ERIC Number: EJ999519
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-175X
EISSN: N/A
LGBT Students Want Educators to Speak up for Them
Young, Abe Louise
Educational Horizons, v91 n2 p8-10 Dec 2012-Jan 2013
In a school of 1,000 students, up to 100 will be gay, lesbian, or bisexual; 10 will be transgender; and one will be intersex (biologically neither male nor female). If their lives are average, 87 of them will be verbally harassed, 40 of them will be physically harassed, and 19 will be physically assaulted in the next year because of their sexual orientation or gender expression. The youth make clear that it is not being lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) that causes these problems. The problems are the outcome of intolerant actions and speech by peers, parents, teachers, clergy, and strangers. Changing a school's climate can seem as impossible as changing the direction of the tides, but educators must take the temperature of a school climate, map a route, establish rules, and hand out safety gear. For over four months, the author interviewed 30 youth and learned while listening to them that educators need to enter the conversations of students. Not just listen in or overhear the lunchroom roar--but position themselves as eager learners and conversation partners inside and outside of classrooms. In this article, the author shares four ideas that resulted from some inside talk from middle, junior high, and high school LGBT students on how educators can protect and respect them.
Descriptors: Homosexuality, Advocacy, Teacher Role, Attitude Change, Behavior Change, Social Change, Social Bias, Social Justice, Adolescent Attitudes, School Safety, Educational Environment, Change Strategies
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A