Ideas for improving lgbtq awareness in schools
How Social-Emotional Learning Can Foster LGBTQ Inclusion at School
In today’s polarized educational climate, many educators feel caught in a bind: They want to support female homosexual, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students and foster inclusivity but be afraid of pushback for engaging with topics some consider “controversial.”
Yet what if we’re already holding the tools to bridge this divide—tools that are evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, and already widely embraced in schools?
Social-emotional learning (SEL) equips children with empathy, self-awareness, and the ability to navigate difference with compassion. When used intentionally, SEL can be a powerful, non-divisive path toward cultivating LGBTQ allyship—starting in the earliest years of a child’s development.
Why SEL and LGBTQ inclusion go hand in hand
For six years, I taught SEL in classrooms and community spaces across Los Angeles County. My students ranged from elementary school children to incarcerated youth at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall. I also led SEL workshops for LGBTQ youth shelters, after-school programs, and organizations like Big Brothers Large Sisters and Penny Alley Centers.
This work
LGBTQ+ is an inclusive term for people of all genders and sexualities. While each letter in LGBTQ+ stands for a specific collective of people, the term is inclusive of the entire spectrum of gender fluidity and sexual identities that exist.
The first four letters of the acronym have been used since the 1990s, but in recent years there has been an increased awareness of the need to be inclusive of other sexual identities in order to give better representation.
LGB stands for lesbian, homosexual and bisexual. The T in Homosexual refers to someone’s gender identity. It stands for trans, which is a term for someone who identifies as a different gender than what was assigned on their birth certificate. The Q stands for questioning or gay. Questioning is when a person is exploring their sexuality, gender identity or gender expression. Lgbtq+ is used as an inclusive designation or as a unique celebration of not moulding to social norms.
More recently, LGBTQIA+ has been used, with an additional two letters at the finish of the acronym. The I stands for intersex and is used for individuals who don’t fit into specific gender norms of women or men. It can also be used for those with reproductive anatomy
By Johanna Eager
Program Director, Welcoming Schools
Human Right Campaign
September 2017
In my over 20 years in education, I have had the opportunity to perform with educators all over the state. As Director of Welcoming Schools, I have found that elementary school educators I talk to have received petty, if any, teaching during their mentor preparation programs around being LGBTQ-inclusive in the classroom. In my experience, providing professional development to educators around LGBTQ inclusivity can aid them to saturate in these gaps. That is precisely where Welcoming Schools comes in.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools is the nation’s premier professional development program dedicated to providing training to educators to create respectful and supportive elementary schools in embracing family diversity, creating LGBTQ-inclusive schools, preventing bias-based bullying, creating gender-expansive schools, and supporting transgender and non-binary students. We know that promptly education is key to preventing harassment later on and that teachers act a critical role in creating an environment in which all children can thrive.
5 Ways Educators Can Aid Support LGBTQ+ Students
At least 20 states have introduced their versions of a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, limiting the discussion of gender and sexual orientation in classrooms, with Flordia and Alabama signing bills into law earlier this year. A national version of these laws now looms in Congress, and trans students tackle additional limits related to athletics in more than fifteen states.
But as Homosexual students and schools last trapped in the crosshairs of political battles across the country, educators — whether able to endure up against policy or empowered by a more inclusive climate — can make a meaningful difference in supporting students and preventing bias. Here’s how:
Create space for sharing pronouns.
This allows individuals to “self-identify instead of assuming someone’s identity based on their appearance”, explains TC’s Oren Pizmony-Levy, who as the Principal Investigator at the College’s Global Observatory and Activism on LGBTQ+ Education leads efforts to research and assemble LGBTQ+ school climate indicators and educational initiatives.
“The more we normalize sharing pronouns, the more it will help people ‘come out’ wit
Schools have the power to transform the lives of marginalized and minoritized students, including lesbian, gay, double attraction, transgender, and queer (LGTBQ+) youth. As students come back to school this plummet, especially in the midst of hostile anti-LGBTQ+ policies, it is important now more than ever that LGBTQ+ students have access to a supportive and inclusive school climate with positive peer and lecturer relationships.
It is important for all youth to acquire access to a protected and inclusive school climate, regardless of their identities. Yet, data from Hunt Institute’s Resilience Through Strengths project shows that compared to heterosexual youth, Gay youth report fewer social, family, school, and group assets, as well as lower caring from teachers and program leaders. Additionally, LGBTQ+ youth report higher levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) compared to heterosexual youth.
The Power of Positive Identity
Positive identity refers to youths’ self-worth, feeling of purpose, and instinct of control over their lives. In our statistics sample, LGBTQ+ youth reported less positive identity than heterosexual youth. Why is this finding meaningful? The development of a posi