School Counselors: Biased Against Transgender Students

[The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organization at my high school, which meets twice per month, generated a list of concerns that they shared with school administration. The focus was specifically about gender identity, the lack of support from school staff, and the daily scrutiny they face as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Through collaboration with my colleagues it was evident that there had been an increase in teacher and student referrals surrounding gender identity. The feedback from GSA clearly identified that as a school we are not meeting the needs of our LGBT students and those struggling with sexual orientation. Members of the GSA clearly feel that teachers ignore negative comments like “gay” and “faggot” when they hear them in class, that teachers may not clearly understand gender neutral language, and that our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students do not feel safe and protected in school. Students needed support advocating for their right to use a restroom, correct pronoun, etc., requiring district, community, parent, and colleague

People often have an inaccurate picture of reality. Most people consider themselves friendly, forgiving, and welcoming human beings. They believe they have a sound sense of morality, adhere to their foolproof policies of right and wrong, and promote righteousness. Unfortunately, through the eyes of transgender students, this is rarely the case. Although The Title IX law is supposed to defend them from discrimination, sexual harassment, and bullying (Source A), the success of this vague list of rights is nonexistent.

" All students, including LGBTQQIA students, deserve safe, affirming schools. Harassment affects their grades and development, as well as their mental and physical health. Schools specifically for queer students may have a place and fill a need, but our efforts should simultaneously be focused on making sure all LGBTQQIA have positive school environments."

There is a general belief that students who are transgender need to worry about their peers not accepting them first and foremost, but teachers and administrators can be even worse because of the power they hold over the students. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, all too often transgender students are punished for expressing their gender identity. When the people in power at a school refuse to accept a student, it creates a hostile environment for the student to enter every day for several hours. With the friends I have that are transgender, school can be the only escape from a home life that is nonaccepting. If this were a small problem, small actions could take place to prevent this. However, the National Center for Transgender Equality states that “75% of transgender youth feel unsafe at school” which can cause

The purpose of the research article was to examine the competencies of school counselors when working with the multicultural and sexual orientation of their students. Schools can be unsafe due to bullying and victimization for students labeled as LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Queer), as they are more likely to be a target than heterosexual students. They experience varying levels of being sexually harassed, and endure being emotionally and physically abused. Due to the harassment, they endure these children are not attending school, which is affecting their academic performance and how they view their future (Kosciw, Greytak, Diaz & Bartkiewicz, as cited by Bidwell, 2012, p. 200). For the last few year’s counselors main focus was “ethnic minorities and cross-cultural population” (Bidell, 2012, p.201),

“I’ve already got one boy I’m supposed to call Heather instead of Mark and treat like a girl. Now there’s some other kid who says that she’s a boy, and wants to be called Michael! How am I supposed to teach when I’m having to keep track of all this shit?” This quote, from a veteran science teacher who became frustrated when I referred to a transgender male student by his appropriate name and pronouns during a department meeting, is reflective of the negative teacher interactions experienced daily by the estimated 150,000 transgender students currently enrolled in America’s schools (GLSEN, 2017). As United States (US) has become a more welcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) students, an increasing number of transgender youth have had the courage to come out at school. Unfortunately, these students are not yet being met with kindness nor understanding from their peers or teachers. In a 2015 survey of nearly 3,500 transgender students across the US, 75% of students reported feeling unsafe at school due to their gender expression (GLSEN, 2016a). This paper will explore how the current US political climate is shaping the experiences of transgender youth in US schools, and the steps that educators can take to make their schools more supportive for transgender students.

A professional who has a strong bias consisting of disgust and rejection related to gender dysphoria would be deemed incompetent to work with transgender clients (Kaplan, Francis, Hermann, Baca, Goodnough, Hodges, Spurgeon, Wade, 2017.) According to Mizock and Lundquist (2016), these types of professionals address transgender clients

Students who identify as members of the LGBTQ2-S community may experience academic, social, and emotional challenges, both within and outside of the walls of school (Harrison & Thomas, 2014). Therefore, as a school psychologist and advocate for students, one should promote for “changes in policies through brief conversations and suggestions with teachers, staff, and administrators; this process may be effective in shaping the school climate toward acceptance of LGBT youth” (Heck, Flentje, & Cochran, 2011, pp. 169-170). However, for a school psychologist to be successful in doing so, one must strive to be culturally competent. It is for that reason, that a school psychologist must

All around the U.S. schools have to make a choice, that would affect the students and faculty. Should transgender students be allowed to go to the bathroom that fits their gender identity? For many schools, this is a hard decision. Transgender students should be allowed to choose the bathroom that fits their gender identity.

School counselors are taught to uphold ethical standards when counseling all students. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2010) specifically outlines the importance of affording LGB students the opportunity to seek judgement free counseling from a school counselor. The ASCA (2010) recommends that school counselors attain sexual orientation education and training to increase counseling competency with LGB students. School counselors should strive to create a welcoming environment for all students, regardless of their personal values or opinions regarding sexual orientation (as cited in, Hall et al., 2014).

In 2015, at least 21 transgender people have been victims of fatal violence in the

All the articles stated in the annotated bibliography, each of these articles give a background on transgender community, and what a member of a transgender community go through. Moreover, these articles also give a set of exhibits on transgender discrimination, an argument for the transgender discrimination and a method showing the different type of surveys that showed the evidences of transgender discrimination. These articles can give a more detailed information about what type of discrimination the members of transgender community go through either during the hiring process, or while they are or were employed at the place of employment. Additionally, these articles discussed different criticism and reaction good and bad toward people of

Fast forward to present day and we see transgender students are claiming gender stereotyping based on their gender expression is causing discrimination against them because they are non-conforming to gender identities. Within the United States alone, the transgender community makes up a whopping 2% of our LGTB population, which makes them a minority of the LGTB community. According to Jacob (2013), over 87% of transgender students claim to be verbally harassed and 53% say they have been physically harassed. A 2007 study showed a bully will target transgender students 66% more than they target a student who has conforming gender identity (Transgender Issues). Johnson (2010) writes the Education Department warned schools about being legally liable, after an influx of teens committing suicide for having non-conforming gender identities. The schools were informed that Title IX covers equal treatment for boys and girls in school programs that are federally funded and insisted schools begin to implement anti-non gender conforming bullying at a local level (Johnson 2010). With those statistics, it is supported that majority of transgender students are at risk to some type of discrimination on a daily basis in our schools.

I wondered how internalized bias transgendered individuals have influence their experiences. I would imagine it would complicate things. What I mean by that is we can possess pre-reflective biases (e.g., racism, sexism, and classism) about our own community. For instance, a transgender individual may not agree with a negative bias intellectually, but holding a negative feeling about transgender people and act as if he or she does not support one’s own community. This can happen in pre-reflective manner.

Many LGBT have to face discrimination while trying to attend and can be such a huge obstacle to try to receive an education when you have to go to a hostile work environment every day. In the article “Like walking through a Hailstorm-discrimination against LGBT Youth in US Schools” states that “A lack of policies and practices that affirm and support LGBT youth-and failure to implement protections that do exist -means that LGBT students nationwide continue to face bullying, exclusion, and discrimination in school, putting them at physical and phycological risk and