LGBTQ+ people—and especially LGBTQ+ youth—are under attack. This is certainly true on a global scale, and it’s true in the United States as well. While some folks do live in areas (whether on the state or city level) that offer explicit protections for queer folks, the reality is that discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity still happens with disturbing regularity. And Republicans are making anti-queer rhetoric (and specifically anti-trans rhetoric) a major platform for midterms… and if you ask me, that’ll just continue into the presidential election at the rate we’re going.
Folks of all ages are negatively affected by anti-trans bills seeking to bar trans girls and women from participating in girls’ sports, bathroom bans, and of course, efforts to bar physicians from providing safe and age-appropriate gender-affirming health care. Youth, however, not only lack the option to actually vote, but they’re also in the ever-vulnerable and delicate situation of being reliant on parents or guardians for safety and support.
School should be a safe space, but as brand new data from GLSEN shows, that’s far from reality.
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The GLSEN 2021 National School Climate Survey is packed with insightful data on how LGBTQ+ students are doing in public middle and high schools here in the U.S. The survey was conducted online between April and August 2021. The final sample included more than 22,000 students between the ages of 13 and 21.
As some overall highlights in terms of user responses, about 30% of respondents were nonbinary, and 33% were cisgender. 28% identified as gay or lesbian and 30% identified as bisexual. 67% of respondents were white.
Close to 60% of queer student respondents said they experienced LGBTQ+-related discrimination via policies or practices while at school. These include policies that stop trans youth from having their name and/or pronouns respected, as well as policies that restrict gender expression in terms of clothing and appearance. It’s not a stretch to connect these results with the far-right effort to police trans youth (or anyone perceived to be a trans youth) having access to bathrooms or locker rooms, for example.
16% of respondents said they’d been barred from playing on a sports team consistent with their gender identity. 20% said they’d been stopped from wearing clothes on the basis of gender. Almost one-third had been prevented from using the bathroom aligned with their gender identity. Just over 10% said they’d been discouraged by school staff, including coaches, from participating in sports because of their identity.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, more than 80% of LGBTQ+ students who attended school in person during the 2021-2022 year said they survived assault or harassment based on personal characteristics, which can include orientation, gender identity, and actual or perceived race, ethnicity, disability, and religion. Just over 30% of queer students said they missed at least one day of school in the month preceding the survey because they felt unsafe attending. Queer students also reported living with depression and low self-esteem as a result of harassment at school.
78% of respondents said they missed out on school extracurriculars or school functions because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. About 40% said they’d avoided school bathrooms, locker rooms, or physical education classes because they felt uncomfortable. About 16% said they’d changed schools because of discomfort or harassment.
More than half of respondents said they’d heard homophobic remarks from teachers or staff, and more than 70% said they’d heard negative comments about gender expression. More than 80% of respondents said they heard anti-trans remarks and slurs, and more than one-third of those respondents said they heard such comments frequently. About 10% of respondents said school staff intervened most or all of the time when it came to homophobic remarks.
Respondents who attend school online also reported difficulties. Students who attended online-only school during the pandemic, for example, said they experienced higher rates of cyberbullying based on orientation and gender identity than folks who were in hybrid online and in-person schools.
All of this while Republicans are trying to pull LGBTQ+ books from libraries and classrooms, push teachers and staff into the closet with Don’t Say Gay bills, and try to force trans youth to be deadnamed and misgendered on a daily basis. It’s disturbing and disgusting.
And we’d be remiss to forget that LGBTQ+ youth, just like their peers, are reeling from a global pandemic, ongoing gun violence including school shootings, and the climate crisis. It’s more than any young person should have to worry about, and is just another reason everyone who has the right to vote needs support and resources in order to actually exercise it.