Race and Sexual Orientation: The (Im)possibility of These Intersections in Educational Policy

Abstract

In this article, Kathryn Snider critiques the Toronto Board of Education's Triangle Program, a program designed for lesbian and gay youth who are at risk of dropping out of high school. She questions whether this program, which provides support for students coping with issues of sexual identity, can really work for lesbian and gay youth of color unless it also includes strategies that acknowledge how issues of sexual orientation interact with issues of racial identity. She locates this critique within the larger context of the Board's approach to multiculturalism and diversity in the schools. Rather than implementing a program that further marginalizes and isolates lesbian and gay students by removing them from mainstream education, Snider suggests, schools must make fundamental changes that work to eliminate racism and homophobia within the dominant educational structure.