Creating a safe environment for your students, one that’s inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender affiliations, is vital for the success of your school. Educational consultant Jennifer Bryan offers valuable recommendations in this Net Assets article (published March/April 2012) for fostering a school atmosphere open to LGBTQI students, including an inclusivity checklist that will help you assess how your school stacks up.

1. inclusive
THE
SCHOOL
NAVIGATING SEXUALITY AND GENDER DIVERSITY ISSUES ON CAMPUS
BY ERIKA KROUSE
AS JACOB WALKS TO CLASS, he passes posters for the prom,
Risks to Students
Approximately one out of 10 kids in the United States is LGBTQI. This population of kids faces risks of a higher severity
than those of their heterosexual classmates, especially during
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NET ASSETS • MARCH / APRIL 2012
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knowing he can’t take a date without getting beaten up—
even at his nurturing and inclusive independent school. He
hears a student laughing at something on a poster, saying to
her friend, “That’s so gay”—and meaning “stupid.” He finally
makes it to English Lit, where he studies yet another heterosexual novel. At lunch off campus, a football player calls him
a faggot and throws a can of soda at the back of his head.
And Jacob hasn’t even come out yet.
Homophobia is part of most school cultures. Kids call each
other “fag,” “gay,” or “dyke” in what seems like casual conversation, but the effects are far from harmless. According
to the 2009 Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
(GLSEN) National School Climate Survey:
* 84.6 percent of LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex) students have been verbally
harassed about their sexual orientation, and 63.7 percent
about their gender expression.
* 40.1 percent have been physically harassed due to their sexual
orientation, and 27.2 percent due to their gender expression.
* 18.8 percent reported being physically assaulted at school
in the past year due to their sexual orientation, and 12.5
percent due to their gender expression.
the teen years. Columbia University research shows that approximately 56 percent of adolescent lesbians and 44 percent
of gay males use drugs. 83 percent of adolescent lesbians and
68 percent of gay males drink alcohol.
The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy reported that
LGBTQI depression rates are four to five times higher for
homosexual youth. According to the Hetrick-Martin Institute,
80 percent of LGBTQI kids report problems with cognitive,
social, or emotional isolation. The Archives of Pediatric and
Adolescent Medicine estimated that a third of LGBTQI youth
in grades 9-12 have attempted suicide, which is a rate two to
three times greater than that for heterosexual teens. Many
kids feel invisible, or overly visible.
Physical and sexual assault are of primary concern. Almost
a third of all LGBTQI kids miss school for safety reasons. Harassment can span the range from verbal bullying to rape and
armed violence. At one school, a student was held down while
the word “fag” was carved into his back.
Consequences can be long-term. Harassed kids have lower
grade point averages. According to GLSEN, homophobic
harassment makes kids twice as likely to reject college as a
future option. LGBTQI kids comprise about 20-40 percent of
the homeless youth population. Many kids are thrown out of
their homes once they come out.
The heteronormative environment in most schools can also
damage kids’ self-esteem. “This is not just about kids who are
gay,” says Bryan. “If you do not meet the stereotypical expectations of masculinity in boys and femininity in girls, it is hard
to fit into a school environment which is typically organized
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2. around ‘traditional’ ideas of who boys and girls should be in
Inclusivity Checklist
the world. Poet Adrienne Rich wrote, ‘When someone with
Schools striving to be inclusive to all students should look at
the authority of a teacher, say, describes the world and you are their policies and practices in several areas.
not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if
you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.’”
RISK MANAGEMENT. Is your school safe for all students? Do
you have a GSA? Has your board been educated on LGBTQI issues? Do you have an anti-bullying policy? Does it specifically
Student Engagement
Chloe, 14, has two moms and identifies as bisexual. With help mention LGBTQI kids? Is it actively or passively enforced?
from her librarian, she created an Ally Group in her middle
school. “Student involvement is the answer, like Ally Groups
and Gay-Straight Alliances,” she says. “With Allies, if you
WHAT DOES GLBTQI STAND FOR?
hear someone being bullied, you stop and teach them about
G GAY - a male homosexual
L LESBIAN - a female homosexual
why it’s not okay to use those words in a derogatory way. Our
B BISEXUAL - a person sexually responsive to both sexes
group also puts together school functions with speakers and
T TRANSGENDER - a person who identifies as a gender
singers. After an assembly we threw, I noticed a huge decrease
not assigned to them at birth. The term also includes
in the use of the word ‘gay’ as an insult.” Chloe’s Ally Group
transexuals, who have medically changed their external
grew from 12 to 70 members in one year.
sexual characteristics.
According to GLSEN, a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is one
Q QUEER - a sexual minority, living outside traditional,
of the top three most effective ways to create a safe school for
binary social norms about sexuality and gender. Q can
also stand for for Questioning—those who have not yet
LGBTQI kids (along with anti-bullying policies and a supportdecided on a sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
ive staff). “Every school is different,” says Chloe. “You have to
I INTERSEX - a person with sexual and reproductive
find a way to appeal to the interests of the student body and
anatomy that is ambiguous, or combined male and female.
make the kids care. For example, we’re a school for the arts, so
we brought in singers.”
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3. In Minnesota, the Anoka-Hennepin school
district is currently facing two LGBTQI
lawsuits —one for gay student harassment,
and one for refusing to discuss homosexuality
in the classroom. In 2010 in Boulder, Colorado, Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School
revoked a preschooler’s re-enrollment because
his parents are lesbians, and a similar event
occurred at St. Paul Elementary in Hingham,
Massachusetts. While Title IX lawsuits do not apply to schools
who don’t accept federal money, consequences from bad PR
can match or exceed those from a lawsuit.
Jennifer Bryan says, “When schools get sued, it’s usually
because the school is totally unprepared, or they’re in reactionary mode. It’s important to have policies in place.” Crucial
policies include: a nondiscrimination clause that specifically
mentions LGBTQI equity, an anti-harassment policy, a curricular policy, an athletic policy, and if applicable, an inclusive
dress code policy. An inclusive philosophy statement is also a
helpful tool.
TUITION
MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL AID
ASSESSMENT
ADMISSIONS &
ENROLLMENT
FACULTY AND STAFF. Does your school have LGBTQI faculty
and/or staff? Do same-sex partners of faculty and staff qualify
for insurance and family leave? Are faculty and staff regularly
trained on LGBTQI issues? Are teachers committed to educating about LGBTQI topics as part
of the curriculum? Do any teachers engage in
biased behavior?
“These are issues that most teachers are not
prepared to address effectively and comfortably,”
says Bryan. “That’s why professional development for faculty and staff is critical. The questions they ask most frequently are ‘What does
my administration want me to say or do? Will they support
me if I do it?’”
It’s difficult to believe that staff might contribute to harassment, but according to the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay
Task Force, 53 percent of LGBTQI students report hearing
homophobic comments made by school staff. In the 2009
GLSEN climate study, almost 83 percent of LGBTQI students
reported that faculty and staff rarely (or never) intervene
when homophobic verbal harassment occurs. “It’s more
what teachers don’t do rather than what they do,” says Chloe.
“Classrooms are relatively safe, but the hallways aren’t—there
are a lot of kids, and it can be passed off as a total accident
that you get pushed down the stairs. The teachers hear the
comments and they’re supposed to regulate them, but they
don’t help or say anything.”
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ADMISSION, RETENTION, ENVIRONMENT. Will a more inclusive
environment attract families? Will it help you keep the students you have? Is the environment a safe space for parents,
as well as for kids?
Independent schools can sometimes be the only option
for bullied LGBTQI kids. “In the end, inclusive independent schools will see more and more transgendered and gay
kids. It’s a safer environment,” says Bryan. “The same goes for
same-sex parents. Schools with a cluster of same-sex families
tend to draw additional families. You’re not such an anomaly.
Not every family is cut out to be the pioneer gay family. For
same-sex parents, when their kids enter school, it’s a huge
coming out. Kids are asked to bring in a family picture, and
there they are, suddenly up on the bulletin board.”
TECHNOLOGY. Do your internet filters allow kids to access
information about sexuality and LGBTQI issues? Can they
Google words like “transgender” and “queer?” How about
social justice movements and queer literature?
As schools combat internet pornography with stringent
filters, they may be depriving kids of information that helps
them cope with being different. Sites that focus on sexuality can give students tools to understand who they are and
reduce feelings of isolation.
RESOURCES FOR THE
INCLUSIVE SCHOOL
* Jennifer Bryan, educational consultant
(www.jenniferbryanphd.com).
* The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
(GLSEN, www.glsen.org).
* “The GLSEN Jump-Start Guide for Building and
Activating a Gay-Straight Alliance” (downloadable).
Gay-Straight Alliances are student clubs to promote
safety and inclusivity (www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/
news/record/2226.html).
* Ally Week. This five-day event in October campaigns
“to identify, support and celebrate allies against
anti-LGBT language, bullying and harassment in America’s
schools” (www.allyweek.org).
* LGBT History Month. Every October, the event “celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender Icons” (http://lgbthistorymonth.com/).
* The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the
United States (SIECUS). SIECUS offers lesson plans for
comprehensive and inclusive sexuality education (http://
www.sexedlibrary.org/index.cfm?pageId=722).
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