Promoting LGBTQ Inclusion in Educational Environments

    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...