LGBT Youth In & Out of the Classroom

Me. High School Tabor College K-State Here!

Garden City High School White Enrollment: 601 Black Enrollment: 31 Hispanic Enrollment: 1,125 American Indian / Alaskan Native Enrollment: 4 Asian / Pacific Islander Enrollment: 53 Multi-Ethnic Enrollment:

Vocab. LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Gender: Along with one’s physical traits, it is the complex interrelationship between those traits and one’s internal sense of self as male, female, both or neither as well as one’s outward presentations and behaviors related to that perception. Androgynous: Having a combination of masculine and feminine features.

Reliable estimates indicate that between 4 and 10% of the population is gay, which means in a public school system of more than one million, like New York City's, there are at least 40,000 to 100,000 gay students. LGBT students at schools with comprehensive policies on bullying and harrassment are much more likely to report harassment to school authorities who, in turn, were more likely to respond effectively. LGBT students are twice as likely to say that they were not planning on completing high school or going on to college.

Gay teens are 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide and 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection. LGBT youth who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence are three times more likely to use illegal drugs.

Nearly a fifth of students are physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth because of their gender expression. About two-thirds of LGBT students reported having ever been sexually harassed (e.g., sexual remarks made, being touched inappropriately) in school in the past year. The average GPA for students who were frequently physically harassed because of their sexual orientation was half a grade lower than that of other students.

The Human Rights Campaign Survey of more than 100,000 LGBT-identified youth between the ages of 13 – 17 years old. When asked to describe 1 thing in their lives they would like to change right now:

When asked to describe the most important problem they face right now:

Preventing School Harassment Survey Survey of over 2,400 students in California Focused on LGBT inclusion in the curriculum and it’s relationship with students experience in the schools.

Finding 1: Individual students feel safer at school when LGBT issues are included in the curriculum; this is true for LGBT students and for their straight peers.

Finding 2: School climates are safer when LGBT issues are part of the curriculum.

Finding 3: Many California school districts already include LGBT issues in the curriculum and many more are interested in doing so.

Activity Time! Non-Gender Specific Dating Conversation Tell a friend about a date that you went on recently without using gender specific language. Do not use: HeHis SheHer BoyMan GirlWoman

It Gets Better, Lawrence KS!

Resources California Safe Schools Coalition, Safe Schools Research Brief 4 icshttp:// ics al-activities.aspxhttp://sait.usc.edu/lgbt/education/education al-activities.aspx