Public Opinion Toward Gay and Lesbian Teachers

• Author: Gregory B. Lewis,Howard E. Taylor
• Published date: 01 June 2001
• Date: 01 June 2001
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X0102100203
• Subject Matter: Articles

REVIEW OF PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION / Summer 2001
Lewis, Taylor / GAY AND LESBIAN TEACHERS
Public Opinion Toward Gay
and Lesbian Teachers
Insights for All Public Employees
GREGORY B. LEWIS
HOWARD E. TAYLOR
Georgia State University
Public opinion plays a key role in determining what formal and informal
protections gay and lesbian teachers have on the job. This study examines 25
years of professional polling data to discern public attitudes regarding lesbians
and gay men as elementary, high school, and college teachers. Data from 23 sur-
veys conducted since 1987, covering over 35,000 respondents, is then analyzed to
determine how public opinion varies by educational level, year of birth, religion,
marital status, region, party identification, sex, and race. Though gay teachers
remain controversial, and majority support for elementary school teachers only
emerged in the late 1990s, public acceptance has grown steadily, with the growth
accelerating in the past decade.
Althoughmostgayandlesbianemployeescanbefiredlegallysolelyonthe
basis of their sexual orientation, they typically have more legal
protections in the public than in the private sector. In addition to due process
protections, federal employees benefit from the Civil Service Reform Act of
19781 and Executive Order 13087 (1998), both of which prohibit discrimi-
nation on the basis of sexual orientation in the civil service. Overall, 17 states
and more than 100 local governments (out of 80,000) provide similar
protections for their employees (Button, Rienzo, & Wald, 1997). The effec-
tiveness of these protections is unclear (Colvin, 2000; Riccucci & Gossett,
1996), however, and many lesbians and gay men face difficult decisions about
whether to be open about their sexual orientation in the workplace.
Authors’ Note: We are grateful to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press for giving us the
Times-Mirror surveys, to the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research for provid-
ing the General Social Survey, to the Roper Center for providing the Gallup polls, and to the School of
Public Affairs of American University for funding membership in the Roper Center.
Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 21, No. 2 Summer 2001 133-151
© 2001 Sage Publications
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REVIEW OF PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION / Summer 2001
Public opinion largely determines the legal and social environments
that provide formal and informal protections for lesbians and gay men—
governments pass gay rights laws where the public supports them, and les-
bians and gay men feel most comfortable being themselves in accepting
environments. Lewis (1999) found that public acceptance of gay and les-
bian teachers is a strong predictor of state gay rights laws, and gay teachers
have generated enough controversy that polling firms have surveyed public
opinion about their level of acceptance since the early 1970s. This allows
detailed analysis of attitudes toward these public employees. Assessing how
public opinion about gay teachers is changing and what factors affect it can
clarify trends in safety for gay educators as well as other public employees.
What follows is a brief review of arguments for coming out, especially for
teachers. Next, is an assessment of legal protections for gay public employ-
ees and their relation to public opinion. Then, two questions are addressed
using an analysis of 25 years of professionally conducted surveys of the U.S.
population. First, how much has public acceptance of gay and lesbian
teachers increased? Second, what individual characteristics influence that
acceptance? Using survey data on over 35,000 respondents since 1987, how
public opinion varies is analyzed by educational level, birth cohort, reli-
gion, marital status, region, party identification, sex, and race. The findings
suggest that it is increasingly safe for gay and lesbian teachers and other
public employees to come out but that safety varies substantially based on
employee location as well as client and coworker characteristics.
Why Come Out?
Most gay people attempt to hide their sexual orientations on the job.
Surveys of lesbians and gay men indicate nearly one third have experienced
serious discrimination on the job, three fifths often or always suffer job
stress due to their sexual orientation, and more than two thirds fear dis-
crimination if their orientation were to become known (Woods & Lucas,
1993, pp. 8-10). Though many heterosexuals prefer that gay people stay in
the closet, to do so requires carefully monitoring the personal information
one shares with coworkers and maintaining strong boundaries between
one’s personal and professional lives. These strategies limit the intimacy
and authenticity of work relationships (Woods & Lucas, 1993).
Gay and lesbian teachers probably experience more fear and devote more
energy to keeping their sexual orientations secret than do other gay people.



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Lewis, Taylor / GAY AND LESBIAN TEACHERS
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Teachers have been lightning rods in the fight over gay rights. Anita Bryant
made them the target of her successful 1977 campaign against Dade
County, Florida’s gay rights ordinance. Senate opponents of the 1996
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) repeatedly raised the spec-
ter of gay teachers in their speeches. National controversies over lesbians
and gay men in education issues (e.g., the Rainbow Curriculum in New
York City, a Michigan music teacher who held a private commitment cere-
mony with his partner, and gay/straight alliance clubs in Utah) remind
teachers their coming out might spark intense publicity. Although their
legal and political position has strengthened substantially over the past
three decades, most remain deeply in the “classroom closet.” Few feel they
can afford to be open about their sexual orientations until the state provides
greater protection from discrimination and the public becomes more
accepting.
For gay and lesbian teachers, remaining in the closet not only has per-
sonal costs; it severely restricts their ability to serve as healthy role models
for gay and lesbian students, who are at special risk of mistreatment by peers
and of a variety of self-destructive behaviors. Most gay and lesbian youth
attend schools where faggot is among the most common insults. About 60%
of gay males and 30% of lesbians report being verbally or physically
attacked at least once between middle school and college because of being
perceived as gay (Gross & Aurand, 1992). Gay and lesbian youth are much
more likely than their peers to report being threatened with a weapon at
school, skipping school because of feeling unsafe, or dropping out because
of harassment or threat of harm (Antonucci, 1996; Hale & Donahue, 1997;
Reis, 1997; Remafedi, 1987). Almost all gay and lesbian youth must come to
terms with their sexuality without the help of schools or significant adults
(Unks, 1994). Not surprising, many gay and lesbian adolescents respond to
the stress in dangerous ways: Gay and lesbian youth are more likely than
others to run away from home and become homeless, try cocaine, binge on
alcohol, and attempt suicide (Antonucci, 1996; Hale & Donahue, 1997;
Kipke, O’Conner, Palmer, & MacKenzie, 1995; Reis, 1997).
Schools and courts have begun to recognize the responsibility of schools
to create learning environments that encourage tolerance and understand-
ing of gay and lesbian issues. In the wake of Jamie Nabozny’s $900,000 out-
of-court settlement with a Wisconsin school district where school officials
failed to protect him from years of severe antigay abuse from fellow stu-
dents, gay and lesbian students have filed similar cases in several states



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REVIEW OF PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION / Summer 2001
(Dinh, 1997). Schools increasingly provide counseling for gay and lesbian
students, personnel training in violence and suicide prevention, and pro-
grams, lessons, and books that provide age-appropriate information on gay
and lesbian issues.
Among the most effective, and riskiest, strategies to improve school cli-
mate is for gay and lesbian faculty and staff to come out to their colleagues
and students. Openly gay teachers can provide positive role models for gay
and lesbian students, as well as positive counterexamples for straight stu-
dents, all of whom are exposed repeatedly to negative stereotypes of lesbians
and gay men. Openly gay teachers may also change the environment of
acceptance of antigay remarks and actions. The presence of African Ameri-
can teachers and principals, as well as female math teachers in schools, has
had a positive impact on the success of Black and female students respec-
tively (Keiser, Wilkins, & Holland, 2000; Meier 1984). The presence of
openly gay and lesbian teachers should have a similar effect on gay and les-
bian students.
Employment Protections and Public Opinion
During the Cold War, the public saw lesbians and gay men as threats to
both national security and children, and governments responded with
extraordinary efforts to remove them from public posts (D’Emilio, 1983;
Lewis, 1997). Teachers were a special target: Immorality was the most com-
mon grounds for firing a teacher listed in state laws (Harbeck, 1997). Well
into the 1970s, being revealed as a lesbian or gay man meant near-certain
dismissal or forced resignation...