Rural School Counselors Supporting Queer Students in the Southeastern United States

Authors

• Harley Devon Locklear, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityFollow
• Damaris Bates, University of North Carolina, Chapel HillFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6842-7548

Abstract

This article aims to explore the storied experiences of school counselors who actively, overtly and covertly resist the oppression of queer students within rural schools throughout the Southeastern United States. Narrative Inquiry was the research methodology utilized to collect, interpret, and reconstruct these stories, culminating in the synthesization of six overarching themes capturing the factors contributing to and limiting the advocacy efforts of rural school counselors: View of Role, Counselor Self-Efficacy, Stakeholder Push-back, Services Offered, Advocacy Efforts, and Training and University Support. Implications for school counselors, counselor education program, and school administers are also discussed in relation to improving the efficacy of rural school counselors service and advocacy with relation to queer students.

Methodological Approach

Qualitative

DOI

https://doi.org/10.60808/2x9s-0680

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Locklear, H. D., & Bates, D. (2026). Rural School Counselors Supporting Queer Students in the Southeastern United States. Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.60808/2x9s-0680

1