Special Interest Groups Rally Behind QUILTBAG

This book highlights the lack of progressive education in in the American school system, and specifically how ineffectual the administration was when dealing with harmful situations when it involved a non-normative persons. This resonates with me because it shows the general public intolerance of non-normative practices in the United States, and how the current political situation could have a further negative effect on youth populations.

More than 25% of LGBT community are students in high school. Two-fifths of the LGBT student population have been beaten up because they are different. Because of the verbal and physical harassment 66% of these kids feel scared to attend school. The outcome of finishing school and getting the right learning skills is low when they feel unwanted where they are put to learn. Students in high school feel targeted and bullied because of their sexual orientation, therefore leading them to drop out of high school. Failure to get a GED results in failure to get a real job later on in life and succeed. More failure rises when the outcome of no GED produces a low amount of money, therefore contributing low amounts of money to the economy. A persons sexual orientation does not need to determine the type of education they will uphold (Salazar). In February of 2016 a bill was passed denying schools to have transgender bathrooms. The students would have to go the restroom with the gender they were born with. North Carolina also passed legislation that discriminated against LGBT community. House Bill 2 provided protection against discrimination for all communities except LGBT. Schools were banned from giving LGBT kids the permission to use the bathroom they sexually orientated with. Many workers were not happy about this and spoke against the bill. Later, Dennis Daugaard, repealed the law. The

The school participates in the annual Day of Silence to show support for those who have experienced discrimination, recently unveiled gender neutral bathrooms, hosted a recent assembly to educate Upper School students on the topic of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer ), runs a GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) club during lunch, and has a Diversity Committee comprised of faculty members.

In the article “Core Values and the Identity-Supportive Classroom: Setting LGBTQ Issues within Wider Frameworks for Preservice Educators” by Michael Sadowski, Sadowski discusses the issues and research on LGBTQ+ in education and a school environment. He focuses on both the students’ and teachers’ behavior towards LGBTQ+ situations. For students, more often than not, there are many forms of verbal harassment that take place such as slurs and derogatory language. For teachers, it is the lack of intervention when this harassment takes place, “38.6 % of the students…indicated that their teachers never intervened when they hear students use homophobic language…44% indicated that teachers intervened only ‘sometimes’.”

In the last few decades more and more young individuals identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, which has sparked a level of interest in educators, as well as researchers to determine the amount of students who feel uncomfortable in their school settings, and why. This research paper will inform educators what the need to understand and protect the students in their classroom in order to create a more diverse, healthy and cooperative learning environment for all students. When students are in the educational setting they should not be afraid to attend school or be uncomfortable; educators should make their classrooms and their school a safe havens for all students, no matter their sexual preference. The purpose of this paper is to inform the readers about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community history, how it suffers harassment, prejudices, school difficulties, policies that are in place to assist students, as well as some possible solutions to assist in the education setting.

For just another typical day of going through the motions, things should have been repetitive and uneventful. However, the students of Columbine High School experienced the complete opposite. The weather should have portrayed the event of today in a different manner. The clouds should have been black with storms, lightning bursting through the sky, and thunder shaking the ground so hard it felt as if there was an earthquake. The news spread like wildfire and had been announced that several people had died due to a shooting at the school. A massacre created by two of the school’s own students…...

“In discouraging the bullying of LGBTI students, it seeks to upend traditional understandings of gender and impose cultural values offensive to most Australians.”

Samantha, that is a key in the districts of schools at all levels, we tell kid they have a voice, but where I their voice. The school will tell the students if they have concerns, something is happening, and we don’t allow bullying at our campus. But how much truth is there to that sentence? Unfortunately, students must look at angles to stay safe, in some cases where and how they need to share good a negative situation. Dean Diamond explained, “exposing kids to different characters, different ways of thinking, something so foreign it the way they live, I do think that it broadens them as people (Seider, p. 185). During school meetings, I think we need to be prepared to respond to the student’s questions, whether they be positive, their hurtful emotions, and how they feel they aren’t heard. Students can be lead if they have role models that promote positive civic development. If the faulty is not approachable, them the student body will deal with things in their way, rather than thinking that the faculty supports them.

Students in school still face a lot of harassment due to their sexual orientation. There is little reference in K-12 textbooks

G.|Greytak, Joseph, et al. “The 2015 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation's Schools.”Center for Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Tel: 212-599-7000; Fax: 212-599-3494; Web Site: Http://Www.manhattan-Institute.org, 30 Nov. 2015, eric.ed.gov/?id=ED574780.

Heather Murphy created a journal in 2012 that focused on ways to improve a high school setting for all students, but especially for ones that are member of the LBGTQIA+ community. The opening line of Murphy’s journal is: “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students are at risk for peer rejection, lack of school support, and verbal and physical victimization at school” (2012). Throughout the research conducted around the idea of a GSA one factor is overpowering, and that is what can happen when a queer person does not feel supported and understood. When someone creates a GSA in a school they are banning students together and combating the peer rejection, they are challenging the generalization that schools do not support

The continuation of the Safe Schools program in New South Wales was a failure due to a lack of proper civic engagement. The outcome was caused by a number of contributing factors including a lack of communication between campaigners and the public, the government’s poor representation of young Australian citizens, and the lack of cohesion between school communities. The Safe Schools program had a primary objective to create an inclusive and supportive school environment for LGBTI+ students by educating students on the issues faced by the LGBTI+ community which would then, in turn, reduce LGBTI+ related bullying, harassment, and self-harm in schools. The program was created in an effort to help same-sex attracted, and gender diverse students

The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, adds actual or perceived sexual orientation and actual or perceived gender identity as protected groups in public education facilities for students and staff. The law’s aim is to ensure, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, staff and students a safe learning environment. This amendment to existing anti-harassment law is necessary based on the fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) students are subjected to bullying and harassment based on their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. According to Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 2013 most LGBTQ students had been victimized at school. In fact, they state

Ladies and Gentlemen, over a tenth of our society is made up of the LGBTI ( the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community. In 2010, the Safe Schools Coalition Australia was founded, this establishment brought hope and protection to hundreds upon thousands of students experiencing bullying. However, being the nation we are, extreme right wing bigots are attempting to withdraw this life-saving initiative from nationwide primary and secondary schools.

Bullying happens nearly everywhere, especially in schools where the students are not educated and mature enough to have empathy on others and know the consequences bullying can lead to. In schools, people from children to teenagers and all the way to adults can be victims for bullying and it can come from various reasons. “Bullying toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youths is a pervasive problem in schools that has negative impacts on LGBTQ students' mental health and educational outcomes.”(Kopels & Paceley, 2012) The article suggests that the school social workers should adjust to the characteristics of bullying towards LGBTQ students and respond accordingly. The interventions and addressing to school climates from school social workers is a vital part in assisting victims in bullying.