering nepantla, the authors used arts-based methods to build community with and among LGBTQIA2S+ youth and adults in a high school GSA living in a socially conservative area within a socially liberal Midwest state in the United States (U.S.). In conclusion, this article presents ways to re/imagine the future possibilities for LGBTQIA2S+ youth within educational institutions and beyond.

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