Are Schools Becoming More Welcoming for LGBT Students? LGBT Youth on School Climate From 2001 to 2011

• In Event: Does It Get Better? The Climate for LGBT People in Schools and Communities Over Time

Abstract

Schools reinforce and reproduce the inequities found in larger society (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977), such that they serve to maintain existing power structures related to sexuality and gender. Specifically, schools produce and reproduce heterosexuality as the only “normal” and viable option (Kehily, 2002) while simultaneously reinforcing rigid gender norms that marginalize those who do not conform to the strict binary system of gender (Connell, 1996). Anyone who falls outside these “normative” constructs of sexuality and gender, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, are subject to violence, discrimination, and marginalization. Thus, it is no surprise that LGBT students report high rates of in-school victimization (Berlan, Corliss, Field, Goodman, & Austin, 2010; Kosciw, Greytak, Bartkiewicz, Boesen, & Palmer, 2012). However, the political landscape and educational arena have changed over time, with both the public becoming more accepting of LGBT people and the education establishment more willing to address LGBT issues (Kosciw et al., 2012 ). And as such, how LGBT youth experience their school environment may have changed as well. How then might the school environment have changed for these youth today than they were a decade ago?
To examine this question, we conducted a series of one-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) on key indicators school climate for LGBT secondary school students using data from six installments of a national, biennial survey (N=25,567), specifically: frequency of hearing anti-LGBT remarks in school by students and school staff, frequency of intervention by school staff when hearing anti-LGBT remarks, frequency and perceived effectiveness of staff intervention regarding anti-LGBT victimization, and the availability of positive resources for LGBT students in their schools – supportive teachers, student-led clubs (i.e., GSAs), comprehensive anti-bullying/harassment policies and positive curricular resources.
Our results indicate that homophobic remarks from students, although still common, have declined over the past 10 years, as has the preponderance of the study body using such language. Nevertheless, negative remarks about gender expression have not changed over the years (see Figure 1). With regard to the actions of educators and school staff, although the frequency of hearing homophobic remarks and negative remarks about gender expression from staff have declined in recent years, staff intervention regarding student use of anti-LGBT remarks and incidents of anti-LGBT harassment remained low and relatively unchanged. There were significant increases in many of the LGBT-related school supports, but not with students’ reports of comprehensive anti-bullying policies and with being taught positive LGBT-related content in the curriculum (see Figures 2 and 3).
Considering all these changes across time, 2011 marks the first time that findings from the biennial survey showed both decreases in negative indicators of school climate and continued increases in most LGBT-related school supports. In that schools not only reproduce the society and culture in which they are embedded, they can play a critical role in shaping and shifting the attitudes and norms of the larger society and further adoption of LGBT-related resources and supports may serve not only to improve the lives of LGBT youth currently in school.

Authors

• Joseph G. Kosciw, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network

• Emily Greytak, GLSEN

• Neal A. Palmer, GLSEN:Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network