“We Keep it Low Key”: LGBTQIA+ Rural Language Educators’ Experiences in the Southeastern United States

In language education, limited attention to issues of gender and sexual diversity is often commonplace. In particular, rural contexts are often absent from such conversations even though place influences perceptions and practice. While rural language educators can serve as agents of change and can therefore experience increased emotional labor and burnout as well as marginalization, it is essential to understand the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ language educators in such contexts. This mixed methods study, then, sought to understand the intersections between LGBTQIA+ language educators gender, sexual, and professional identities in the rural Southeastern United States. Findings draw attention to the negotiations between heteronormative discourses, their identities, and their practice. Implications for this study address the interconnectedness of place, gender, and sexual identities in confronting cisheteronormativity in contexts that are not always amenable to LGBTQIA+ identities.