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Leadership experiences of lesbian, gay male, and bisexual (LGB) school superintendents of Color were explored in this study. All LGB superintendents in recent research were White; this finding, along with literature on LGB identity, race and ethnicity, discrimination, and educational leadership, provided context for two research questions about how American LGB school superintendents of Color experience being leaders and being stigmatized. Critical race and queer theories provided the theoretical framework for the study. Semi-structured, in-person interviews, observations, and demographic data were compiled in a phenomenological approach to examine the leadership experiences of the high-level school leaders. Five current and former superintendents and assistant superintendents were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling from the U.S. Northeast and Pacific Coast regions. Participants included one African American gay male, one Asian American bisexual female, one Asian American gay male, and two Latinx gay males. Following thematic analysis, primary findings about the leadership experiences included the following themes: leadership, sexual identity, ethnic identity, stigmatization, and support. In the theme of leadership, while experiencing some discrimination, superintendents did not operate in a climate of fear; and, in the theme of ethnic identity, ethnic or racial identity maintained a greater influence on leadership than sexual identity. Participants provided a contrast to the previous research on the subject where findings indicated there were constraints of heteronormative expectations while delivering out queer leadership. Due to resilience from race and ethnicity and protection provided by location, the superintendents effectively managed issues of LGB identity in school leadership -- leading as emancipated LGB school administrators.

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Allan Keith Young 2180
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