Addressing Barriers to Learning for LGBT Youth Alan Horowitz, Out for Equity, St. Paul Public Schools Annie Hansen, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Overview • What is sexual orientation to today’s adolescent? • School climate and experiences • What you can do to make a difference • Questions and answers
Policy Practice Research
Research • Largely focused on Risk • Mostly conducted by higher ed. Academics • Little practical research • Little conducted by youth • Hardly any on sexuality in youth
Gender Identity Belief Behavior Biology Sexuality
Continuum • Sexual orientation and gender identity are not dichotomous • Today’s youth are more likely to identify as bisexual than homosexual • Kids often self-identify as “queer or questioning” or “bicurious” • Attraction ≠ experience ≠ orientation • “Visibility management” • Ongoing process by which people monitor the level of “outness” they express. • Part of the difficulty with determining prevalence
LGBT youth in schools • Risk factors and outcomes • Several risk factors cited in research - also many negative experiences in school. • Increased rates of anxiety and depression • Higher incidence of suicidal tendencies, substance abuse, and dropout. • High victimization related to • Truancy • Suicide attempts • Sexual risk behaviors • Lower GPA • Lower post-secondary aspirations • Victimization is the issue - not just identifying as a sexual minority.
From Teasing to Torment: School Climate In America • Harris Interactive/GLSEN project • Nationally representative sample: 3450 students, 1011 secondary school teachers • 1/3 of teens have been verbally or physically harassed during the past year because of perceived or actual sexual orientation. • Second in frequency only to appearance (way they look or body size) – 4/10 teens reported being harassed for this reason.
LGBT students are… • Over 3 times as likely to say they feel unsafe at school • Likely to experience harassment more frequently than their peers (90% vs. 60%)
2009 GLSEN School Climate Survey • 72.4% of students heard homophobic remarks often or frequently at school. (82% of middle school students) • 88.9% heard “gay” used in a negative way (often or frequently), and 86.5% felt distressed to some degree by this. • 84.6% verbally harassed because of sexual orientatio; 63.7% because of gender expression. • 40.1% physically harassed because of sexual orientation • 18.8% physically assaulted because of orientation, 12.5% because of gender expression • 52.9% harassed via text, email, Facebook, etc. • 62.4% did not report the harassment or assault, because they believed little or no action would be taken, or that the situation would become worse • 33.8% who DID report an incident said that school staff did nothing in response.
Teachers need to intervene • Less than 1/5 of transgender students said that school staff intervened most of the time or always when hearing homophobic remarks (16%) or negative remarks about someone’s gender expression (11%). • Intervention in homophobic or negative remarks about gender expression reported to occur “most of the time” or “always” 17.6% and 14.6% of the time • 42.3% of the time for sexist language & 57.6% of the time for racist language. • And not contribute to harassment • A third of transgender students heard school staff make homophobic remarks (32%; 23% for total sample), sexist remarks (39%; 26% for total sample) and negative comments about someone’s gender expression (39%; 28% total sample) sometimes, often or frequently in the past year.
In the past month… • One-third of LGBT students & almost half of transgender students missed a day of school because they felt unsafe • Twice as likely to miss school in the past month if experiencing high frequencies of verbal harassment related to sexual orientation or gender expression. • Almost three times as likely to miss if experiencing high frequencies of physical harassment.
Protective factors for LGBT youth • Social support: can be strongly related to school maladjustment, attitude toward school, and teachers • Close attachment to parents, friends and school • Connection to LGBT community and sexual minority youth. • Positive school climate
In a uniquely supported group of students, things look a little different. • Achievement, attendance and credit accrual comparable to a group of comparison peers • Sense of connection to school comparable to comparison peers. • Higher than average score in GLSEN study But… • Focus groups indicate ongoing concerns about climate
“I’ve used words like that against people. And I’ve said things & done things that I seriously regret…And I knew what I was doing, the whole time. I knew my decision was going to be: either I call this guy a [derogatory term] or I’m gonna be out. It’s going to be over for me. And my life is going to be in danger.” • “I do have like the fear of you know, if I come out to this person, will they not be my friend anymore? … What will happen if people in my class see like a pride pin or something? It’s always there, and I have friends who are totally comfortable with just being out, loud and proud. But I don’t have that comfort, and I think I have good reasons.” • I think physically, nobody would beat you up because you’re gay, but I think if you’re openly gay at this school you’re gonna get tormented sooner or later.”
On the bright side, students also expressed an appreciation for supports in place. • “Is there a need for GSA” elicited the only unanimous focus group response • Students described multiple functions of GSA • Place to go talk and “hang out” • Provides a safe and supportive space for LGBT students and allies. • Spread knowledge, change the school environment • Show support for LGBT peers.
Student 1: “Part of why I’m here is because being older than pretty much all the other students who come, I know what it was like for them at their age, to an extent. Because I’ve already been through it. I know what it feels like to be 14, 15, 16 and gay. I feel like I help it in a way. Like instead of going home & doing the dishes or something for my parents, I’m here helping out other gay people & the odd straight person who walks in.” Student 2: “Doing the dishes for society.” Student 1: “Oh yeah. I’m doing the dishes for the GLBT community.”
What can I do to help?
Why Address LGBT issues in Schools? • Optimize learning • Develop a climate of fairness and respect • It’s the law
Change Actions • Staff Training • Use inclusive, affirming, and gender neutral language • Use the words “gay”, “lesbian”, “bisexual”, and “transgender” • Identify yourself as an ally • Know where and how to refer • Confront hateful language • Support the development of Gay-Straight Alliances • Teacher development and willingness to intervene
How to Respond to Homophobic Language • Appropriate • Erroneous • Pejorative • Name It • Claim It • Stop It • Stop It
Announcements Morning Meetings “Respect for tiny and tall,Respect for one and all.” • Character Counts • SOS • Crossing Bridges • Bully Proof Curriculum • Terrific Kid Awards • Peace Celebration • Announcements • Responsive classroom • Fix-it plans • Referral forms • Class discussion • Focus room
Hot Topics • How are 7-12 graders challenging gender norms? Are they challenging gender norms differently than those in the past. • How do we support gender queer youth in the bi-gendered American education system in practical way. • How does the practice of prevention and intervention change in the age of electronic communities. • The face of OFE participants reaches beyond LGBT youth. Non-conforming, ”outsider” youth seem to gravitate toward OFE activities. How do we define and serve this changing demographic while staying true to our original mission. • Given the lack of research on sexuality in youth, how to we support developmentally appropriate experimentation of gender and sexuality. Is identification developmentally appropriate early adolescence.
Resources • Bullying and anti-discrimination laws: The Minnesota School Board Association (MSBA) recently recommended policy change: http://legalclips.nsba.org/?p=3363 • US DOE Office of Civil Rights: info about anti-discrimination statutes: www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/aboutocr.html • Minnesota School Outreach: mnschooloutreach.org • Coalition to address issues of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression • Out 4 Good: sss.mpls.k12.mn.us/Out4Good.html • Out for Equity: outforequity.spps.org • Glsen.org: Tons of resources on school climate and safety
Contact Info • Alan Horowitz • Alan.horowitz@spps.org • http://outforequity.spps.org • Annie Hansen • hans1498@umn.edu
