Gay, Rural, and Coming Out: A Case Study of One School's Experience

Rural Educator, The, Spring 2004 by Pace, Nicholas J

Research, though limited, indicates that many school administrators are uninformed with regard to 1/g/b/t issues. Lambda Legal, a national gay civil rights organization added a disturbing piece to the body of school atmosphere research. Lamda cited a Michigan report in which 78% of school administrators indicated they knew of no gay, lesbian, or bisexual students in their school. At the same time, 94% of the same administrators indicated they felt their schools were safe places for their gay and lesbian students.

Method

My research began by talking with Pete (a pseudonym) about his coming out experiences during his senior year. It was however, difficult to know which members of the school or community I should seek to interview. I found that, while the entire school and community had been aware of Pete's coming out, it was difficult to determine who should be interviewed. Bogdan and Bicklin (2003) provided guidance for the use of network, or snowball, sampling. I thus asked Pete to identify other individuals with whom I should conduct in-depth interviews. Pete identified several members of the senior class who had taken a physics class together during their senior year. In turn, Pete's classmates suggested others to interview, including the science teacher, guidance counselor, Pete's mother, and a clergy person. All told, I conducted in-depth interviews with ten individuals. Where feasible, research was conducted using face-to-face interviews, and a number of guided questions. I had initially planned to tape record the interviews, but felt it necessary to make subjects feel as comfortable as possible. I was concerned with this issue as I had previously been the students' principal and the teachers' supervisor. The fact that I had since left the school for a university position and the students had graduated helped minimize subjects' potential feelings of awkwardness or discomfort. I felt a recorder might inhibit some subjects and might seem too formal or intimidating.

Thus, I again applied suggestions from Bogdan and Bicklin (2003) for field notes and the structure of the interviews. I used a number of general questions designed to encourage subjects to explain their experiences and feelings, as well as probing, in-depth questions to provide clarification. I took short notes during interviews and then wrote more extensive notes immediately following. As several of Pete's former classmates had left the area for college, some interviews took place over the telephone.

As I reviewed the transcripts, I decided not to engage in formal coding, but to employ a narrative analysis, following the method described by Silverman (2000) who advocates narrative analysis as a means for understanding participants' categories. As I had been involved in the events I was studying, I took additional guidance from work by EIHs and Bochner (2000) and Adler and Adler (1987), who offer extensive guidance on autoethnography and complete-member research.

Background

Pete was a third generation member of a local family. He had attended the school, which had enrollment at the time of around 525 students K-12, since kindergarten. Though a natural athlete, computers and technology drew his attention more than athletics or music. Pete was a personable, articulate young man, who was neither a troublemaker nor a teacher's pet. He was, in many ways, an average small town high school student, if there is such a thing.