Abstract:
The provision of sexuality education has shown to be inconsistent, producing knowledge gaps between schools and classrooms (Education Review Office, 2018). These inconsistencies and knowledge gaps are often permeated by heteronormativity, which renders
queerness invisible in the curriculum (Allen, 2015). Today, many young people internally
recognise the fluidity of their own identity and some externally explore their fluidity through
performance and expression. For queer youth, the absence of queer inclusive sexuality
education marginalises and misrepresents diverse sexualities and genders, signalling these are
subjects not to be discussed in certain social contexts.
Sexuality, education and identity are issues pertinent to young people, although they
are often considered in isolation. Thus, this thesis seeks to understand complexities of queer
identity in sexuality education in New Zealand secondary schools. Guided by the research
question: how does the (in)visibility of queerness in sexuality education impact queer youth
subjectivities? this research highlights lived experiences of queer youth, underpinned by
queer poststructuralist theory. The findings of this research suggest that queer youth are
increasingly embracing fluid identities, although these identities are silenced in schooling and
sexuality education. In response to the invisibility of queerness, queer youth are actively
finding visibility through spaces of belonging where they are then able to see themselves and
their queerness reflected.