The Success of Gay–Straight Alliances in Waterloo Region, Ontario: A Confluence of Political and Social Factors

This article outlines how gay–straight alliances (GSAs) work to connect youth with community resources, and outlines the political and social context of GSAs in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Fifteen individuals (youth, teachers, and a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer [LGBTQ] youth service provider) participated in interviews about the role of GSAs in creating supportive school environments for LGBTQ youth and their allies. Analyses of the interview data found that, apart from providing direct support to LGBTQ students, GSAs in Waterloo Region decrease isolation by connecting youth with other LGBTQ community members, events, and resources. This article discusses how the confluence of government and school board policy and community agency support facilitates the implementation, maintenance, and success of GSAs

Gay-Straight Alliances: Creating Safer Schools for LGBT Students and their Allies

This brief examines current research on GSAs and highlights major findings regarding school safety, access to education, academic achievement for LGBT students, and access to GSAs in school

Can Student-Built GSAs Provide Positive Development for LGBT Youth in High Schools? A Review of Literature

Within school systems, there are sexual minority students that are not treated with the same amount of attention that the sexual majority gets. These minority students include individuals that identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, or questioning. These students would fall under the category of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, or pan/polysexual (LGBTQQIAP). Many LGBT students in high school report feelings of isolation, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation (Hong, Espelage, and Kral 885- 886). Many of these students, especially in rural areas, require some form of support within the school system for healthy positive development. Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) are especially notable when they are student-run and student-built. There are many positive correlations between the presence of a GSA and the success of the LGBT students within that school system. Internalized homophobia is a major mental health issue that can be reduced by utilizing certain forms of support for adolescents, especially within school systems. GSAs, especially student-made ones, provide a unique opportunity to help educate not only the student body, but the teachers and staff of the schools as well. The more educated the staff is, the more likely they are to provide some intervention when sexual minority youth are being harassed; it would also provide them with ways in which to deal with common sexual minority issues such as parental rejection and peer rejection. GSAs may provide the necessary feeling of inclusion for LGBT teens that helps reduce the effects of verbal and physical harassment (Russel, Muraco, Subramaniam, and Laub 891-892). This paper first considers research on the consequences of heterosexism or internalized homophobia, research on where heterosexism comes from, covering (hiding) one’s sexual identity, how to reduce heterosexism, and finally how GSAs combat heterosexism in schools

Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools

Using data from GLSEN's fifth National School Climate Survey, this report documents the school experiences of 295 transgender middle and high school students and finds that these students face extremely high levels of victimization, even more so than their non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual peers

The 2007 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools

GLSEN's National School Climate Survey is the only national survey to document the experiences of students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) in America's secondary schools. Conducted biennially since 1999, the National School Climate Survey (NSCS) fills a crucial void in our collective understanding of the contemporary high school experience. The results of this survey are intended to inform educators, policymakers and the public at large, as part of GLSEN's ongoing effort to ensure that all schools are places where students are free to learn, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The 2007 survey includes responses from 6,209 LGBT students between the ages of 13 and 21 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data collection was conducted through community-based groups, online outreach, and targeted advertising on the social networking site MySpace.The 2007 NSCS results continue to track the endemic problem of name-calling, harassment and violence directed at LGBT students, while offering information about the impact of these experiences on academic performance and the effect of interventions designed to address the underlying problem. The 2007 NSCS paints a disturbing picture of the school experiences of LGBT students. However, it also provides further insight into the solutions for creating safer schools for all students

The 2011 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools

In 1999, GLSEN identified the need for national data on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and launched the first National School Climate Survey (NSCS). At the time, the school experiences of LGBT youth were under-documented and nearly absent from national studies of adolescents. For more than a decade, the biennial NSCS has documented the unique challenges LGBT students face and identified interventions that can improve school climate. The survey explores the prevalence of anti-LGBT language and victimization, the effect that these experiences have on LGBT students' achievement and well-being, and the utility of interventions in lessening the negative effects of a hostile school climate and promoting a positive educational experience. The survey also examines demographic and community-level differences in LGBT students' experiences.The NSCS remains one of the few studies to examine the school experiences of LGBT students nationally, and its results have been vital to GLSEN's understanding of the issues that LGBT students face, thereby informing our ongoing work to ensure safe and affirming schools for all.In our 2011 survey, we examine the experiences of LGBT students with regard to indicators of negative school climate:hearing biased remarks, including homophobic remarks, in school;feeling unsafe in school because of personal characteristics, such as sexual orientation, gender expression, or race/ethnicity;missing classes or days of school because of safety reasons; andexperiencing harassment and assault in school.We also examine:the possible negative effects of a hostile school climate on LGBT students' academic achievement, educational aspirations, and psychological well-being;whether or not students report experiences of victimization to school officials or to family members and how these adults address the problem; andhow the school experiences of LGBT students differ by personal and community characteristics.In addition, we demonstrate the degree to which LGBT students have access to supportive resources in school, and we explore the possible benefits of these resources, including:Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) or similar clubs;anti-bullying/harassment school policies and laws;supportive school staff; andcurricula that are inclusive of LGBT-related topics.Given that GLSEN has more than a decade of data, we examine changes over the time on indicators of negative school climate and levels of access to LGBT-related resources in schools

Year One Evaluation of the New York City Department of Education Respect for All Training Program

The GLSEN Research Department conducted an evaluation of the New York City Department of Education's (NYC DOE) Respect for All training program for secondary school educators. The two-day training program, which was one component of the NYC DOE's Respect for All initiative, was implemented so that every secondary school in the district had at least one staff member who could support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students and combat all forms of bias-based bullying and harassment, particularly bias based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.In order to evaluate Year One of the training program, GLSEN surveyed 813 educators who participated in the training at three times -- before the training, six weeks after, and six months after. Training participants were also compared to educators who had not yet completed the training. Focus groups were conducted in order to gain a greater, in-depth understanding of participants' experiences in the training. Key findings are listed below.Compared to before the training, after the training educators demonstrated increased:Knowledge of appropriate terms;Access to LGBTQ-related resources;Awareness of how their own practices might have been harmful to LGBTQ students;Empathy for LGBTQ students;Belief in the importance of intervening in anti-LGBTQ remarks;Communication with students and staff about LGBTQ issues;Engagement in activities to create safer schools for LGBTQ students (i.e., supporting Gay-Straight Alliances, including LGBTQ content in curriculum); andFrequency of intervention in anti-LGBTQ name-calling, bullying, and harassment.In addition, compared to educators who had not yet participated in the training, those who had participated in the training indicated higher levels of:Communication with students and staff about LGBTQ issues; andEngagement in activities to create safer schools for LGBTQ students.Findings from the Year One evaluation demonstrate that this training program is an effective means for developing the competency of educators to address bias-based bullying and harassment, and to create safer school environments for LGBTQ students. The findings suggest that providing such training to all school staff, including administrators, would result in an even stronger effect on the school environment. Furthermore, ensuring sufficient opportunities for developing educators' skills in intervening in anti-LGBTQ behaviors could enhance the effectiveness of trainings. To maintain the benefits of training, staff should receive continued and advanced professional development opportunities related to supporting LGBTQ students and combating bias-based bullying and harassment

Advances in Research with LGBTQ Youth in Schools

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in scholarship devoted to the topic of sexual and gender minority youth in schools (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning; LGBTQ). In this special section, we highlight this group of LGBTQ youth, a group that needs as many allies as possible, a group that lacks the social standing, the financial capital necessary, and the rights afforded to adults to directly influence the political climate in ways that affect their lives. Collectively, these seven data-driven articles are reflective of the innovation that is occurring in our field as we continue to study the experiences of LGBTQ youth in schools. They also highlight how there is room to expand our research efforts to better ensure that the social, educational, and developmental needs of LGBTQ students are met by our schools

Shared Differences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students of Color in Our Nation's Schools

The report documents the school experiences of over 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) U.S. middle and high school students of color who were African American or Black, Latino/a, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American, and multiracial