Advocacy

School Climate

All students, including lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth, deserve the right to a school environment that is safe and conducive for learning to occur. However, there is evidence that significant challenges remain for creating positive school climates for LGB youth. For example:

Creating Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth:

Extract of the 1999 Position Statement on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth adopted by the National Association of School Psychologists Delegate Assembly.

“Schools must maintain campuses that are safe and conducive to learning for all students. NASP believes that efforts to create safe schools for sexual minority youth should include but not limited to education of all students and staff, direct intervention with victims and perpetrators of ha-rassment and discrimination of those at risk, and promoting societal and familial attitudes and behav-iors that affirm the dignity and rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth.

“Education of students and staff. Because many gay, lesbian, and bisexual students choose not to reveal their sexual orientation for fear of harassment, other students and staff are often not aware of their presence. Staff and students who are aware and supportive may fear openly speaking out for sexual minority youth because of the possibility of being discriminated against themselves. Even among those who are aware of the existence of sexual minority youth in their schools, many maintain misconceptions regarding these youth and may be unsure how to address their needs. NASP supports educating students and staff regarding the existence and needs of sexual minority youth through inservice training on the risks experienced by these youth, research relevant to these youth, and appropriate ways of addressing harassment and discrimination directed toward any student. In addition, issues pertaining to sexual orientation can be infused in the curriculum, such as presenting theories regarding the development of sexual orientation in a science class, reading works of famous gay, lesbian, or bisexual authors in a literature class, or discussing the gay rights movement in historical context with other civil rights movements in a social studies class. Sexual minority youth must also be educated to reduce unsafe behavior such as substance abuse and exposure to HIV. In addition, educating these youth can reduce the isolation they often feel as a result of perceiving themselves as invisible or as misunderstood.

“Direct intervention with victims and perpetrators of harassment and discrimination. As with any instance of school violence, harassment and discrimination against sexual minority youth should be addressed both through applying consequences and educating the perpetrator and by supporting and protecting the victim. Both goals can be achieved through nonjudgmental counseling for students who have been victims of such harassment or who are questioning their sexual orientation and may become targets of harassment in the future by disclosing their status as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Counseling and education should also be provided to the perpetrator to help prevent future episodes of harassment. Because school staff may, knowingly or unknowingly, discriminate against sexual minority youth, NASP believes that education and support for sexual minority youth must occur at all levels of schooling. This education should include students, teachers, support staff, and administrators and should stress that discrimination and harassment must be addressed regardless of the status of the perpetrator.

“Promoting societal and familial attitudes and behaviors that affirm the dignity and rights within educational environments of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. By educating students and staff, school psychologists can help change negative or indifferent attitudes toward sexual minority youth. However, a much more powerful agent of change may be the example of the school psycholo-gist who refuses to allow slurs or discrimination to occur and who is willing to provide services to all students regardless of sexual orientation or other minority status. Within their own schools and in society as a whole, school psychologists can promote attitudes that affirm the dignity and rights of sexual minority youth by removing biases from their own practice . They can also point out the actions or statements of other school staff who discriminate or neglect the needs of sexual minority youth and attempt to address these issues in a fair way. In particular, school policies should mandate fair treat-ment of all students and equal access to educational and mental health services within the schools. School psychologists can provide expert opinions and research-based information to assure that such policies are in place and enforced. Finally, school psychologists can encourage local, state, and national organizations to disseminate information to parents and other groups that need to be aware of the issues related to gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth in the schools.”

Role of the School Psychologist

“Because they work directly with students as well as staff and administrators, school psychologists are uniquely positioned to affect policies and practices within the schools. They can also teach by example. School psychologists can explicitly inform students that they are available to all students regardless of sexual orientation. In counseling sessions, they can be mindful that be not every student is heterosexual and that sexual minority status can affect self-esteem and peer relationships. School psychologists can address issues of sexual orientation in inservice sessions as well. In presenting material on sexual harass-ment or discrimination, for example, they can take care to include examples and information involving sexual minority youth. School psychologists are also in a position to educate students on a number of issues related to high risk behaviors that are especially frequent among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth, targeting both the school population in general and sexual minority youth in particular.”

Policies:

American Federation of Teachers. (1990). Educational Equity for Sexual Minorities. Adopted by the Delegates of the Convention.
http://www.aft.org//human/resource/download/keeping.pdf

American Federation of Teachers. (1994). Rights of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual People. Adopted by the Delegates of the Convention. 
http://www.aft.org//human/resource/download/keeping.pdf

American Federation of Teachers. (1996). Safety in All Schools. 
Adopted by the Delegates of the Convention. 
http://www.aft.org//human/resource/download/keeping.pdf

American School Counselor Association. (1995). The Professional School 
Counselor and the Sexual Orientation of Youth. Adopted by the Delegate Assembly.http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.cfm?L1=1000&L2=31

American School Health Association. (1994). Gay and Lesbian Youth in School. Adopted by the Board of Directors
http://www.ashaweb.org/resolutions1.html#familylife

National Association of School Nurses. (1994). Sexual Orientation Position Statement. Adopted by the Board of Directors.
http://www.nasn.org/positions/orientation.htm

National Association of School Psychologists. (1999). Position Statement on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth. Adapted by the NASP Delegate Assembly. 
http://www.nasponline.org/pdf/pospaper_glb.pdf

National Education Association. (2000). Racism, Sexism, and Sexual Orientation Discrimination. Resolution B-9 as Adopted by the Representative Assembly.
http://www.nea.org/resolutions/00/00b-9.html

National School Boards Association. (2000). Non-Discrimination Belief and Policy of the National School Boards Association. Adopted by the Delegate Assembly. 
http://www.nsba.org/about/beliefs.htm#Article II

School Social Work Association of America (2001) Resolutions Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Questioning Youth. Approved by the Board of Directors. http://www.sswaa.org/about/publications/resolutions/glb.html

Resources:

Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation and Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel. A booklet for school personnel developed and endorsed by numerous mental health and teachers’ professional organizations. 

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund’s Back-to-School Kit. This kit gives resources on promoting safer schools for lesbian and gay students. The Kit highlights trends, action steps, and resources for securing fair treatment for lesbian and gay youth. 
http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/documents/record?record=690

GLSEN’s Guide to Discrimination and Harassment Policies in Schools. This webpage gives basic information on considering the how-to’s of helping to protect gay and lesbian youth from harassment in schools based on effective policy. 
http://www.glsen.org/templates/resources/

PFLAG’s From Our House to the School House: A Recipe for Safe Schools. This resource helps you conduct an assessment on school safety for LGB youth in your local school or district. 
http://pflag.org/education/schools/ourhouse.html

The American Civil Liberties Union has a Lesbian and Gay Rights Project that seeks to address efforts to help schools address homophobia before it occurs and escalates. Information is available on tips for schools and community, statistics on gay youth, and how to contact the ACLU for help and information.
http://www.aclu.org/issues/gay/safe_schools.html End of Page