Gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender people have been employed in American educational settings since the Colonial Period. Through historical research, legal case studies, newspaper accounts, & personal interviews, the author traces the controversies over gay & lesbian issues in education. In addition to local disputes, this volume looks at three state-wide movements against gay educators that Anita Bryant led in Florida; John Briggs led in California; & the Oklahoma law against the employment of GLBT educators in state public schools. Walt Whitman, Margaret Fuller, Amos Bronson Alcott, Horatio Alger & other prominent Americans are profiled in the early GLBT educator chapters, while the newly found research on the Communist witch hunts in Florida public schools during the late 1950s highlights the traditional views of homosexuality & the consequences of being gay or lesbian in American society. Recent advancements in minority rights are balanced against a discussion of emergent Far Right backlash efforts to control the ideology & politics of American society. This interdisciplinary analysis of gay & lesbian issues in education is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the current political & social struggles over personal freedoms & public constraints.