This document discusses educational and social issues faced by LGBT students in U.S. schools. It finds that LGBT students experience high rates of harassment, bullying, and physical assault based on their sexual orientation. This leads to increased absenteeism, lower academic performance, and higher dropout rates for LGBT students compared to their heterosexual peers. The document also examines what policies and school programs, such as Gay-Straight Alliances and supportive staff, have been shown to help improve the school experience and performance of LGBT students.

1. Educational and
Social Issues for
LGBT Students in
U.S. Schools
Howard Johnston, Ph. D.
Secondary Education
University of South Florida
February 8, 2012

2. Kids Under Assault and At Risk
• LGBT students taunted, harassed, threatened,
assaulted on a daily basis: 85% verbally harassed, 40%
physically, 19% assaulted in past year.
• They hear anti-gay slurs 26 times a day, about every 14
minutes.
• 31% had been threatened or injured at school in the
last year.
• 2-3 times more likely to attempt suicide than
heterosexual peers.

3. Effect on Education
• Bullied so often they cannot focus on education; afraid,
embarrassed and ashamed to report abuse.
• More likely to skip school because of threats, abuse,
property vandalism; 22% skipped school last month
because they were afraid to go.
• 28% will drop out of school; 3 times the rate of peers.
• 4 out of 5 report they don’t know one supportive adult
in school to whom they can turn for help.

4. Social Context
• Unrestrained bullying affects everyone.
• For every 1 LGBT kid who reports abuse, 4 heterosexual
kids report abuse for being perceived as gay.
• Bullying a key factor in most school violence events.
• LGBT kids with a supportive faculty and at least one
openly gay faculty member report feeling more
connected to the school.

5. Elementary Schools Not Immune
Most common forms of biased language heard regularly:
• “Gay” Bashing: 45% of Students; 49% Teachers
• Disabilities: 51% of Students; 45% of Teachers
• Homophobic: 26% of Students; 26% of Teachers
• Race/ethnicity: 26% of Students; 21% of Teachers

6. Name Calling & Bullying in
Elementary School
• 75% of kids report name calling & bullying is common
in their school.
• 1 student in 10 reports they don’t always conform to
traditional gender roles.
• Gender nonconforming (GN) students feel less safe in
school (42% v. 61%)
• GN students “play sick” because they’re afraid to go
(35% v. 15%)
• Less than ½ of teachers think a GN student would be
comfortable in their school: 49% male who looks/acts
feminine, 44% female who acts masculine.

7. Curriculum of Non-Inclusion
or Worse
• History/literature curriculum materials devoid of LGBT
content; only 4 of 14 most popular history texts even
mention, and not much more.
• 80% of students report no positive portrayals of LGBT
people, history or events in any of their classes.
• Homosexuals -- a faceless opposition, no LGBT figure
identified by name; now shown as protagonists in own
struggle for rights.
• Homosexuality as counterculture – portrayal of LGBT
people only as “contrary” to mainstream values.
• Gay = problem; lumping of struggle for civil rights with
medical issues, religious zealotry, state marriage laws.

8. Family Connections
• Hostile family reactions to LGBT students make them 8
times more likely to attempt suicide.
• Schools do little to engage families or be a resource to
them.
• 72% of kids taught about different kinds of families
• 18% taught about LGBT families
• 89% of teachers reference different kinds of
families, but only 21% reference LGB and 8%
transgender families.
• 24% of teachers report taking specific steps to
create safe environment for LGBT families.

9. Teachers and Family
• 48% of teachers feel comfortable responding to
questions from their students about gay, lesbian or
bisexual people. 41% feel comfortable responding to
questions from their students about transgender
people.
• 85% have received professional development on
diversity or multicultural issues.
• 37% have ever received specific professional
development on gender issues or on families with LGBT
parents (23%).

10. The LGBT Family Irony
 LGBT parents are more likely to be involved in their
children’s education than the general parent population:
attend conferences (94% v. 77%); volunteer (67% v. 42%)
 More than half (53%) of parents described various forms
of exclusion from their school communities: being
excluded or prevented from fully participating in school
activities and events, being excluded by school policies
and procedures, and being ignored and feeling invisible.
 LGBT parents reported mistreatment from other parents
in the school community (26%) and even from their
children’s peers at school (21%).

11. What Works: GSA
Having a Gay-Straight Alliance in school = more positive
experiences for LGBT students:
 hearing fewer homophobic remarks
 less victimization because of sexual orientation and
gender expression
 less absenteeism because of safety concerns and
 greater sense of belonging to the school community.
But fewer than 45% of LGBT Students have access to GSA.

12. What Works: Supportive
Staff
The presence of supportive staff contributed to:
 fewer reports of missing school
 fewer reports of feeling unsafe
 greater academic achievement
 higher educational aspirations
 greater sense of school belonging

13. What Works: Clear Policy
Students attending schools with an anti-bullying policy
that included protections based on sexual orientation
and/or gender identity/expression:
 heard fewer homophobic remarks
 experienced lower levels of victimization related to
their sexual orientation
 were more likely to report that staff intervened when
hearing homophobic remarks
 were more likely to report incidents of harassment and
assault to school staff than students at schools with a
general policy or no policy

14. Curriculum Solutions
 Tell the truth about people we already talk about.
Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony, James Baldwin, J. Edgar
Hoover, Langston Hughes, Eleanor Roosevelt, Walt
Whitman
 Broaden teaching of historic events to include LGBT
experience.
(1) Include material to illuminate dominant narrative,
e.g., Rev. Wigglesworth’s Day of Doom
(2) Help students understand how events impacted
lives of LGBT people. (e.g., World War II and LGBT
issues)
 Incorporate LGBT-related materials in teaching basic
skills.
Current events, social justice, constitutional
protections

15. The Issues for Our Schools
Bullying is a public health and safety
issue
Drop out prevention is a social &
economic issue
Harassment is a criminal and social
justice issue
These aren’t just LGBT issues; they
belong to all of us.

16. Resources
http://www.glsen.org

17. Resources