"Don't be so gay!" : queers, bullying, and making schools safe /

This thoughtfully written book could serve as a primer for those seeking to make schools a truly welcoming and safe place for all of their students. Short (Robson Hall Faculty of Law, Univ. of Manitoba, Canada) does a first-rate job of connecting policy, law, practice, and the day-to-day lives of students who are dealing with bullying and rejection by their peers, particularly with regard to their sexual orientation and their perceived-to-be-nonconforming behaviors. Unlike many other books of this type, it is neither a polemic nor a collection of "feel good" activities. Rather, it combines interviews with students and teachers with an analysis of equity laws and policies and their spotty implementation for breaking the choke hold of bullying and exclusionary practices. Two sections that this reviewer has not seen in similar books discuss specifically how schools view the notion of "safety," and examine the barriers to the full implementation of equity policies and laws aimed--at least on paper--at protecting students, something that is rather different than actively advocating for students. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. H. M. Miller Mercy College

Many Canadians may pride themselves on the country's supposedly tolerant society, but as University of Manitoba law professor Short demonstrates, this tolerance is often withheld from Canada's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual teens, such that even simple physical safety is not guaranteed. Here, the author looks at the scope of the problem, how schools currently approach it, issues complicating the implementation of humane rules that include official indifference or outright complicity, and teenaged social conformity. He then delves into possible future courses of action. The book is informed by interviews with queer teens in the Toronto area, as well as interviews with the handful of administrative idealists scattered through the educational system. Conditions for queer teens may be better than they were two generations ago, but they cannot be said to be good, save in highly atypical refuges; that said, progress is possible, Short argues. Although technical jargon does appear, Short's prose is mostly clear and effective; the book's organization is logical and straightforward, with lengthy endnotes and a lavish index. Administrators hoping for more queer-friendly schools will benefit from this book. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.