Problematizing democracy: Hidden problematizations in queer content prohibition policies

Abstract

Recent policies prohibiting queer content and conversations in schools represent a new approach to curricular censorship and prejudice by combining parental rights advocacy framing with historical discrimination against and fear of queer identities. Impacts of these policies move beyond tangible classrooms and problematize the foundational ideals of democratic education. Guided by Levinson et al.’s (2009) conceptualization of policy as power and Werts & Brewer’s (2014) understanding of policy implementation as a political act, this critical discourse analysis study used Bacchi’s (2009) what’s the problem represented to be (WPR) policy analysis approach to identify and analyze problematizations, categorizations, and assumptions made by queer content prohibition policies passed and implemented in the United States between January 2022 and May 2025. All 15 polices present, encourage, and/or extend the problem that public schools are untrustworthy because (1) schools are indoctrinating vulnerable students by providing inappropriate sexual orientation and gender identity content and forcing the use of gender-affirming pronouns; (2) parents are purposefully uninformed about classroom curricular content, health services, and the content of or motivations behind conversations between school personnel and students; and (3) schools prevent parental involvement and do not provide safe opportunities for parents to combat disagreeable content.