LGBTQ Student Experiences across Latin America: Comparative Results from Seven National School Climate Studies

• In Event: Highlighted session: Understanding LGBTQ experiences in educational spaces around the globe

Proposal

Bullying and harassment in school against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students is an issue of public health importance. UNESCO has identified homophobic and transphobic bullying as a major international crisis, and has articulated a need for more research on the experiences of LGBTQ students globally, particularly in developing countries. This is part of a strategy to promote greater action, and more coordinated efforts to address anti-LGBTQ bullying in schools between ministries of education and other education stakeholders – including civil society, young people, parents, and NGOs. Most extant literature, largely from North America and Israel, has consistently found that LGBTQ students are regularly bullied and harassed in school, resulting in poorer well-being and educational outcomes (Kosciw et al., 2018; Pizmony-Levy et al., 2008; Taylor & Peter, 2011; Guasp, 2012).
GLSEN is a U.S.-based NGO which has been conducting research on the experiences of LGBTQ students in U.S. schools since 1999. In 2011, GLSEN formally launched its international initiative in the interest of infusing LGBTQ issues into more international discussions on education, facilitating work internationally to ameliorate anti-LGBTQ bullying, and promoting transnational partnerships to address school climate for LGBTQ students. This initiative was built on years of informal dialogue, exchange, and support with NGO partners from around the world concerned about LGBTQ youth health, opportunity, and wellbeing. In the years since, GLSEN has helped to establish regional hubs around the globe addressing LGBTQ issues in education, including a hub in Latin America led by Todo Mejora, in Chile. This Latin America hub consists of a total of 12 NGOs in 7 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay), who have conducted national surveys of LGBTQ secondary students in their respective countries in order to expand the knowledge base about LGBTQ issues in education in the region. These findings have been used to produce research reports and other educational materials in each country to further national dialogue on school climate for LGBTQ students. This paper draws on data from all 7 countries to describe the shared challenges across all of these countries for creating safer and more inclusive schools for LGBTQ students, and to explore how possible structural, cultural, or governmental differences between countries may contribute to school climate for LGBTQ students.
Descriptive findings (n=5,318) reveal that many LGBTQ students in each country feel unsafe at school, most-often due to their sexual orientation (47.4% - 80.6%), followed by their gender expression (32.4% - 62.7%). In addition, the majority of LGBTQ students in each country experience some form of harassment in school due to their sexual orientation or gender expression. For all countries, students who experience greater levels of victimization based on their sexual orientation are more likely to miss school and experience higher levels of depression. Nevertheless, we have identified school-based interventions that are associated with improved LGBTQ student experiences across Latin America. For example, students who attend schools with many LGBTQ-supportive staff, as well as those who are taught positive things about LGBTQ people in class, have a higher sense of school belonging. This is true for all seven countries. Anti-bullying/harassment policies that include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression are also associated with positive outcomes. For all seven countries, students who attend schools with this type of policy are less likely to hear homophobic language in school. Students in these schools are also more likely to report effective staff responses to bullying and harassment. Unfortunately, however, the majority of students across the region do not have access to these resources.
Overall, these findings highlight the unsafe school environment that many LGBTQ students across Latin America face, the impact that school climate may have on academic outcomes and wellbeing, and how LGBTQ-related school supports may help to alleviate some of these negative effects. In addition, this paper will examine where and how LGBTQ student experiences differ between countries, the contextual factors that may contribute to these differences, and recommendations on policies and practices to improve school climate and LGBTQ student wellbeing across Latin America.

Authors

• Joseph Kosciw, GLSEN

• Adrian Zongrone, GLSEN