LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 1

LGBTQ+ Student Safety and Inclusion, Addressing the Strategies

Hazel Szakmeister

Glenelg High School

 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 2

Abstract

LGBTQ+ students do not feel safe and included at school. This issue led to the researcher

forming a hypothesis that enumerated protections for LGBTQ+ students, educator development

on LGBTQ+ issues, Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs, and education on LGBTQ+ topics such

as identities and history would help to combat this issue. After researching many scholarly

articles to help support the hypothesis, the researcher sent out a survey to LGBTQ+ students to

determine thief feelings of safety and inclusion and determine their attitudes towards the various

hypothesized solutions. It was found that these students mostly did not feel safe and the largest

number of students strongly supported education on LGBTQ+ topics. Additionally, a large

number of students, approximately 40%, felt that their GSA club made them feel safer, and over

half of students surveyed said that they didn't believe teachers would intervene when anti-

LGBTQ+ language is used. These results therefore supported the hypothesis that enumerated

protections for LGBTQ+ students, educator development on LGBTQ+ issues, Gay-Straight

Alliance (GSA) clubs, and education on LGBTQ+ topics such as identities and history would

help make LGBTQ+ students feel safer and more included at school.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 3

Table of Contents

Literature Review

Introduction 4

Enumerated Protections for LGBTQ+ Students 4

Educator Development on LGBTQ+ Issues 5

GSA and SAGA Clubs 5

Education on LGBTQ+ Topics 6

Transition to Data Collection 6

Data Collection

Methods 7

Participants 7

Materials 7

Procedures 7

Results 7

Discussion 11

Limitations 12

Conclusion 12

References 13

Appendix 16

Literature Review

Introduction
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 4

Lsebian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other (LGBTQ+) identities have been a

part of life, but only recently have become part of mainstream culture. LGBTQ+ students

therefore face issues at school such as increased odds of being bullied and victimized at school

(Myers et al., 2020) which is due to their identity (Payne & Smith, 2013). LGBTQ+ students also

face high levels of harassment and anti-LGBTQ+ language (Taylor et al., 2016). This

victimization harms mental health (Moore et al., 2017) as LGBTQ+ students are significantly

more likely to experience depressive symptoms compared to their peers (Stufft & Graff, 2011;

Lucassen et al., 2017). This is quite concerning, and duly so when it is considered that depression

in adolescence tends to remain, and so do the bad habits that may develop, such as smoking and

alcohol abuse (Naicker et al., 2013). All of this shows a strong need to help promote inclusion

and safety for all LGBTQ+ students. Because LGBTQ+ students are often ostracized from a

school community, schools should have enumerated protections for LGBTQ+ students, educator

development on LGBTQ+ issues should occur, schools should have a Gay-Straight Alliance

(GSA) club, and education on LGBTQ+ topics such as identities and history should occur.

Enumerated Protections for LGBTQ+ Students

Enumerated protections for LGBTQ+ students is explicit language in writing listing

LGBTQ+ identities as protected. This is usually done through explicitly stating sexual

orientation and gender identity and expression in writing. In 2011, less than 50% of anti-bullying

policies included LGBTQ+ identities as protected (Stufft & Graff, 2011). While that number has

increased in the last 10 years, it is still not high enough. Having a policy that specifically lists

LGBTQ+ identities as protected helps promote a better environment and decreases harassment

(Russell et al., 2021; Russell et al., 2016). It also makes school more inclusive (Stufft & Graff,
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 5

2011) which allows for a better school experience for all students, and leads to stronger

connections at school (Russell et al., 2016). Having an enumerated policy explicitly protects

LGBTQ+ students from harassment they may receive, which is essential to helping them feel

safer at school, and promotes stronger connections, helping LGBTQ+ students feel and be more

included in school.

Educator Development on LGBTQ+ Issues

Educator development is used to help teachers better address and support the needs of

students. Currently, teachers have very low levels of intervention in bullying (Taylor et al., 2016)

and lack the comfort to teach LGBTQ+ material (Taylor et al., 2016). Additionally, when

LGBTQ+ content is taught improperly it has no benefit (Dinkins & Englert, 2015). Every student

deserves to be safe and included at school, so more educator development is necessary. Educator

development has been shown to lead to less harassment occurring and more intervention by staff

(Russell et al., 2021) therefore making school a safer and more inclusive place (Stufft & Graff,

2011; Clark, 2010; Kearns et al., 2014). This also allows for more open discussions about

LGBTQ+ related topics which can also reduce homophobia (Clark, 2010). Educator

development has many great benefits for LGBTQ+ students which makes it essential to help

make them feel safer and more included at school.

GSA and SAGA Clubs

GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) clubs are clubs that are meant to help build a community

for LGBTQ+ students (Russell et al., 2021; Fetner & Elafros, 2015). This can also allow these

students to develop friendships (Fetner & Elafros, 2015) and build a more positive school

climate (Ioverno et al., 2017). Given that isolation is a real risk for LGBTQ+ students, building
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 6

community and friendships is very important. Additionally, being in a GSA club made LGBTQ+

students feel safer (Russell et al., 2021; Ioverno et al., 2017) and just the presence of a GSA can

reduce homophobic bullying (Ioverno et al., 2017). GSA clubs have clear and strong benefits for

LGBTQ+ students making it an essential component to help these students feel safer and more

included at school.

Education on LGBTQ+ Topics

Education on LGBTQ+ topics and reading LGBTQ+ literature can have immense

benefits for LGBTQ+ students. Reading inclusive literature allows for LGBTQ+ students to see

themselves represented in text (Batchelor et al., 2017). Giving LGBTQ+ students the ability to

see themselves represented in texts like many of their peers allows for them to reap the benefits

of reading more fully by giving them “a mirror” (Batchelor et al., 2017) to view themselves,

through the text. Additionally, having open discussions on LGBTQ+ issues can reduce

homophobia (Clark, 2010), but ignoring and not discussing LGBTQ+ topics increases the stigma

(Stufft & Graff, 2011). Having an inclusive curriculum can also make LGBTQ+ students feel

safer and reduce bullying (Pearce & Cumming-Potvin, 2017). Clearly, a more inclusive

curriculum improves the overall school experience for LGBTQ+ students and allows them to feel

safer and more included at school.

Transition to Data Collection

With all this information, it seems clear that these ideas are great ways to help LGBTQ+

student safety and inclusiveness. Therefore, to investigate these ideas, the researcher went

forward to collect their own data to investigate how often these same ideas are implemented,

these ideas’ effectiveness, and investigate opinions on further education on LGBTQ+ topics.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 7

Data Collection

Methods

Participants: The survey was initially distributed to the Glenelg High School SAGA club, and

through other social media methods. Due to a very low level of responses, the survey was posted

on a Reddit page for transgender teenagers. These teenagers come from all over the world, and

all have a gender identity different from the one they were assigned at birth.

Materials: The survey was distributed through Google Forms and data was analyzed through

Google Sheets.

Procedures: First, the survey was designed to collect data on how various factors can affect

LGBTQ+ safety and inclusion, and on the opinions and desires of these students. Then, the

survey was analyzed for potential bias and distributed. The data was then collected and analyzed.

Results:

Question 3: How significantly does your LGBTQ+ identity affect how safe or unsafe you feel at

school?

65.4% of respondents stated that

their LGBTQ+ identity led them to
feel a little or a lot less safe.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 8

Question 4: How has your LGBTQ+ identity affected how included or excluded you feel at

school?

50.5% of respondents stated that

their LGBTQ+ identity caused
them to feel a little less or a lot less
included at school.

Question 5: How supportive and accepting of LGBTQ+ identities do you feel teachers in your

school are?

65.8% of respondents stated that

they felt their teachers were a little
or very supportive of LGBTQ+
identities.

Question 6: How likely do you feel teachers are to intervene if inappropriate anti-LGBTQ+

language is used?
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 9

Only 43.6% of respondents

believed that their teachers would
intervene if inappropriate anti-
LBGTQ+ language was used,
which is significantly lower than
for the previous question.

Question 8: How has your schools GSA or SAGA club affected how safe or unsafe you feel at

school?

The lack of an “unsure if my

school has a GSA” or "my school
doesn’t have a GSA" from the
previous question skewed the
results. See below for a corrected
chart and analysis.

Question 8 Removing Responses from Those Without a GSA or Unsure

Over half of respondents felt their

GSA had no effect on their safety at
school, though 46.1% of the
respondents did feel that their GSA
increased their safety at least a little
bit.

Question 9: How has your schools GSA or SAGA club affected how included or excluded you

feel at school?
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 10

The lack of an “unsure if my

school has a GSA” or "my school
doesn’t have a GSA" from the
previous question skewed the
results. See below for a corrected
chart and analysis.

Question 9: How has your schools GSA or SAGA club affected how included or excluded you

feel at school?

47.1% of respondents felt that their

GSA made them feel more
included at school, while only 10%
of respondents felt that their GSA
caused them to feel less included.

Question 11: What is your opinion on more LGBTQ+ history being included in school

curriculums?

90.5% of respondents slightly or

strongly agreed that LGBTQ+
history should be included in
school curriculums showing the
desire for representation.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 11

Question 13: What is your opinion on LGBTQ+ identities being more included in school

curriculums?

84.1% of respondents felt that

LGBTQ+ identities should be more
included in the school curriculum,
again showing the desire of
LGBTQ+ students to be
represented

Discussion

LGBTQ+ students feel like their identity makes them less safe and less included in school

with 65.4% of respondents saying their identity made them feel a little or lot less safe at school.

Additionally, over half of students reported feeling a little or lot less included in school. This is

similar to the findings of others previously that LGBTQ+ students feel their identity makes them

feel less safe and less included (Payne & Smith, 2013) suggesting that despite the passage of

time, conditions remain similar. This upholds the need for this research and the need for it to be

applied.

There was a 22.2% difference between the students who felt that their teachers were a

little or very supportive of their identities and students who felt their teachers were a little or very

likely to intervene if inappropriate anti-LGBTQ+ language was used. This suggests that while

teachers are generally supportive, many of them struggle to intervene. This is likely because of a

lack of development on how to address this sort of language and what the appropriate action is to

take (Taylor et al., 2016). This provides more evidence that teacher training on how to address

LGBTQ+ issues is necessary.

 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 12

A large majority of LGBTQ+ students believe that there should be more education on

LGBTQ+ history and on LGBTQ+ identities which shows their desire for representation in

school. This representation has been shown to come from various sources including literature

(Batchelor et al., 2017). Literature, history, and health courses all include the viewpoints of the

societal normal population, which doesn’t include LGBTQ+ people, and so therefore, they are

usually not represented in these courses, and this data shows that LGBTQ+ students want to be

represented, and that is something that schools can do.

Limitations

The researcher did not anticipate having to reach so far into social media to get the

desired number of responses. Therefore, a question on nationality was not included. Since other

countries are different, this could make it very difficult to understand the opinions of American

LGBTQ+ students. Additionally, a very large proportion of the respondents identified as

transgender, and it has been shown that transgender people face more harassment and worse

conditions than even their other peers in the LGBTQ+ community (Taylor et al., 2011). This

could certainly therefore increase the response rate of feeling unsafe and unincluded at school.

Conclusion

LGBTQ+ students don’t feel truly included and safe at school, and they feel their identity

makes them less safe and included at school. The evidence is clear that this is a major issue.

However, this research shows a path forward toward a school where being LGBTQ+ does not

lead to feeling less safe and less included. The students and the research have spoken, and this

must not be ignored. LGBTQ+ students need enumerated protections, teacher training on
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 13

LGBTQ+ issues, GSA clubs, and education on LGBTQ+ topics to feel safe and included at

school.

References

Batchelor, K. E., Ramos, M., & Neiswander, S. (2017, November 16). Opening Doors: Teaching

LGBTQ-themed Young Adult Literature for an Inclusive Curriculum. A Journal of

Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 91(1), 29-36. 10.1080/00098655.2017.1366183

Clark, C. (2010, April). Preparing LGBTQ-allies and combating homophobia in a U.S. teacher

education program. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(3), 704-713.

10.1016/j.tate.2009.10.006

Dinkins, E. G., & Englert, P. (2015, May 21). LGBTQ literature in middle school classrooms:

possibilities for challenging heteronormative environments. Sex Education, 15(4), 392-

405. 10.1080/14681811.2015.1030012

Fetner, T., & Elafros, A. (2015, August 7). The GSA Difference: LGBTQ and Ally Experiences

in High Schools with and without Gay-Straight Alliances. Social Sciences, 11(4), 563-

581. 10.3390/sosci4030563
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 14

Ioverno, S., Belser, A. B., Baiocco, R., Grossman, A. H., & Russell, S. T. (2017, December 1).

The Protective Role of Gay-Straight Alliances for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and

Questioning Students: A Prospective Analysis. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and

Gender Diversity, 3(4), 397-406. 10.1037/sgd0000193

Kearns, L.-L., Kuckner, J. M., & Tompkins, J. (2014). Building LGBTQ awareness and allies in

our teacher education community and beyond. Collected Essays on Learning and

Teaching, 7(1), 62-67.

Lucassen, M. F., Stasiak, K., Samra, R., Frampton, C. M., & Merry, S. N. (2017, August).

Sexual minority youth and depressive symptoms or depressive disorder: A systematic

review and meta-analysis of population-based studies. Australian & New Zealand

Journal of Psychiatry, 51(8), 774-787. 10.1177/0004867417713664

Moore, S. E., Norman, R. E., Suetani, S., Thomas, H. J., Sly, P. D., & Scott, J. G. (2017, March

22). Consequences of bullying victimization in childhood and adolescence: A systematic

review and meta-analysis. World Journal of Psychiatry, 7(1), 60-76.

10.5498/wjp.v7.i1.60

Myers, W., Turanovic, J. J., Lloyd, K. M., & Pratt, T. C. (2020, February 7). The Victimization

of LGBTQ Students at School: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of School Violence, 19(4), 421-

432. 10.1080/15388220.2020.1725530

Naicker, K., Galambos, N. L., Zeng, Y., Senthilselvan, A., & Colman, I. (2013, March 15).

Social, Demographic, and Health Outcomes in the 10 Years Following Adolescent

Depression. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(5), 533-538.

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.12.016
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 15

Payne, E., & Smith, M. (2013). LGBTQ Kids, School Safety, and Missing the Big Picture: How

the Dominant Bullying Discourse Prevents School Professionals from Thinking about

Systemic Marginalization or . . . Why We Need to Rethink LGBTQ Bullying. QED: A

Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, (Inaugural Issue), 1-36. 10.1353/qed.2013.0012

Pearce, J., & Cumming-Potvin, W. (2017). English Classrooms and Curricular Justice for the

Recognition of LGBT Individuals: What Can Teachers Do? Australian Journal of

Teacher Education, 42(9). 10.14221/ajte.2017v42n9.5

Russell, S. T., Bishop, M. D., Saba, V. C., James, I., & Ioverno, S. (2021, October). Promoting

School Safety for LGBTQ and All Students. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and

Brain Sciences, 8(2), 160-166. 10.1177/23727322211031938

Russell, S. T., Day, J. K., Ioverno, S., & Toomey, R. B. (2016, February). Are School Policies

Focused on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Associated with Less Bullying?

Teachers’ Perspectives. Journal of School Psychology, 54, 29-398.

doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2015.10.005

Stufft, D. L., & Graff, C. M. (2011). Increasing Visibility for LGBTQ Students: What Schools

Can Do To Create Inclusive Classroom Communities. Current Issues in Education,

14(1). https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/636/87

Taylor, C. G., Meyer, E. J., Peter, T., Ristock, J., Short, D., & Campbell, C. (2016, May 4). Gaps

between beliefs, perceptions, and practices: The Every Teacher Project on LGBTQ-

inclusive education in Canadian schools. Journal of LGBT Youth, 13(1-2), 112-140.

10.1080/19361653.2015.1087929

Taylor, C. & Peter, T., with McMinn, T.L., Elliott, T., Beldom, S., Ferry, A., Gross, Z., Paquin,
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 16

S., & Schachter, K. (2011). Every class in every school: The first national climate survey

on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools. Final report. Toronto,

ON: Egale Canada Human Rights Trust.

Appendix

1.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 17

2.

Gender Percentage of Respondents

Male 6.3%

Trans Male 15.9%

Transmasc 2.4%

Female 6.3%

Trans Female 31.7%

Transfemme 17.5%

Nonbinary 7.1%

Genderfluid 4.8%

ftm demiboy 0.8%

I don’t like labels 0.8%

Transfem non-binary 0.8%

Questioning 0.8%

Agender Transfem 0.8%

Agender 1.6%
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 18

Genderqueer 1.6%

Non binary Trans Girl 0.8%

3.

4.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 19

5.

6.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 20

7.

8.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 21

9.

10.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 22

11.

12.
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 23

13.

14.

You should probably add a non-applicable option for the gsa club thing for people that don't
have a GSA club

I go to online school myself, so don't interact with people much

Most of the unsafe feelings that come from school are from the students and not the teachers

Nobody in my school knows about my true self, not even my friends there (online friends
know, of course).
Since all my classmates in my group are males, I really feel excluded when they refer to my
group as "the only boys group".

Hiiiiii, it’s me, text me if you know who I am ❤️

Have a good rest of ur day :]

For the question: How supportive and accepting of LGBTQ+ identities do you feel teachers in
your school are? The reason why I put my answer is that because i've seen some teachers use
the wrong pronouns for some students who are under the trans umbrella (non-accidental) and I
can tell that it hurts those students because I think they are scared to speak up.
For the question: What is your opinion on LGBTQ+ identities being more included in school
curriculums? I put my answer as neutral because it kinda depends. I do agree with the idea of
the lgbt identities being taught for example, a teacher gives the definition/explains what non-
binary and other identities under the trans umbrella and also the history of trans and non-binary
 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 24

people is. I slightly disagree with going really in-depth with lgbt identities for example, if a
student thinks that they are non-binary I don't think that the student should go to a teacher for
advice to know if that student is non-binary. The student should seek out a professional and not
the teacher. It's a personal thing that should be discovered on your own and just because
someone says your something that doesn't mean you are. Because I see this a lot in the lgbt
commuity when someone is confused about their gender they would be like "Im afab but
mostly I feel like a guy but then again I kinda like being a girl but I hate being treated as one
but then again I want to be socially expected as a guy..what gender do you guys think I am"
People would ALWAYS be like "that's something that you have to figure out on your own, I
can't tell you the answer because that is a personal thing BUT you do sound like a trans man
you should do your own research on trans men though." So that's kinda what I'm trying to say.
Students should to do their own research and go more in-depth about what gender identity they
think they are and not go to a teacher to find out what gender identity they are. (I hope that
made sense).

Im home schooled btw.

im not american btw

I live in TN, bit am in a very specificly lgbtq friendly school

Kim wexler emoji 👩🏼‍💼

Nope

I should say that although I am agender, that is a label as opposed to an identity, and agender is
the only label I'm comfortable approaching. I don't really use cisgender or transgender for
myself because I feel so divorced from the idea of gender that neither term feels right. You
could categorize me as non-binary though (and/or trans, because by definition I don't identify
with my gender assugned at birth), if it helps with the survey statistics. Also, although I am not
open with being agender, there have been several rumors started about me being trans & I've
gotten an upsetting amount of harrassment for it. I don't feel safe riding my school bus because
people made "jokes" about "correcting me", and I didn't feel safe reporting them either. Hope
this helps!! <3

This was a great survey and I really enjoyed filling it out

I believe that LGBT identities should be a topic discussed in schools but it can lead to hateful
comments by homophobs/transphobs and might hurt closeted lgbt individuals (speaking from
experience)

Hope this helped!

 LGBTQ+ STUDENT SAFETY AND INCLUSION, ADDRESSING TH 25

hamburga

not from america

Great survey!

I go to 2 schools, but only have a gsa at 1 (there is no clubs at the tec school) But rest apply to
both :)

There should probably have been an option for people outside the US. Also, if you don't have a
GSA or SAGA club you are still required to answer the other questions about them, which will
screw with the results.

All of my LGBT education is from my own experiences. None of it is from the education
system sadly

thank you

You might want to fix up the GSA questions so your results aren't messed up - we don't have
one so I just said 'no effect'. Cheers from Australia .

I was very neutral in this because I don’t pay attention to other kids at school. Also I think
people are scared of me and my friends and no one has said anything to me.

For education I think it would be more important for there to be a gender identity unit in the
freshman health class to inform kids there is more than male and female. Then for the
sexualities could be included in the later health unit. It’s important to give students the
resources so they can figure out who they are.

Ps this is the first one of these surveys that I’ve actually cared about answering.

No

Just for the record I am not in my schools GSA, it’s after school so I can’t go without telling
my mom and I also am terrified of that club because I know no one and am not comfortable
around anyone there besides my tiny friend group

I'm from the UK btw, only difference is that we call "Sophomore grade" year 11

I don’t think there should be separate lgbtq history lessons instead they should just teach things
in order and if they include lgbtq then they should say it (like stonewall, brinna ghey etc.) you
gotta remember that exclusively lgbt history lessons is going to make straggots feel bad and
then they’ll dunk on gay people