Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0007-6830-4659
Abstract
Nonbinary teachers are seldom the focus of teacher studies, particularly in challenging places such as the rural Southeastern United States. Through a critical ethnographic case study, we explored the stories of two nonbinary teachers who grew up and worked in rural South Carolina. We examined their cultural contexts, including legislative factors, school policies, and school cultures, and we highlighted how these systems created a hostile environment for queer and trans* individuals. Our participants shared how their lived experiences as queer and gender-diverse individuals provided them with an insider perspective about rural South Carolina culture and its limitations. We also found that this knowledge combined with their poor working conditions emboldened them to resist through acts of queer and trans* defiance, which we attributed to paradoxical empowerment.
Methodological Approach
Qualitative
DOI
https://doi.org/10.60808/9nv3-9r04
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Divens, C. C., & Coker, J. M. (2026). "What are they going to do? Fire me?" The Paradoxical Empowerment of Nonbinary Teachers in Rural South Carolina. Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.60808/9nv3-9r04
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Included in
Education Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons
