Promoting LGBTQ Inclusion in Educational Environments

Our end goal is to create a more LGBTQ inclusive educational environment. This vision includes stopping bullying, harassment, and discrimination of LGBTQ students and faculty. However, the road map towards this vision contains a few stops and calls to action along the way.  Whether you're a parent of a LGBTQ child, LGBTQ student/faculty member/parent/ally, or a concerned individual, you are our stakeholders. You understand our core value of equality and inclusivity, and are rooted in the principles of fairness, integrity, and human dignity. Already we've called upon you to enact inclusive school district policies and add LGBTQ inclusive literature in the classroom. And trust us, there's a whole lot more coming your way! But, we realize this is a group effort. In the spirit of internalizing our habits to empower people to create a variety of practices that tackle problems, we want to invite YOU to share ideas! Comment below! What are actions our stakeholders can take to crea...

 Backstory When I was seven, I watched television with my mom all the time. It was a ritual that seemed spiritual. It helped me understand the world through her perspective as she would comment on characters and plot lines. 'My So-Called Life' starring Claire Danes featured the first gay person I ever remembered. Wilson Cruz played Rickie Vasques, the best friend. I knew I connected to his character, but at seven years old I didn't quite understand how. Nonetheless, I paid careful attention to what my mom thought about him. Was she bothered that he wore earrings? Did she think his voice was annoying? Did she see him as a human deserving of love? All of this swirled in my head as I watched videos of Rickie like the one below- (boy's got some dance moves!) Media's portrayals of LGBTQ characters played an important part in shaping how I understood the LGBTQ community as a young gay boy. Never did I read about a gay character until my thirties when I read the young adul...

    What's the deal? Why do LGBTQ youth and faculty need protections?      In a common practice of introducing herself to her class at the beginning of the school year, Stacy Bailey, Teacher of the Year multiple times at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School in Arlington, Texas, showed an image on a PowerPoint presentation of her and her wife dressed up for Halloween as Dory and Nemo. Bailey was quickly suspended for eight months because she “promoted the homosexual agenda”. Her school district, Mansfield ISD, had no protections for LGBTQ faculty. Upon further review, there were no protections for LGBTQ students, either ( Levenson, 2020 ).  Media Source: The Dallas Morning News. (2018, May 8). Gay art teacher sues Mansfield ISD for sexual orientation discrimination. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://youtu.be/YIrXeOlLIOg. LGBTQ students and faculty are susceptible to consequences of discrimination, bullying, and harassment when there is not explicit la...

2 in 5 LGBTQ youth in the last year seriously considered suicide (Fitzsimons, 2020). Yet, some school districts across the country have refused to include anti-bullying and inclusive policies that explicitly protect LGBTQ youth and faculty (Movement Advancement Project, 2021). Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10-24, and LGBTQ youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth, with bullying being a primary cause (The Trevor Project, 2021). This blog is dedicated to helping parents of LGBTQ children, LGBTQ students, LGBTQ faculty, LGBTQ allies, and concerned individuals introduce, write, and execute policy in their school districts that explicitly protect LGBTQ students and faculty with the words "gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation".  References Fitzsimons, T. (2020, July 15). 40 percent of LGBTQ youth 'seriously considered' suicide in past year, survey finds. NBC News . Retr...