LGBTQIA+ STUDENT EXPERIENCES: THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER

DISCRIMINATION IN THE CLASSROOM

HARZYB S. ANDAL

PRECIOUS-GALE BORRES

QUENNIE SOLANO
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

In June 2017, Human rights watch released a short video highlighting the plight

of " David Bonifacio a Filipino LGBT Student, who experienced discrimination for being

gay he claimed that he concealed his gender to prevent discrimination and that he is

ashamed to reveal it to the public because his classmates assume that being gay is far

worse than doing drugs, he further stated that he was discriminated against by his

teacher in front of everyone and he felt ashamed and humiliated for being called out.

Based on the Gender Equality law of 2011, this seeks to terminate the bullying shaming

and gender based violence and discrimination in our society. This calls for the equal

treatment of all genders, this law not only works outside the school but also inside,

speak out against the prejudice against the LGBTQ community which is their top

concern rather than participating in discrimination against them.

In Canada, Protests and counter-protests over LGBTQ school policies took place

in Toronto on Wednesday, with many more happening across the country. The initial

protests were organized under the banner of '1 Million March 4 Children' to 'protect our

children from indoctrination and sexualization,' according to the group’s website.

Counter-protests took place in response, with thousands gathering at places like

Queen’s Park. Some parents and socially conservative groups are protesting LGBTQ-

inclusive education policies in the classroom and in extracurricular settings under the

banner of parental rights. Critics and researchers say the term "parental rights" is a
misnomer because it doesn't address the concerns of LGBTQ parents or parents of

LGBTQ children.

Christian Florida School tells parents gay and transgender students must 'leave

immediately'

A Florida-based Christian school sent out an email informing parents that LGBTQ-

identifying students "will be asked to leave the school immediately."

According to the email obtained by NBC News, the top administrator of Grace

Christian School in Valrico, Florida, Barry McKeen, sent the email to the families for the

kindergarten-grade 12 school on June 6. He later confirmed and doubled down on the

policy in an Aug. 18 video on the school's official Facebook page.

The June email read: "We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism,

bisexuality, transgender identity/lifestyle, self-identification, bestiality, incest, fornication,

adultery and pornography are sinful in the sight of God and the church. Students who

are found participating in these lifestyles will be asked to leave the school immediately."

According to the email, the school said students will be "referred to by the gender

on their birth certificate.

Gender is defined as a social construct, whereas sex is defined as by biological

differences, according to the National Institutes of Health. Messages left by USA

TODAY for Grace Christian School on Monday morning were not immediately returned.
 ("Christian Florida School says LGBTQ students not allowed, cites Bible"

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/08/22/christian-florida-school-

lgbtq-gay-trans-students-banned/7863198001/)

The Philippines has a long history of robust LGBT advocacy. In 1996, LGBT

individuals and groups held a solidarity march to commemorate Pride in Manila, which

many activists describe as the first known Pride March in Asia. Lawmakers began

introducing bills to advance the rights of LGBT people in the country in 1995, including

variations of a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill that has been reintroduced

periodically since 2000.

In the absence of federal legislation, local government units across the

Philippines have begun to enact their own anti-discrimination ordinances that prohibit

discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As of June 2017,

15 municipalities and 5 provinces had ordinances prohibiting some forms of

discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.[3] Attitudes toward

LGBT people are relatively open and tolerant; a survey conducted in 2013 found that 73

percent of Filipinos believe “society should accept homosexuality,” up from 64 percent

who believed the same in 2002.[4] President Rodrigo Duterte has generally been

supportive of LGBT rights as well. During his time as mayor, Davao City passed an

LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance, and on the campaign trail, he vocally

condemned bullying and discrimination against LGBT people.

Some students altered their behavior or personality in an attempt to avoid

disapproval from classmates. Patrick G., a 19-year-old gay man who had attended high
school in Cainta, said: "They were teasing me for being effeminate. I developed this

concept of how a man should walk, how a man should talk. It became—maybe because

of them calling me malamya [effeminate], I became the person that I’m not. I was forced

to be masculine, just for them to stop teasing me.

For this reason, the researchers aim and desire to lessen the cases of

discrimination to the LGBTQ Community. And to know the influence of gender

discriminations in LGBTQA+ Community student in the classroom asking for their

experiences as a member of the said community.

Statement of the problem

The objective of this study is to know the influence of gender discrimination to the

LGBTQA+ Community Student. Particularly, it ought to answer the following question.

1. How does gender discrimination in the classroom affect the overall academic

performance and well-being of LGBTQIA students?

2. What are the psychological and emotional effects of gender discrimination on

LGBTQIA students within the academic setting?

3. How does the classroom climate, including teacher’s attitudes and peer interactions

contribute to or mitigate the impact of gender discrimination on LGBTQIA+ students?

Scope and Delimitation of the study

The respondents of this study were the members of the LGBTQ community in

Milbuk National High School at Barangay Milbuk, Palimbang Sultan Kudarat. Its main

purpose is to identify the common problems that they encounter and to propose

possible solutions regarding this problem that they encounter and to propose possible

solution regarding this problem

This study considers every aspects of student’s personal information that has an impact

on their academic performance such as their gender, age and home location.
Theoretical framework

The word "queer" in queer theory has some of these connotations, particularly its

alignment with ideas about homosexuality.

Queer theory is a brand-new branch of study or theoretical speculation; it has

only been named as an area since about 1991. It grew out of gay/lesbian studies, a

discipline which itself is very new, existing in any kind of organized form only since

about the mid-1980s. Gay/lesbian studies, in turn, grew out of feminist studies and

feminist theory. Let me tell you a little about this history. (It's interesting in its own right,

because it is literally happening under our noses, in our classrooms, at this moment; it's

also interesting as a way of seeing how theoretical movements or schools grow out of

other schools, as we've already seen with the bricolage that emerges from Saussure to

Derrida to Lacan to Cixous and Irigaray.

Yet the open secrets of humanism make an odd fit with the homoerotic subtexts.

Queer studies, at its most exciting, has challenged the very idea of human nature.—

Lawrence Lipking

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, whose critical writings on the ambiguities of sexual

identity in fiction helped create the discipline known as queer studies, died on Sunday in

Manhattan … Ms. Sedgwick broke new ground when, drawing on feminist scholarship

and the work of the French poststructuralist Michel Foucault, she began teasing out the

hidden socio-sexual subplots in writers like Charles Dickens and Henry James. (William

Grimes)
Conceptual framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

The influence of Gender What are the psychological and

Discrimination in the emotional effects of gender
classroom discrimination on LGBTQIA
Students?

Figure 1: The table show the independent Variables and dependent variables, the

cause and effect of the “LGBTQIA+ student Experiences”. The influence of

Discrimination in the classroom.”

Significance of the study

This study will guide and help the law –makers in making such laws that will protect

the LGBTQ community and also for the LGBT community empowerment

The parents of the LGBTQ members will realize that they must and they should

accept their sons and daughters who ever they are, whatever their gender preference

is.

The study will enlighten the mind of other people that they should not discriminate the

members of the LGBTQ community.

To the researcher: This study will support and encourage researchers to be good

readers and find solutions to issues, especially on the LGBTQ student experience: The

influence of gender discrimination in the classroom setting that may affect our

personalities as a future educator.

To the Respondents: When these problems arise, this research helps people

recognize them and come up with fresh solutions or alternative methods to handle the

challenges.

To the Department of Education

Create a system to gather and publish data about bullying on the basis of sexual

orientation and gender identity in schools. Revise forms to more clearly differentiate and

record incidents of gender-based bullying on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and

gender identity, and include these categories on all forms related to bullying, abuse, or

violence against children.

Revise the standard sexuality education curriculum to ensure it aligns with UNESCO’s

guidelines for comprehensive sexuality education, is medically and scientifically

accurate, is inclusive of LGBT youth, and covers same-sex activity on equal footing with

other sexual activity.

Issue an order instructing schools to respect students’ gender identity with regard to

dress codes, access to facilities, and participation in curricular and extracurricular

activities.

To School Administrators
Adopt anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies that are inclusive of sexual

orientation and gender identity, inform students how they should report incidents of

bullying, and specify consequences for bullying.

To the LGBTQIA Community This research study aims to explore the specific ways in

which gender discrimination affects LGBT students in educational settings. It focuses on

the experiences of LGBT individuals and how gender norms and biases in the

classroom contribute to discrimination, hinder their academic performance, and impact

their overall well-being.

And lastly, the future researcher will have their best to become successful

researcher.it will serve as their reference in conducting their research.

Scope and Delimitation of the study

The respondents of this study were the members of the LGBTQ community in Milbuk

National High School at Barangay Milbuk, Palimbang Sultan Kudarat. Its main purpose

is to identify the common problems that they encounter and to propose possible

solutions regarding this problem that they encounter and to propose possible solution

regarding this problem.

This study considers every aspects of student’s personal information that has an impact

on their academic performances such as their gender, age and home location.
Definition of terms

The following words or group of words were defined operationally as they were used in

the research study:

Bading

A slang term for “gay” in Tagalog, usually used pejoratively.

Bakla

A Tagalog term for a person assigned male at birth whose gender expression is

feminine and who may identify as gay or as a woman; it can be used pejoratively as a

slur for an effeminate individual.

Bayot

A Cebuano term for a person assigned male at birth whose gender expression is

feminine and who may identify as gay or as a woman; it can be used pejoratively as a

slur for an effeminate individual.

Bisexual

A sexual orientation in which a person is sexually or romantically attracted to both men

and women.

Cisgender

The gender identity of people whose sex assigned at birth conforms to their identified or

lived gender.
Gay

Synonym in many parts of the world for homosexual; primarily used here to refer to the

sexual orientation of a man whose primary sexual and romantic attraction is towards

other men. In the Philippines, the term “gay” can also refer to a person who is assigned

male at birth but expresses themselves in a feminine manner or identifies as a woman.

Gender Identity

A person’s internal, deeply felt sense of being female or male, neither, both, or

something other than female and male. A person’s gender identity does not necessarily

correspond to their sex assigned at birth.

Gender-Fluid

A descriptor for people whose gender fluctuates and may differ over time.

Gender

Non-Conforming

A descriptor for people who do not conform to stereotypical appearances, behaviors, or

traits associated with their sex assigned at birth.

Homosexual

A sexual orientation in which a person’s primary sexual and romantic attractions are

toward people of the same sex.

Lesbian
A sexual orientation in which a woman is primarily sexually or romantically attracted to

other women.

LGBT

An acronym to describe those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Panromantic

A sexual orientation in which one’s romantic attraction is not restricted by sex assigned

at birth, gender, or gender identity.

Sexual Orientation

A person’s sense of attraction to, or sexual desire for, individuals of the same sex,

another sex, both, or neither.

Tibo

A slang term for “lesbian” in Tagalog, usually used pejoratively.

Tomboy

A term for a person assigned female at birth whose gender expression is masculine and

who may identify as lesbian or as a man; it can be used pejoratively as a slur for a

masculine individual who was assigned female at birth.

Transgender

The gender identity of people whose sex assigned at birth does not conform to their

identified or lived gender.

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

Gender discrimination has a big impact and linked to the mental health of each

individual (Laura de la Torre-Pèrez, 2022). Thus, it also affects the academic

performances of the students who are the members of LGBTQIA+. By examining

existing literature, this review seeks to clarify on how does gender discrimination affect

the overall academic performance and well-being of the LGBTQIA+ students, the

psychological, and emotional impacts of gender discrimination in the classroom setting,

and how does the teachers and peer interactions can contribute to or mitigate the

impact of gender discrimination which can contribute to our understanding of gender

equality and gender discrimination combat among all Filipino citizens and to other

countries.

The influence of gender discrimination to the overall academic performance of

the LGBTQIA+ students

Everyone should feel safe attending school. In the Philippines, nevertheless.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) adolescents far too frequently report

stigmatizing experiences at school. Prejudice, a dearth of information about LGBT

issues, and even physical or sexual abuse. These restrict pupils' rights to an education

that are guaranteed by international and Philippine law. Edmund T. (2017).

 Legislators and school officials in the Philippines have realized in recent times

how severe a problem bullying of LGBT youth is, and they have developed initiatives to

deal with it. A Child Protection Policy was implemented in 2012 by the Department of

Education (DepEd), which is in charge of primary and secondary education. Its goal is

to combat bullying and discrimination in schools, particularly that which occurs on the

basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. This report is based on interviews and

group discussions with 46 parents, 22 students or recent graduates who did not identify

as LGBT or questioning, and 76 secondary school students or recent graduates who

identified as LGBT or questioning in ten cities on the major Philippine islands of Luzon

and the Vizayas. Educators, advisors, managers, service providers, and specialists

I was depressed. I was bullied, I didn't know my sexuality. I felt unloved, and I felt

alone all the time. And I had friends, but I still felt so lonely. I was listing ways to die.

(Benjie A., 2017)

A 21year-old transgender says that, "When I was in school, there was a teacher

who always went around if you had a long hair, she would call you up to the front of the

class and cut your hair in front of the students. That happened to me many times. It

made me feel terrible: I1 cried because I saw my classmates watching me getting my

hair cut."(Marisol D., 2017)

A 17 year-old gay said "They say that gays are main focus of HIV. I'm a bit

ashamed of that, because I was once in section where I'm the gay, and they kept

pointing at me."(Jonas E., 2017)

Psychological and emotional Impact of Discrimination to the LGBTQIA+

community

LGBT persons frequently face discrimination, according to Friedman (2014).

Compared to heterosexuals, gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are ten times more likely

to face prejudice because of their sexual orientation. Mistreatment can take many

different forms, ranging from jokes that appear harmless to verbal abuse, unfair

treatment, and in the worst situations, physical assault. Furthermore, prejudice towards

LGBT people is pervasive and lasts a lifetime for many of them—it exists in the

community, at work, at school, and at home.

Teacher attitudes and peer interactions contribute to or mitigate on Gender

discrimination

Very few students have access to teachers or counselors who are trained to

provide support for LGBT students as they grow up and develop (HRW. 2017)

"LGBT students in the Philippines are often target of ridicule and even violence."

"And in many instances, teachers and administrators are participating in this

mistreatment instead of speaking out against discrimination and creating classrooms

where everybody can learn."(Thoreson, 2017)