Inviting the breach: confronting homophobia in the name of social justice.

In 2008 California was divided over Proposition 8, a measure designed to prohibit same-sex marriage. In this article, we focus on a university classroom setting to explore how discussions about Proposition 8 and homophobia led to what Turner (1986) termed a social drama. Drawing on student personal narratives as they moved through the stages of social drama, we provide a poignant example of the conflict that may erupt when homophobia and heteronormativity are part of the curriculum.