We exame the lived experienc of high-school stunts who participated lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ)-centered activism of some kd, highlightg the promise of gay-straight alliance groups by parg the experienc of stunts at schools wh gay-straight allianc (GSA schools) wh the experienc of stunts at schools that did not have an LGBTQ-specific group (no-GSA schools). We pare stunts at GSA and no-GSA schools based on their experienc of harassment, experienc of support om thory figur, and patterns of iendships. We fd that stunts at both typ of schools experienced harassment and heard negative ments about lbian and gay people. However, stunts at GSA schools reported more support om teachers and admistrators than stunts at no-GSA schools, who have stori of teachers and admistrators actively opposg equaly for LGBTQ people. Stunts at GSA schools reported a wi variety of iendships across sexual inti, while stunts at no-GSA schools felt more isolated and whdrawn. This much-need qualative parative analysis of stunts’ experienc brgs a human face to the improved qualy of life that schools wh gay-straight allianc n brg to young people.
Contents:
- THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CSH MIGHT BE GAY
- WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
- THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CSH MIGHT BE GAY
There's a way to burst through the shame gay men are ma to feel about homosexualy. * high school experience gay *
”Many LGBTQ stunts report that a support system or an ally—whether a fay member, iend, teacher or guidance unselor—is often valuable helpg them navigate their school, pecially given the negative impacts LGBTQ stunts n fact, the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) reports their 2017 Natnal School Climate Survey that negative school environments where stunts experience victimizatn and discrimatn bee of their genr or sexualy n adversely affect them. ”El also noted that, while they live Massachetts and their school’s curriculum is not affected by "no promo homo" laws, which prohib teachers om discsg LGBTQ issu, the state's specifilly clive curriculum n vary between teacher to teacher, and those who tght ma them feel validated.
WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
High school n be an excg but a strsful time. As you are gettg to know about yourself, you may have realized that you are gay, pansexual, or bisexual. Datg high school n be hard, and fdg someone to love while you are... * high school experience gay *
But at home, his relig parents found out that he was gay and told him to move he applied to his dream school, Geetown Universy, the school gave him a fancial aid package that was based on his parents' e even though he was not livg wh them. A lawyer for the school nied the speech was blocked bee Young was gog to e out as gay, but bee he "didn't munite wh school admistrators and his parents and ed appropriate humor , " the Coloradoan LGBTQ advocy group named Out Boulr jumped and offered Young a safe space to give his valedictorian speech. At my school, the very place that I first observed queer cursy, I was sred to e out, fearg my own physil and emotnal wasn’t jt the school locker room where I heard homophobic remarks.
Perhaps was the support of iends, nts, and those around me that ma me not want to feel ashamed about myself anymore, even if that meant God damng me to the begng of senr year, I went om “I’m gay” to whoever asked, to “Can you stop sayg faggot please? A month later, I cid to no longer participate the mentorship program, and every time I was asked why, I ma exc about beg too time, I retreated to my fantasy world, where I was not sixteen and gay a homophobic environment, but a world where I was olr, the future, when I would arrive to a betiful home om a long day at work, and be weled by a hband who lov me and bears my burns on his shoulrs.
I was thrilled to be leavg and movg on, but I uld see that many of my fellow graduat were facg siar hurdl, on that I had enuntered, and had only masked their tth wh homophobia. Worst of all, though, the shame attached to the memori of those first tim marred how I would approach sex for was listeng to Years & Years’ new song “Sanctify, ” and seeg the band’s out gay sger Olly Alexanr talk about how the song was spired his sexual trysts wh straight men, that I realized that the feelgs are way more mon than people let on. Sure, I know all about gay guys havg sex wh straight guys, but felt reassurg to see him scribe the “sat and sner role” he embodied durg those experienc, and to hear the uncertaty and melancholy weaved to the than anythg though, was the repeated lyril mantra of “I won’t be ashamed.
THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
My high school gay csh was betiful: dark hair, smooth sk, tall and wh shoulrs like a lebacker. * high school experience gay *
She knew I would benef om seeg two people have a nversatn that acknowledged the existence of gay people and unrstandg that there might even be ways that beg gay uld be an asset. This year is no different, om a Mississippi unty school board banng 18-year-old Constance McMillan, who wanted to wear a tux and brg her girliend, to the Miami gay senr who was crowned prom queen -only to be disowned by his own fay. COX: One of the areas that has been an issue the gay, lbian, transgenr muny, as far as public schools are ncerned, is whether or not to tegrate the stunts to the mastream populatn or to some way segregate them, even if is jt for their safety.
COX: Is possible, Judy, to tablish wh a school settg, let's say, a program that will benef stunts who are lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr - not discrimate agast them but at the same time, allow them to have the fort of beg an area where they n feel fortable? You know, so we would do some kd of supprsn terms of the anti-gay harassment that you experienced and plement that wh tnal terventns bee is through tn that we n really end bias.
High school is a challengg time for most teens. It n be even more so for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr stunts. Judy Chiasson of the Los Angel Unified School District and Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network talk about beg openly LGBT school. * high school experience gay *
Those are the clear non-discrimatn and anti-bullyg, anti-harassment polici that explicly clu sexual orientatn and genr exprsn and genr inty as among those tegori of protectn; havg supportive faculty and school staff available to young people to help them when issu arise; the prence of stunt clubs, monly known as gay-straight allianc, or GSAs, and other stunt advocy to improve school climate; and the prence of clive curricular elements that accurately and appropriately pict LGBT people, history and life. I thk Judy embodi what I thk is bt all people who go to tn, but I do have to pot out that there are ser stutnal barriers across the untry for teachers, gay or straight, who wish to reach out and help stunts who are havg a hard time. And I thk the key thg - thkg about that first email - is that this is about the fact that 90 percent of stunts, gay and straight, report that they hear anti-gay ments, anti-LGBT ments at school every sgle day.