‘Boys think it's just a hairless hole’: Young people’s reflections on binary and heteronormative pedagogies in school based sexualities education

This chapter uses material from qualitative research with LGBTQ+ young people to explore the ways in which heteronormativity, heterosexism and gender binarism are legitimated and perpetuated in sexualities education in school settings. The research suggests that LGBTQ+ young people experience oppression at two levels, in the content of sex and relationships education, which reproduces gender as binary and sexuality as primarily heterosexual and reproductive, and at the level of institutionalised heteronormativity, and homophobic and transphobic bullying and victimisation. Despite these restrictions, LGBTQ+ young people often develop critical knowledge that allows them to challenge heteronormativity and gender binarism, particularly when supported by other sources such as inclusive and holistic youth groups, peers and media. This leads us to argue that a critical pedagogies approach would enter into dialogue with young people’s critical capacities and knowledge in order to understand, challenge and ultimately transform heteronormativity and gender binarism in both SRE content, and schools as institutions.