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

A Moral Debate at the Invisible Rainbow: Thoughts about Best Practices in Servicing LGBTQ Students in Special Education

Instead of occupying a marginal space within teacher preparation programs, special education courses and training should promote diversity in servicing marginalized groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Within these programs, issues related to LGBTQ students should occupy a meaningful and formative space in the training of future teachers in special education. Often, special education teachers are at a loss about how to educate LGBTQ students with disabilities. Rethinking the role of special education and LGBTQ students with special needs within teacher education programs enables pre-service teachers to cultivate new values and attitudes that can enrich the student/teacher relationship within public schools. As such, this article proposes to explore best practices for servicing LGTBQ students in special education by promoting better ways to train future teachers

From Teasing to Torment: School Climate Revisited - A Survey of U.S. Secondary School Students and Teachers, Executive Summary

From Teasing to Torment: School Climate Revisited, A Survey of U.S. Secondary School Students and Teachers affords us the opportunity to document the current state of safety, bias, and bullying in schools and assess potential disparities based not only on LGBTQ status, but also on race/ethnicity, sex, gender expression, and socioeconomic status. As school climate is determined not only by the existence or absence of victimization, we also explore students' experiences with school disciplinary actions and extracurricular activities, seeking to develop a more complete picture of the student experience. In addition, we again document students' access to resources that may improve school climate, such as student clubs that address LGBTQ student issues, inclusive curriculum, and anti-bullying/harassment policies. Moreover, in this report, secondary school teachers offer their perceptions on bias, bullying, and LGBTQ students' safety, and provide valuable information about the preparation they may have received to address these issues. We also document teachers' practices in regards to combating bias and supporting LGBTQ students specifically, including the potential barriers to doing so. Lastly, we offer recommendations for both further research and specific programmatic and policy strategies that may help schools reduce the risk of peer victimization, counter the damaging effects of bias, and provide safe and supportive learning environments for all LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ students alike

Moving from Inaction to Action: Challenging Homo- and Transphobia in Middle School English Language Arts

What happens when teachers have opportunities to engage in LGBTQ-affirming practices but choose not to? In the following paper, the authors present a vignette from a middle school context and consider ways to challenge silences to support LGBTQ students in middle school English classrooms. The authors provide discussion and resources to help teachers engage in LGBTQ affirming practices with middle school students

Heteronormativity and the exclusion of bisexuality in psychology

About the book: There has been a recent explosion of interest in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Perspective Psychology amongst students and academics, and this interest is predicted to continue to rise. Recent media debates on subjects such as same-sex marriage have fuelled interest in LGBTQ perspectives. This edited collection showcases the latest thinking in LGBTQ psychology. The book has 21 chapters covering subjects such as same sex parenting, outing, young LGBTQ people, sport, learning disabilities, lesbian and gay identities etc. The book has an international focus, with contributors from UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealan

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

Battling the big one: LGBTQ inclusive art education during the Trump era

Recently, because of our new political atmosphere, there have been many attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, or LGBTQ+, individuals and communities. Even though there have been positive developments in the past few years, homophobia is still a major concern for many people in the Unit- ed States. These issues often manifest themselves to a greater degree within the microcosm of public schools where LGBTQ+ students are forced to deal with hateful speech, heteronorma- tive environments, and rampant homophobia. These strugglescan have harmful e ects on the social and emotional develop- ment of queer youth. Progressive and inclusive art educationthat provides re ective and thoughtful creative projects may aidin identity development, increase self-esteem, and encourage activism, thus helping to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ youth and educators

Intimate partner violence among LGBTQ+ college students

Drawing from a survey of 391 college students in same-sex relationships, this brief documents the rates and patterns of intimate partner violence, and responses to it among LGBTQ+ youth. Authors Katie Edwards and Kateryna Sylaska report that four in ten LGBTQ+ college students in the sample reported intimate partner violence victimization or perpetration within a current relationship and that more than one-third of the victims told no one about the abuse, a rate that is higher than what is generally found among heterosexual college students. Victims most frequently turned to friends when revealing the abuse, followed by family members. Only 9 percent turned to formal supports such as counselors. LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults are frequently “invisible in mainstream student programs,” and intimate partner violence prevention programs are no exception. The authors conclude that it is critical that college campus programming, policies, and services, including those that are specific to intimate partner violence, strive to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ students

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

Southern Disclosure: One Southern-and-Queer Middle School Teacher’s Narrative

This narrative inquiry is an autoethnographical account of one queer-identified middle school teacher\u27s career trajectory in the southern United States, and his struggle to navigate disclosure of his identity to students. Using a qualitative lens, the authors provide reasoning for the importance of middle school educators to have the ability to disclose their identities to students in order to cultivate an environment that is receptive to LGBTQ+ adolescents