Turn of the Century Conventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom has it that today’s queer youth and those working with them have an easier time than those of prior generations. From the transcontinental twin productions of Queer as Folk to the adoption of more inclusive LGBT policies in various provinces and states around the world, coming out queer (as a student or teacher) or finding institutional support (from GSAs and campus groups to queer studies and funded research) has never been easier. But conventional wisdom is seldom wise and never reflective. From Sydney to Selma, being sexually different or gender-odd is far from normalized. Despite attempts by some to straighten out queerness through heterosexualmimicry, these differences are a hallmark of human diversity, which many teachers–deputized as cultural cops–and students–schooled in heteronormative curricula–do their best to ignore, pity, lampoon, correct, criticize, or punish. So, why should it be surprising to find, in this journal issue, articles that challenge the conventional wisdom? Through Vaught’s eloquently written case study of southern gay Black adolescents, we see how these young men learned “a permanent lesson about lies and deceit–about for-