“Did You Really Feel You Needed to Tell Us?”: Looking for Leadership in All the Queer Places

Abstract

Increasing numbers of educational leaders who identify as LGBTQ+ are assuming the school superintendency. This chapter shares the findings from interviews with eight current or retired school superintendents who identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. It addresses issues of how these superintendents identify themselves professionally and explores the issues of lifestyle accommodations, their professional coming out process, work life implications, discrimination they experienced, and how their sexual orientation impacts their leadership capacity. While some superintendents identify themselves as “gay superintendents,” others perceive themselves as superintendents who happen to be gay. Regardless of their perspective, they all attribute some of their success as a superintendent to their experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Drawing on queer theory and identity theory, this chapter explores the intersection of sexual identity and leadership in the relatively unstudied level of executive school leadership.

Citation

Lauk, R.A. (2023), "“Did You Really Feel You Needed to Tell Us?”: Looking for Leadership in All the Queer Places", Tran, H. and Jean-Marie, G. (Ed.) Leadership in Turbulent Times (Studies in Educational Administration), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-34. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-197-920231002