Are schools today more inclusive than they were a decade ago? Over 10 years ago Egale Canada released Every Class in Every School (Taylor & Peter, 2011), the first report of its kind to reveal just how prevalent discrimination was for 2SLGBTQ students in Canadian secondary schools at the time. Today we are launching a new report, Still in Every Class in Every School (Peter, Campbell & Taylor, 2021), which reveals that while there have been some important improvements in the last decade, we have a long way to go in creating safer and accepting schools for 2SLGBTQ youth. Still in Every Class in Every School is the Final Report on the Second National Climate Survey on Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia in Canadian Schools, and was conducted in partnership with researchers from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. Through the second climate survey, we heard from over 4,000 students in Grades 8-12 across Canada about their experiences with homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, harassment, mental health and sense of safety, and support at school. The progress we have made since the first report is worth praising, however, there is still much work to be done to create truly safer and accepting schools for all. It's worth noting that both physical and verbal harassment experienced by 2SLGBTQ students is less common today than in the 2011 report. However, 2SLGBTQ students are still far more likely to be harassed or bullied than their cisgender and heterosexual (non-2SLGBTQ) peers and less likely to feel safe at school. Worse, many students still do not see school staff as effective allies. Some highlights from the second report include: Hearing homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic comments - 64% of all participants reported hearing homophobic comments daily or weekly at school.
- 19% reported hearing slurs against trans people daily or weekly at school.
- 30% of 2SLGBTQ respondents had been the victims of cyberbullying, compared to 8% of cisgender heterosexual respondents.
Direct victimization - 35% of all students who attend Catholic schools reported experiencing harassment based on their perceived sexual orientation.
- 77% of 2SLGBTQ Indigenous students had been harassed at school in the year leading up to the survey, the highest percentage of any group.
- 30% of 2SLGBTQ respondents had been the victims of cyberbullying, compared to 8% of cisgender heterosexual respondents.
Impacts on mental health and sense of safety - When all identity-related grounds for feeling unsafe are considered, including racialized identity and religious identity, 62% of 2SLGBTQ respondents feel unsafe at school, compared to 11% of cisgender heterosexual students.
- 20% of GBQ boys, 25% of LBQ girls, and 40% of trans respondents reported languishing mental health compared to 11% of cisgender heterosexual respondents.
- 79% of trans students who had been the victims of physical harassment reported that teachers and staff were ineffective in addressing transphobic harassment.
Comparison to Every Class in Every School (2011) - 42% of 2SLGBTQ students had been verbally harassed based on their sexual orientation, and 47% had been verbally harassed based on their gender expression. Ten years ago, those figures were 51% and 57%, respectively. This is a big improvement, but these numbers are still far too high!
Every student deserves the right to learn in an environment free from violence, harassment, and bullying. These findings show that we all need to do more work to create safer and more accepting schools. We encourage everyone to do their part, from government, policymakers, educators, and the broader community, to create safer and more accepting schools for all. One concrete step you can take today is to register for our free Safer Schools Webinars on June 16 (en français) and June 17 (in English). The webinars aim to develop a deeper understanding of the impacts of 2SLGBTQI discrimination on student success while offering concrete strategies for creating safer schools for all students and staff. Find more great resources and tools at egale.ca/awareness. |
