Laws in some states enforce inclusivity of LGBTQ+ issues across the curriculum. California, for instance, has implemented new legislation supporting inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes in the classroom. The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act was enacted in early 2012. It mandates an inclusive and nondiscriminatory curriculum, including LGBTQ+ historical events (such as the Stonewall rebellion). The act was passed to curb LGBTQ+ suicides and alleviate bullying.[28]
Other states shortly followed suit. New York and Washington adopted more inclusive laws for their school districts that took effect July 2012.[29] The Dignity for All Students Act requires public school boards in both states to include language regarding sexual orientation and gender expression in their curricula and school policies. A similar law passed in early 2019 requires all New Jersey schools to teach LGBTQ+ history and achievements across the curriculum.
An additional level of protection exists for transgender students that is based on federal law. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits schools from disclosing a student’s transgender status. Additionally, the law allows youth to amend school records if information is “inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s rights of privacy,” which enables students to change their name and gender marker on their transcripts.[30] The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services can investigate complaints made by students and parents. In cases of discrimination, the Department of Education can sue the school district and deny federal funding.[31]
Supportive Schools
Over the last several decades, with sociocultural changes across the United States toward greater LGBTQ+ acceptance, schools have increasingly become more positive spaces for youth, some more than others. Positive schools typically have several key assets, including an environment where youth interact with caring and accepting educators and staff. Other assets include supportive school groups, inclusive curricula, and comprehensive policies to reduce school harassment and bullying. Supportive schools make it a standard policy for all youth to be more accepting and inclusive of LGBTQ+ students and are less likely to tolerate discriminatory and violent behavior between students. LGBTQ+ students in more supportive environments are less likely to have depression and suicidal ideation, use drugs, and be truant.[32]
The Role of Educators and Other Support Staff
Educators play an integral role in healthy youth development and increase feelings of safety for LGBTQ+ students. When cisgender and heterosexual teachers become allies of LGBTQ+ students and advocate for and support them, these students increase their academic achievement and their quality of life. Some educators even advance their allyship further and mentor students, sponsor LGBTQ+ student organizations, connect LGBTQ+ students to community resources, and openly advocate for inclusion despite consequences imposed by employers (e.g., probation or loss of employment). Studies on transgender youth have found that when school staff are more supportive, trans youth feel safer because the teachers are more likely to stop harassment when they see it. Including material on LGBTQ+ lives in course content, such as sex education, can have a large impact on the mental and emotional well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.[33]
The Teacher Behind America's 1st LGBT Program: Fearless
Virginia Uribe, a retired teacher and counselor in the Los Angeles Unified School District, started Project 10, the first LGBTQ+ support program for students. On a 2015 episode of the MSNBC web series Fearless (https://youtu.be/-QFEL5rh4UQ), she describes the obstacles she faced when she founded the program in 1984 and some of the lessons she learned. Uribe has earned numerous awards for her work on behalf of LGBTQ+ youth.
Why was Project 10 such an important organization?
Who were her early allies and advocates, and who was unable to support the project—or even attacked it? Why?
What can we learn from comparing the environment that Uribe worked in during the late 1980s and early 1990s with the environment for LGBTQ+ youth now?
LGBTQ+ Clubs
LGBTQ+ clubs, originally known as gay-straight alliances, are school-based organizations that enhance the school community for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies and are often advised by an allied or self-identifying teacher at the school. LGBTQ+ clubs promote advocacy, encourage youth leadership, and allow youths to socialize in a supportive and nondiscriminatory environment. Developed in Massachusetts during the 1980s, LGBTQ+ clubs originally focused on the needs of sexual minority youth. National organizations, such as the GSA Network and GLSEN, and several state-focused organizations were influential in spreading LGBTQ+ clubs to more schools across the United States (figure 9.8). More recently, with the increasing emphasis on the needs of transgender youth, groups have been adjusting their focus to include the needs and rights of gender minority students in their missions. Some groups, for example, have altered their names to Gender-Sexuality Alliance or even Queer Student Alliance to encompass a broad spectrum of identities.[34]
Having LGBTQ+ clubs in school is one of the largest protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth. Research on victimization, drug use, and mental health found reduced instances of victimization and harassment and increased feelings of support and connectivity, leading to reductions in anxiety and depression. Students felt more connected, empowered, and supported by their schools and other adults, and they were less inclined to feel marginalized and victimized by peers and school-based adults.[35]
Figure 9.8. Gay-straight alliances save lives. Rally in support of Bill 24 in Calgary, Canada, on November 12, 2017. (CC BY, JmacPherson.)
Whereas most LGBTQ+ clubs are embraced and supported in schools, some receive pushback from the administration, community, school boards, and parents fearing the club may encourage homosexuality. In the most extreme cases, some opponents have gone as far as banning all school clubs. Unfortunately, resistance occurs most often in school districts where LGBTQ+ students need these services the most. For example, in 2003, in an effort to eliminate controversy after approving a LGBTQ+ student group at a high school in Boyd County, Kentucky, a principal banned all noncurricular clubs at the school for the remainder of the year.[36]
Bathrooms and Locker Rooms
Beginning in the 2010s, controversy about the use of bathrooms and locker rooms for gender minority youth increased. As of 2016, over half the states in the United States were suing over the rights of transgender students to use the bathroom aligned with their gender. LGBTQ+ youth perceive bathrooms as the most unsafe spaces within their school building. Although not all schools can undergo a full renovation to include a new gender-neutral restroom, schools can take a current restroom and relabel it as gender neutral for all students to use (see an example in figure 9.9). Gender-neutral or single-stall bathrooms increase the sense of security of LGBTQ+ youth. They provide a safe space for youth to use the restroom without having to choose between which bathroom to use or anticipate the negative backlash if someone who is unaccepting is inside. Unfortunately, gender minority youth are often the main advocates for bathrooms accommodating the needs of transgender persons. Having other supportive systems in place, such as educators who are accepting or LGBTQ+ clubs, often encourages gender minority youth to speak up and advocate for their needs.[37]
Figure 9.9. A bathroom for all genders and abilities. (CC BY-SA, Jeffrey Beall.)
Physical education courses are particularly difficult aspects of school for LGBTQ+ students. A study found that more than half of LGBTQ+ youth had been assaulted or harassed in physical education classes at least once because of their sexual orientation (52.8 percent) or gender expression (50.9 percent). Often this mistreatment is due to gender socialization about how masculine or feminine one should be and can often lead to difficulties for gender minority youth when using locker rooms and other facilities aligned with their gender identity.[38]
Contrary to media presentations about the danger from transgender people using bathrooms aligned with their gender, it is gender minority youth who are at significantly greater risk for experiencing trauma and violence in these public spaces. Eleven percent of LGBTQ+ youth never feel safe in a locker room, with discomfort steeply increasing for transgender and nonbinary youth in these spaces. Forty-one percent of transgender boys, 34 percent of transgender girls, and 31 percent of nonbinary youth never feel safe in locker rooms. Slightly more than half (51 percent) of transgender youth have never used the locker room aligned with their gender identity, instead either using the locker room aligned with their sex assigned at birth or not participating in physical education activities. A national study conducted by the Human Rights Campaign found that one-third of all LGBTQ+ students do not attend physical education courses, 39 percent avoid locker rooms, and 23 percent avoid all school athletic facilities and fields, all of which can lead to further isolation and ostracization.[39]
Challenges of Educators
Educators face several challenges when addressing the needs of LGBTQ+ students. A study found that diversity courses for preservice teachers, school counselors, and school psychologists covered race, class, and (dis)ability but failed to mention the needs of LGBTQ+ students. Ultimately, this leads to educators feeling unprepared to work with LGBTQ+ students, being unable to adjust their interactions, and wondering how to advocate for students on these issues. Even after getting licensed, many education professionals are not able to access comprehensive professional development opportunities and training, despite their interest. Many professionals have to find the appropriate resources for themselves.[40]
Community opposition can also significantly influence educators’ willingness to support youth. Despite personal acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth, some educators are reluctant to indicate their support of LGBTQ+ students out of fear of negative parental response, administrative backlash, and possible loss of employment. In particularly conservative areas, and in religiously affiliated schools, teachers may not have permission from the administration to demonstrate their support. Evaluations of teacher-candidate training found that, despite research stating the importance of inclusion and school safety for LGBTQ+ students, many teachers would be unwilling to advocate for the needs of LGBTQ+ students or were unwilling to discuss sexual and gender minority identities publicly in the classroom. Although the culture of schools has been improving, schools still remain politically and religiously charged institutions and a battleground for the rights of LGBTQ+ students.[41]
Conclusion
LGBTQ+ youth have several means of support and affirmation that can lead to positive health outcomes into their adulthood. Childhood through adolescence is a critical stage of development for all youth, but for LGBTQ+ youth the failure of any one support system (family, school, peers, sports, etc.) can have lifelong consequences. With national trends across all youth systems moving toward greater levels of acceptance and with the power of resilience, LGBTQ+ youth are equipped now more than ever to have positive and productive lives. All adults can be advocates for the rights and needs of LGBTQ+ youth.
Check Your Knowledge
Contributed by Has Arakelyan, Rio Hondo College except Discussion Questions
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. What was the original focus of LGBTQ+ clubs when they were first developed in the 1980s?
A) Academic achievement
B) Needs of sexual minority youth
C) Sports participation
D) School fundraising
2. Which of the following is a major benefit of having LGBTQ+ clubs in schools?
A) Increased academic pressure
B) Higher rates of truancy
C) Reduced victimization and harassment
D) Decreased student engagement
3. What is a common reason some school districts resist LGBTQ+ clubs?
A) Concerns about academic performance
B) Lack of student interest
C) Fear that the club may encourage homosexuality
D) Budget constraints
4. What facility change can schools make to increase the sense of security for LGBTQ+ youth?
A) Add more sports teams
B) Relabel a restroom as gender neutral
C) Increase homework assignments
D) Ban all noncurricular clubs
5. According to the text, who are often the main advocates for bathrooms accommodating transgender students?
A) school administrators
B) local government officials
C) parents
D) gender minority youth
Discussions Questions
How do LGBTQ+ clubs contribute to a more supportive and inclusive school environment?
What challenges do LGBTQ+ clubs face in some school districts, and why might these challenges be more pronounced in certain areas?
In what ways can gender-neutral bathrooms impact the daily experiences of LGBTQ+ students?
Why is it important for schools to have both supportive clubs and inclusive facilities for LGBTQ+ youth?
How can allies—both students and staff—help advocate for the needs of gender minority students in their schools?
Multiple-Choice Questions - Answers
1. B) Needs of sexual minority youth
2. C) Reduced victimization and harassment
3. C) Fear that the club may encourage homosexuality
4. B) Relabel a restroom as gender neutral
5. D) gender minority youth
