“I Decided to Teach… Despite the Anger”: Using Forum Theatre to Connect Queer Activists, Teachers and School Leaders to Address Heterosexism in Schools

While South Africa’s transition to democracy was filled with promises of transformation in education and access to all South Africans, these promises are met by the reality of lasting and entrenched inequality. Schools remain defined by racism, sexism, and heterosexism. Regarding heterosexism, while there are many challenges; opportunities for dialogue and social change are emerging. This chapter explores the way school administrators, teachers, and queer activists connect to address heterosexism. Specifically, it addresses a critical question—what happens when queer activists, teachers, and school managers are brought together using the democratic dialogic process of Freire together with Augusto Boal’s Forum Theatre to address heterosexism in schools? The chapter argues that art-based methods not only offer a structure for dealing with complex and challenging conversation that may arise but is a constructive platform to create sketches that show what anti-heterosexist and inclusive schools for LGBTI learners might look like.