No Sanctuary: Teachers and the School Reform That Brought Gay Rights to the Masses

Massachusetts high school teacher Lane overpromises in this somewhat unfocused history of his state’s pioneering, bottom-up approach to improving conditions for lesbian and gay students and teachers in private and public high schools. Lane’s main narrative traces the path teachers and students took starting in the 1970s to create supportive organizations, bring administrators on board, and then expand their efforts through the state’s Student Advisory Council, alongside sympathetic politicians such as governor William Weld. This led to the creation of the Safe Schools program, which provides guidance and professional development for administrators and teachers. Lane’s account is meticulously researched and conveyed with dry wit—“Thus did gays become not only eroders of American values, but... menaces to children”—but weighed down at the beginning by an overly detailed history of the early gay rights movement, McCarthyism, and the backlash against gay rights in 1970s California. He also frequently repeats his secondary argument: that educational change is often championed by teachers, in contrast to the perception that it comes solely from administrators and faces opposition in the classroom. Lane’s audience appears to be educators and those interested in queer history. If they can wade through the chaff, there is plenty to learn. (Nov.)