"We're Not Talking About That": Missing Connections Between Antibullying Policies and Harassment of LGBTQQ Youth

• In Event: 52.066 - A Call for Critical Education Policy: Examining Injustice and Advancing Justice in Education

Abstract

This paper will examine the connections between the micro-climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning youth in schools and the macro-climate of state and federal policies around sexual harassment and bullying in schools. Situated within the conversation about microaggressions and non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming young people (Nadal, Issa, Leon, Meterko, Wideman, & Wong, 2011; Nadal, Skolnik, & Wong, 2012), this paper discusses the sexual orientation and gender microaggressions that young people encounter within schools, some of which are built into the structure of schooling. These microaggressions are then layered over state and federal legislation and policies addressing sexual harassment and bullying in schools. Using a lens of “critical bifocality” (Weis & Fine, 2012) it examines the limitations of creating punishments meant to address harassment and bullying, both microaggressions as well as overt violence, without engaging in community conversations about sexism, heterosexism and intersections with racism, classism, and religious discrimination.
In alignment with other papers in this panel, the focus of this layering is to apply a critical policy studies lens to examine the effect of the policies and legislation on the experiences of young people in schools. Although the stated intentions of anti-bullying legislation is often to address the traumatic experiences of LGBTQQ youth -- for example, the child most recently in the media for having been beaten by peers or trying to take his own life -- this legislation often doesn’t acknowledge the daily harassment that non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming youth confront in schools as violence.
Data for this study consist of 80 statements created by a youth participatory action research team used as an instrument to interview their peers about the attitudes and behaviors about sexuality and gender expression present in New York City high schools among teachers and students. These statements are first examined in light of microaggression literature, then used to interrogate the intentions and efficacy of anti-bullying policies.
This critical lens makes possible understanding the ways the policies and legislation fail to address the most common elements of sexual harassment and bullying that LGBTQQ students experience as well as the ways these policies and legislation are used to further marginalize already marginalized students.

Author

• Darla Linville, Georgia Regents University