Listening to silences and whispers of early childhood educators who care for children with parents who are lesbian or gay

The objective of this study was to research the experiences of early childhood educators in rural settings in relation to parents who are lesbian and gay. In order to do this I interviewed teachers and directors at childcare centers, family daycares and preschool and conducted observations within the same sites in which I reviewed the visual artifacts in the classrooms such as posters, books, toys and notes to families. I also completed content analysis of family handbooks and enrollment forms for each of the early childhood settings examining the use of words which related to terms representative of family members.; The results are shared through the use of a story in which one couple (two moms) seeks childcare for their young son in a rural area. I developed the story by taking excerpts from the interviews with the teachers and directors and information from the observations. I found that more of the teachers and directors had experience with parents who are lesbian and gay than I had expected but in some cases the staff did not mention the parents' sexual orientation even if it may have seemed the parents were "outing" themselves to the staff.; Of the staff interviewed, many were able to tell stories about differentiating care for children or parent who were "diverse" in some way but could not think of ways they would change what they do for children or the parents who are lesbian or gay. There were other staff members who did change their practice when they had parents who are lesbian or gay at their center (adding books with same sex parents to the classroom or reading them to children, adding symbols of gay pride to the classroom, openly discussing the families with the children). And finally, there were staff members who stated they would change their practice if asked specifically by parents to do something different.