Don't Be So Gay! ― Queers, Bullying, and Making Schools Safe

Once viewed as an inevitable if unpleasant part of growing up,
bullying is now recognized as a real threat to students' physical
and psychological well-being -- particularly in light of recent teen
suicides linked with homophobia in schools. Despite a shift in public
attitudes and legislative responses to the problem, bullying remains a
constant reality for many queer youth in Canadian schools.

In "Don't Be So Gay!" Queers, Bullying, and
Making Schools Safe, Donn Short considers the effectiveness of
anti-harassment policies and safe-school legislation to address the
problem of homophobic bullying. After spending several months in ten
Toronto-area high schools interviewing queer youth and their allies,
Short concludes that current legislation and its approach to school
safety and homophobia is generally more responsive than proactive and
transformative. "Don't Be So Gay!" suggests that
while effective legislation is vital to establishing a safe space for
queer students, other influences -- including religion, family beliefs,
and peer pressure -- may be more powerful. Drawing on students'
own experiences and thoughts on how safety is pursued in their schools
and how their understandings and definitions of safety might be
translated into law and policy reform, this book offers a fresh
perspective on a hotly debated issue.Donn Short is an assistant professor of law at Robson
Hall Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and the founding
editor of the Canadian Journal of Human Rights.

Donn Short is an assistant professor of law at RobsonHall Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and the foundingeditor of the Canadian Journal of Human Rights.