Exploring LGBTQ+ Youth Experiences in Rural Schools

• In Event: Different Worlds: Inclusion and Belonging in Rural Education

Abstract

As anti-LGBTQ+, specifically anti-trans, legislative efforts escalate in statehouses across the U.S., schools and educators must make important policy, curricular, and instructional decisions surrounding LGBTQ+ students under immense public scrutiny. While scholars find inclusive and protective policies and practices improve LGBTQ+ students’ experiences in schools, access to these supports varies by school and community factors. This review considers the factors of rural schools and communities and their influence on LGBTQ+ students’ risk and resilience. Findings from the literature suggest rural LGBTQ+ students experience adverse environments, fewer affirming resources, greater internalized homophobia, and poorer academic and health outcomes than their urban and suburban peers.

Author

• Erin Gill, University of Wisconsin - Madison