How Homophobia Hurts Children: Nurturing Diversity at Home, at School, and in the Community. - book review

Adolescence, Summer, 2002

BAKER, Jean M. How Homophobia Hurts Children: Nurturing Diversity at Home, at School, and in the Community. New York: Harrington Park Press, 2002. 224pp. $49.95 (h), $24.95 (p).

This book illustrates the ways that children growing up to be gay are harmed by homophobia before anyone, including themselves, even knows they are gay. This volume describes many simple ways that these children can be helped to understand that they can grow up to lead normal lives, with hopes and dreams for their futures. How Homophobia Hurts Children brings home the voices of these children. They describe their experiences to show how they came to the frightening recognition that they are part of a group held in disregard by the rest of society, even sometimes by their own families. In this volume you will find: a chapter on identity development, following the Eriksonian model; interviews with high school students who are self-identified as gay; firsthand descriptions of the harassment and victimization of those perceived as gay in schools; research on how victimization at school affects gay youths; a discussion of the relatively new phenomenon of gay-straight alliances (gay support groups or clubs); and a chapter on transgender identity featuring interviews with four transsexual persons who describe their personal childhood experiences and their transition process. The book also explains how homophobia affects the attitudes of non-gay children by leading them to believe that it is acceptable to mistreat homosexuals. Finally, specific suggestions are made for changes in parenting and changes in school/classroom practices that could help prevent the harm that is inflicted upon so many gay children.