LGBT teachers’ negotiations of schools in Ireland

In negotiating their everyday lives in schools in Ireland, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teachers experience deep identity conflicts and struggles with school culture that involve continuous self-censorship and emotional investment (Neary 2012; Gowran 2004). Given the deep silences that have surrounded LGBT sexualities in Irish schools, initiatives that have raised awareness among education partners, school leaders and guidance counsellors about the importance of explicit mentioning of homophobic bullying and sexual orientation in school policies (GLEN 2012) and the recent action plan for tackling homophobic bullying have been welcome progress (Department of Education and Skills 2013). However, it is clear that a gap exists between policy and its implementation in schools where teachers’ struggles with normative and cultural practices are evidence of the working of heteronormativity in Irish schools. In this paper, I will present an overview of research with LGBT primary and second-level teachers in Ireland and highlight some central issues and complexities in relation to the conference theme School ’Ethos’ and LGBT sexualities.