Back To School season is in full swing and GLSEN is sharing free resources to help prepare students and educators for the upcoming school year. We know we are navigating the immense impact of COVID-19 and a moment in our country’s history requiring us to prioritize the possibilities of an ever growing racial justice movement. It’s critical that we advocate together to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth, especially Black LGBTQ+ students, feel safe, seen, and affirmed.
This newsletter has resources and updates from GLSEN’s Education and Youth Programs Department, Policy Department, and from GLSEN’s Research Institute.
Education and Youth Programs
Announcement: GLSEN's Ally Week has changed to Solidarity Week and is scheduled for October 5-9. This week-long event is for LGBTQ+ students and LGBTQ+ educators to share what it means to be in solidarity with them at school. Solidarity is a voluntary collective action based on finding common objectives and solutions to oppression. The decision to change Ally Week to Solidarity Week was heavily influenced by student feedback, the current climate highlighting historic harm done to Black people, and the responsibility to adjust language, ideas, and actions that are appropriate and reflect the voices of those GLSEN is committed to serving and center those most impacted by oppressive systems and behaviors. For more information and to register, visit our website.
Student Resources
- Check out our Virtual Resource landing page!
- We have put together some resources to help you navigate returning to school with GLSEN’s 10 Back to School Tips.
- For students looking to change their name, pronouns, and/or gender, check out Reggies Name Change blog with some tips on choosing your name, notifying folks of your name and pronoun change, and navigating how to change it with your school.
- For activism and planning out your school year, check out GLSEN’s Calendar for the 2020-2021 School Year.
- GLSEN’s Pronoun Resource Guide can be a useful tool for anyone learning about pronouns and why it is important to honor someone’s pronouns. Check out this guide and share it with peers and educators at your school.
- Student activists like you have been organizing, participating, and leading actions across the country to demand justice, safety, and inclusion of ALL Black lives! You are calling on institutions, organizations, family members, elected officials, educators, school administration and your peers to dismantle and eradicate anti-Blackness from your spaces. We know this continues to take work! Each person has a role in the movement. Resources: Community Safety in the Streets, and at Home has a list of resources and material to take part. The resources span from self-care for Black folks to those who are looking to be in solidarity with and center the needs and voices of Black people in the community.
GSA Resources
As most GSA’s move to virtual meeting spaces, check out How to Host a Virtual Event which includes GSA Virtual Meetings and events like an open mic night or rally.
- New this year! GLSEN is hosting a GSA Day on September 15th. Join our orientation call to introduce our new National GSA Leadership Coalition on September 16th, register here.
If you are looking to start up your GSA and gather folks online, check out these GSA one page resources to help get your organized:
And check out these virtual GSA discussion guides for movies and films that include topics such as intersectionality, coming out, gender identity and expression, and finding supportive connections through friends and community!
Webinars:
Don’t forget to register your GSA for more information!
Educator Resources
However your year is beginning, these resources can help educators like you have a fresh start with a focus on LGBTQ+ Black students, student safety, and solidarity.
- Find resources, research, and blogs for supporting Black LGBTQ+ Students at www.glsen.org/black.
- Check out this one-minute Back to School video on Inclusive Language by Ace Schwartz, they/them, a GLSEN Educator Advisory Committee Member. We’re sharing more video messages by educators on our social channels @glsen.
- Read and share our new research brief on the importance of Supportive Educators!
- Learn from other supportive educators and LGBTQ+ students in our free monthly Educator Webinars:
- Read these blogs and resources and share them with your colleagues and administrators to start the new year right:
Policy
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and two other consolidated cases that discrimination against LGBTQ+ people "necessarily entails discrimination based on sex; the first cannot happen without the second.” This landmark ruling confirmed what many education and civil rights advocates have long known - that discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is prohibited by federal civil rights laws. As students prepare for the next school year -- either continuing in remote learning environments or returning to brick and mortar buildings -- it is important for policymakers at the state and local levels to uphold these nondiscrimination protections and consider the unique experiences and needs of LGBTQ+ students. Today, many LGBTQ+ students are self-isolating with unsupportive families.[i] LGBTQ+ youth are still more than twice as likely as their non-LGBTQ+ peers to experience homelessness.[ii] The higher risk to LGBTQ+ youth of experiencing depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns is even greater during the COVID-19 pandemic.[iii] Therefore, we urge state and local education agencies to work with other government agencies and community-based organizations to:
- Enforce federal, state, and local protections for LGBTQ+ students and educators. Some states have already issued updated guidance on enforcement of nondiscrimination protections during the COVID-19 pandemic.[v]
- Fund professional development for educators on LGBTQ+ issues and infrastructure, such as internet and technology, that supports engagement with student led groups such as GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances or Gender and Sexuality Alliances)
- Provide wraparound support services that help meet the needs of the whole child, both in and outside of K-12 learning communities, particularly for those who have multiple intersecting marginalized identities, such as LGBTQ+ students who also identify as black, brown, Latinx, indigenous, low-income, students with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness, and/or who have been placed in foster care. For example, states can establish or utilize existing pandemic electronic benefits transfer programs, as authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and other resources, to alleviate student hunger that creates barriers to student wellbeing and achievement.[vi]
- Engage a broad range of residents and stakeholders in communities across your state, including GLSEN Chapter volunteers, to help make important decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.[vii] Existing state agency advisory boards might also be a resource during this time. At least 13 states have advisory boards on strengthening bullying and harassment prevention programs. There are LGBTQ+ advisory boards and task forces in at least 20 states.
- Provide immediate and targeted funding though any available federal, state, and/or local funding sources for state and local LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations of all kinds. Not only do these organizations provide safety net services and societal infrastructure, but they are employers as well, and the COVID-19 crisis is threatening the sustainability of these important services.
Policy Resources on LGBTQ+ Issues in K-12 Learning Communities:
For more information contact the Public Policy Office at [email protected].
Research Institute
2019 National School Climate Survey Report Release
Look out for the upcoming release of the 2019 National School Climate Report! The 2019 NSCS, the 20th anniversary of NSCS, will be released the week of September 21st. As always, the report includes data and findings about LGBTQ+ youth’s experiences in school, their access to LGBTQ+ supportive resources and the positive effects of these resources, differences in LGBTQ+ students’ experiences based on different characteristics (including differences in gender identity, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation), and how LGBTQ+ students’ experiences have changed over time. In addition to the report, we will also release shareable infographics of our findings for you to use and share with others. We’ll be hosting a webinar the day of the launch, so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming information about how to register! And finally, state snapshots will follow later this year/early 2021!
Other GLSEN Research Institute News
In March, we released a brand new series of reports on LGBTQ+ youth of color. Erasure and Resilience: The Experiences of LGBTQ Students of Color is a series of four reports, which provide in-depth analysis into the school experiences of AAPI, Black, Latinx, and Native and Indigenous LGBTQ+ students. To find links to all four reports, infographics for each report, as well as a printable poster about how to create safer schools for LGBTQ+ students of color, visit glsen.org/youthofcolor.
We also recently released a research brief on LGBTQ+-inclusive and supportive teaching. LGBTQ-Inclusive and Supportive Teaching: The Experiences of LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ Educators uses data from previous research to provide information about teachers’ LGBTQ+-inclusive and supportive practices and the barriers they face in engaging in them. Additionally, the brief compares the experiences of teachers who are LGBTQ+ and teachers who are not.
Later this year we’ll be releasing our report on teacher educators (those at higher education institutions who teach pre-service education courses and prepare future teachers) and their LGBTQ+-related practices, beliefs, and preparation. We’re also currently working on our new GSA study, which examines the experiences of students in GSAs and adults who advise them to help inform GLSEN’s work with GSAs.
Finally, we continue to work internationally, collaborating with and helping our partners at LGBTQ+ organizations in other countries (over 30!) build the knowledge base to help advocate for LGBTQ+ students.
[i] Venkatraman, Sakshi (May 3, 2020). “For LGBTQ youth, home might not be a safe place to self-isolate.” NBC News. Available at https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-youth-home-might-not-be-safe-place-self-isolate-n1181721
[ii] Adrian, S., Barnette, D., Bishop, J., Dodd, S., Erangey, J., Guerilla, M., Jackson, K., Jacob, M., Lange, J., Shelton, J., Sumter, G., Tandy, J., Thomas, A., Valentine, J. & Wagaman. (2020). “The National LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Research Agenda.” New York: The Silberman Center for Sexuality & Gender with True Colors United and Advocates for Richmond Youth. https://truecolorsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/LGBTQ-Youth-Homelessness-Research-Agenda-_-Final.pdf
[iii] Trevor Project (2020). “IMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19 FOR LGBTQ YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION.” Available at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/2020/04/03/implications-of-covid-19-for-lgbtq-youth-mental-health-and-suicide-prevention/
[iv] Gary B. v. Gretchen Whitmer, No. 18-1855/1871 (6th Cir. April 23, 2020)
[v] E.g. New York Division of Human Rights (2020). “Guidance on Protection from Gender Identity Discrimination.” Available at https://dhr.ny.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/nysdhr-GENDA-guidance-2020.pdf; “Discrimination Relating to the Coronavirus Under the New York State Human Rights Law.” Available at https://dhr.ny.gov/coronavirus-discrimination
[vi] See The Education Trust (April 15, 2020). “A P-12 Education Agenda in Response to COVID-19.” Available at https://edtrust.org/resource/a-p-12-education-agenda-in-response-to-covid-19/
[vii] The Education Trust (May 24, 2020). “Child Hunger and the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Available at https://edtrust.org/resource/child-hunger-and-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
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