Queering Human Rights Education: Research, Praxis and Liberation for LGBTQIA2S+
>> Details and submission information
Guest Editors: David Donahue, Maria Autrey Noriega Lori Selke, Mauro Sifuentes
Description: This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights Education (IJHRE)
queers human rights and human rights education, drawing on the multiple definitions of queer:
as a noun, adjective, and verb. As a noun, queer is an umbrella term for members of the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/aromantic/agender,
two spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) community, with the plus sign in the acronym holding space for new
and expanding understanding about identity related to sexuality and gender. As an adjective,
queer speaks to departing from the norm, differing from expectations regarding sexual
orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). As a verb, queer
refers to challenging all that is considered normal and natural. Queering is about troubling
power and replacing binary thinking with more complex, fluid ways of understanding.
In keeping with these multiple definitions, the editors of the special issue seek articles that are
about the human rights desires and celebrations of LGBTQIA2S+ people as well as the
challenges and contestations of those rights. In addition, we seek articles that challenge
normative thinking about human rights and HRE, particularly in terms of gender and sexuality
and that trouble what it means to teach and research in the field of human rights. We welcome
scholarship that not only expands what we know but questions, challenges, and complicates
how we come to know something and why we think it is valuable. We are especially interested
in articles that:
- Draw on, critique, extend, and operationalize the Yogyakarta Principles and Principles
Plus Ten as part of HRE
- Center trans perspectives and experiences at this moment of social and state-
sanctioned violence and oppression against trans persons
- Balance queer joy, desire, and creativity with the oppression, harm, and marginalization
of LGBTQIA2S+ persons
- Focus on practices and embodiments of queer liberation, including spaces where the
rights of queer youth, advocates, and educators thrive
- Employ queer theory, including queer futurity and temporality, to examine the
assumptions and logic of education, including human rights education.
Scholars, teachers, community organizers, advocates, artists, and all other thinkers and doers,
including youth, are invited to submit proposals for empirical, theoretical, and reflective articles
that queer/are queering/have queered (but are not limited to) human rights and education.
We welcome contributions looking inside and outside of the classroom, across all global
settings, from early childhood, primary, and secondary education to higher education, adult
education, and immigrant/refugee education and their intersections with HRE curriculum and
educational materials; HRE pedagogy and practices; HRE community and spaces; HRE history
and scholarship; and/or HRE advocacy and policy. Visual art, poetry, and creative nonfiction are
welcomed as well as texts grounded in social science. We also seek book reviews, including
reviews focused on trade books and children’s literature, as well as scholarly texts, focused on
SOGIESC.
Proposal Guidelines: Email proposals to lead editor, David Donahue, at ddonahue@usfca.edu.
Proposals are due April 10, 2024. Authors will be notified of decisions within four weeks (by
mid-May) of the deadline. First manuscripts will be due September 1, 2024. Research articles
(6000-9000 words) are empirically-based works or original conceptual contributions. The
Pedagogy, Community, and Praxis section includes community-based commentaries, emerging
themes and ideas from empirical research, community-based work that may not be completed,
and creative works (3000 words maximum). In this special issue, such pieces may highlight the
work of queer/trans community members and/or leaders who may not be engaged in empirical
studies but whose ideas are grounded in queer(ed) thinking. Authors are instructed to follow
the IJHRE author guidelines available at:
https://repository.usfca.edu/ijhre/styleguide.html.
Article proposals should be in 12-point font and brief; descriptions should not exceed 500
words (including citations; references are not required for this stage). Please discuss the
research topic and how the work relates to the major components of this issue outlined in this
call for proposals. In addition, please include the working title of the article, the type of article
(Original Article; Pedagogy, Community & Practice piece; or book review, see here for
descriptions), name and affiliation of the author(s), and contact information for the
corresponding author (email and mailing address). Please send proposals in Word or PDF
format.
The special issue is aiming for publication in Spring 2025. IJHRE is a fully peer-reviewed and
open access, online journal; open access for all readers worldwide and regardless of
institutional affiliation is a central factor in the editors’ decision to work with this journal. To
date, articles in the journal have been downloaded nearly 60,000 times from more than 180
countries.
About the Special Guest Editors:
David Donahue (he/him) is a passionate advocate of queering curriculum and creating space for
LGBTQ+ students in schools. Currently, he is Professor of Education at the University of San
Francisco in the International and Multicultural Education department. Before coming to USF in
2015, he was a professor and administrator at Mills College. He is the author of articles,
chapters, and presentations on LGBTQ+ topics and co-author of the report Making the
Framework Fair (2014) which recommended changes for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the California
History-Social Sciences Framework for K-12 students in public schools.
Maria Autrey (she/they) is a queer immigrant educator and activist from Mexico with over a
decade of experience in teaching and facilitating experiential learning for High School and
College students. Maria’s research focuses on liberatory sexuality education, exploring the use
of critical pedagogy in non-formal grassroots projects to foster social change through the
promotion of radical acceptance, and erotic embodiment. Maria completed their doctorate in
International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco and currently
serves as the Associate Director of Community Engaged Learning at Santa Clara University.
Lori Selke (she/they) is a doctoral candidate in the University of San Francisco Department of
International and Multicultural Education and an Assistant Managing Editor at the International
Journal of Human Rights Education (IJHRE). She co-edited the final edition of The Black Book, a
landmark directory of alternative sexuality resources, and co-curated the performance series
Perverts Put Out!, which was in its time San Francisco’s longest-running spoken-word
showcase. Her non-academic writing has appeared at Curve, Girlfriends, and NPR as well as in
numerous queer anthologies.
Mauro Sifuentes (any/all pronouns) is a scholar-educator whose academic work focuses on
decolonial queer and trans studies in education. He has spent over two decades working as an
LGBTQ+ advocate in public education systems across California, bringing queer-of-color and
queer Indigenous perspectives into student and youth advocacy and leadership development.
Mauro’s work prioritizes critical pedagogical experiments, political and human rights education
with youth, and community-informed feminist research methodologies.
Timeline
April 10 – 500 word abstracts due
May 15 – decision letters sent
Sept 1 – first versions of articles due
October 1 – reviews from peers
November 15 – revised articles due
March/April 2025 – launch of special issue
HRE USA 