Has It Really ‘Gotten Better’ for Gay Kids?

Contents:

• EFFECTS OF “IT GETS BETTER” SUICI PREVENTN VIOS ON YOUTH INTIFYG AS LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER, OR OTHER SEXUAL OR GENR MORI: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
• HAS IT REALLY ‘GOTTEN BETTER’ FOR GAY KIDS?OUR LEGACYTHGS ARE CHANGG THE RIGHT DIRECTN FOR LGBT KIDS—BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH, AS A NEW REPORT MAK PLA. SAMANTHA ALLENUPDATED APR. 13, 2017 2:52PM EDT / PUBLISHED SEP. 28, 2016 12:00AM EDT GAGLIARDIIMAGSIX YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, DAN SAVAGE FAMOLY TOLD LGBT KIDS THAT “ GETS BETTER.” BUT HOW MUCH BETTER HAS REALLY GOTTEN SCE THEN? AND HOW QUICKLY?ACRDG TO A PREHENSIVE NEW REPORT OM THE GAY, LBIAN AND STRAIGHT EDUTN NETWORK, SEVERAL KEY MEASUR OF ANTI-LGBT BULLYG U.S. SENDARY SCHOOLS FELL BY LS THAN 2 PERCENT PER YEAR BETWEEN 2005 AND 2015. THE SUATN FOR LGBT STUNTS MAY BE “GRADUALLY IMPROVG,” THE REPORT STAT, BUT “REMAS TROUBLOME.”IN 2005, WHEN GLSEN NDUCTED S FIRST “FROM TEASG TO TORMENT” NATNAL SURVEY, NEARLY 62 PERCENT OF U.S. MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLERS REPORTED STUNTS AT THEIR SCHOOLS WERE VICTIMIZED BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATN. IN 2015, WHEN GLSEN LLECTED DATA FOR THIS FOLLOWUP REPORT, THAT FIGURE WAS STILL JT SHY OF 50 PERCENT.OTHER CREAS ANTI-LGBT BULLYG WERE SIARLY GRADUAL. FROM 2005 TO 2015, THE PERCENTAGE OF STUNTS WHO REPORTED WNSG VICTIMIZATN BASED ON GENR EXPRSN FELL OM 60 TO 49 PERCENT, AND THE PERCENTAGE WHO REPORTED HEARG THE WORD “GAY” ED A ROGATORY FASHN DROPPED SLIGHTLY, OM 89 PERCENT TO 75 PERCENT. EVEN MORE DISTURBG IS THE FACT THAT RACE-BASED VICTIMIZATN REMAED FLAT, WH NEARLY 38 PERCENT OF STUNTS REPORTG 10 YEARS APART.“OVERALL, BULLYG STILL PERSISTS AT UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS, AND THE GAS OF THE PAST 10 YEARS THROW THE MORE TRACTABLE ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM TO HIGHER RELIEF,” GLSEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ELIZA BYRD WROTE THE REPORT’S TRODUCTN.THIS SLOW PACE OF CHANGE FOR LGBT STUNTS IS PECIALLY DISAPPOTG WHEN OFFSET AGAST THE RAPID GAS THEIR ADULT PEERS HAVE MA OVER THE SAME TIME PERD. IN 2005, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGAL ONE STATE. BY JUNE 2015, WAS LEGAL ALL 50. IN 2005, THE ARY STILL FOLLOWED “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.” NOW, LGBT PEOPLE N SERVE OPENLY EVERY BRANCH OF THE ARMED FORC.BUT THE SWEEPG VICTORI HAVE NOT ERASED THE EP-SET CULTURAL BIAS THAT EXACT A SPECIAL TOLL ON LGBT YOUTH.ACRDG TO GLSEN’S REPORT, WHICH WAS BASED A HARRIS POLL SURVEY OF NEARLY 1,400 STUNTS AND MORE THAN 1,000 TEACHERS, LGBT SENDARY-SCHOOL STUNTS STILL AL WH NSIRABLE PREJUDICE THE CLASSROOM. OVER HALF OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLERS SAID THEY STILL HEARD THEIR PEERS E PHRAS LIKE “THAT’S SO GAY” EHER “OFTEN” OR “VERY OFTEN.” OVER 40 PERCENT SAID THEY HEARD SLURS LIKE “FAGGOT” OR “DYKE” ED JT AS EQUENTLY.FIFTEEN PERCENT OF THE STUNTS SURVEYED EVEN SAID TEACHERS AND ADMISTRATORS WERE MAKG HOMOPHOBIC MENTS. NEARLY 13 PERCENT REPORTED HEARG “NEGATIVE REMARKS ABOUT TRANSGENR PEOPLE” OM SCHOOL STAFF. AND LS THAN 20 PERCENT SAID STAFF TERVENED “OFTEN” WHEN THEY HEARD NEGATIVE REMARKS ABOUT GENR EXPRSN, WHICH IS PECIALLY NCERNG GIVEN THAT NEARLY A QUARTER OF THE STUNTS POLLED DID NOT INTIFY A STRICTLY GENR-NFORMG WAY.“YOU WOULD PROBABLY EXPECT PEERS TO BEHAVE A WAY THAT’S BIASED TOWARD LGBT STUNTS, BUT TO SEE OM TEACHERS? WE FOUND [THAT] QUE TROUBLG,” GLSEN REARCHER CHRISTIAN VILLENAS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST.ACRDG TO VILLENAS, SCHOOLS N BE “SOME OF THE LAST PLAC TO CHANGE” ON LGBT ISSU, PART BEE SOME PARENTS STILL HAVE HANG-UPS ABOUT CLN TNAL SETTGS. A 2016 GLAAD REPORT FOUND THAT 29 PERCENT OF NON-LGBT ADULTS WOULD FEEL UNFORTABLE KNOWG THAT THEIR CHILD HAD AN LGBT TEACHER AND 37 PERCENT WOULD FEEL DISFORT IF THEIR CHILD “HAD A LSON ON LGBT HISTORY THEIR SCHOOL.”“THERE MIGHT BE A LIM TERMS OF WHAT SOCIETY SAYS THEY N SUPPORT,” VILLENAS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “THEY N SUPPORT SOMETHG LIKE GAY MARRIAGE, BUT WHEN TO LGBT ISSU SCHOOLS AND ALG WH YOUNG PEOPLE, THAT MAY BE WHERE CERTA PEOPLE DRAW THE LE.”AND FOR ANYONE CLED TO BELIEVE THAT BULLYG HELPS PREPARE LGBT STUNTS FOR THE “REAL WORLD,” THE GLSEN DATA TELL A MUCH DIFFERENT STORY.ALMOST 10 PERCENT OF LGBT STUNTS THE SURVEY SAMPLE SAID THEY DIDN’T PLAN TO GO TO LLEGE AS PARED TO JT 6 PERCENT OF NON-LGBT STUNTS. OVER THREE TIM AS MANY LGBT AS NON-LGBT STUNTS SAID THEY DIDN’T “EVEN PLAN TO FISH HIGH SCHOOL” (2.7 VERS 0.8 PERCENT) AND OVER SIX TIM AS MANY GENR NON-NFORMG STUNTS AS GENR-NFORMG STUNTS SAID THE SAME (3.1 VERS 0.5 PERCENT).“WHAT OUR REARCH SHOWS IS THAT [BULLYG] DON’T TOUGHEN YOU UP AND GET YOU READY FOR THE ‘REAL WORLD,’” SAID VILLENAS. “IT ACTUALLY LEADS TO POOR PSYCHOLOGIL OUT. IT LEADS TO LOWER TNAL ASPIRATNS. IT LEADS TO MORE LIKELY EXPERIENC WH SCHOOL DISCIPLE AND HIGHER ABSENTEEISM. WE SEE NO EVINCE HERE THAT PREPAR STUNTS FOR THE ‘REAL WORLD’ OR FOR LLEGE. QUE THE OPPOSE, ACTUALLY.”THE NEW GLSEN REPORT ISN’T ALL DOOM AND GLOOM, HOWEVER. FOR ONE, THE PERCENTAGE OF STUNTS WHO REPORTED HAVG ACCS TO A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA) ROSE OM 21.2 PERCENT 2005 TO 35.8 PERCENT 2015, WH REARCH SHOWG THAT GSAS ARE “RELATED TO GREATER FEELGS OF SAFETY FOR THE GENERAL STUNT BODY, WH AN EVEN GREATER IMPROVEMENT SAFETY FOR LGBTQ STUNTS SPECIFILLY.” AN IMPRSIVE 82 PERCENT OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUNTS ALSO REPORTED KNOWG AN LGBT PERSON, AND THOSE STUNTS HAD “LS NEGATIVE ATTUS TOWARD LGBT PEOPLE” THAN THEIR PEERS. AND OVERALL, MOST MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUNTS—NE OUT OF 10—STILL REPORTED FEELG SAFE AT SCHOOL.BUT AS VILLENAS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST, “THERE’S A LOT LEFT THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.”LS THAN 60 PERCENT OF SCHOOLS, FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE ANTI-BULLYG POLICI THAT SPECIFILLY CLU SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY. LAST SUMMER, CINTALLY, THE U.S. SENATE VOTED DOWN AN AMENDMENT TO THE EVERY CHILD ACHIEV ACT THAT WOULD HAVE PROHIBED ANTI-LGBT BULLYG ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS NATNWI.BUT THE MOST WORRYG TREND GLSEN FOUND IS THAT TEACHERS WERE LS FORTABLE TERVENG UPON HEARG A BIASED MENT 2015 THAN THEY WERE 2005. THAT MAY BE BEE LS THAN A THIRD OF THEM HAVE “EVER HAD ANY PROFSNAL VELOPMENT ON LGB STUNT ISSU,” AND LS THAN A QUARTER HAVE BEEN TRAED ON ISSU AFFECTG TRANSGENR STUNTS, EVEN AS SCHOOL DISTRICTS BEE EMBROILED RTROOM BAT.“ALTHOUGH TEACHERS OVERWHELMGLY ENDORSED THE IA THAT THEY HAVE AN OBLIGATN TO ENSURE SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE SCHOOLS FOR LGBT STUNTS, WHEN ME TO TAKG ACTN TO DO SO, MANY SEEMED TO STGGLE,” THE REPORT STATED.GLSEN’S REPORT WRAPS UP WH SEVERAL REMENDATNS FOR SCHOOLS THAT ULTIMATELY BOIL DOWN TO ONE PRCIPLE: DO MORE OF THE THGS THAT HELP STUNTS FEEL SAFE. THAT MEANS CREATG GSAS, TEACHG LGBT-CLIVE HISTORY LSONS, STUTG MORE PREHENSIVE ANTI-BULLYG POLICI, AND REQUIRG PROFSNAL VELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL STAFF.BEE ULTIMATELY—WHILE LIFE MAY ED GET BETTER FOR SOME LGBT TEENAGERS AFTER GRADUATN, AS SAVAGE PROMISED—’S NOT GETTG BETTER FOR LGBT STUNTS FAST ENOUGH. SAMANTHA ALLEN

EFFECTS OF “IT GETS BETTER” SUICI PREVENTN VIOS ON YOUTH INTIFYG AS LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER, OR OTHER SEXUAL OR GENR MORI: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

The It Gets Better Project’s missn is to uplift, empower, and nnect lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe.

The It Gets Better Project is a nonprof anizatn wh a missn to uplift, empower, and nnect lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer youth around the globe.

HAS IT REALLY ‘GOTTEN BETTER’ FOR GAY KIDS?OUR LEGACYTHGS ARE CHANGG THE RIGHT DIRECTN FOR LGBT KIDS—BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH, AS A NEW REPORT MAK PLA. SAMANTHA ALLENUPDATED APR. 13, 2017 2:52PM EDT / PUBLISHED SEP. 28, 2016 12:00AM EDT GAGLIARDIIMAGSIX YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, DAN SAVAGE FAMOLY TOLD LGBT KIDS THAT “ GETS BETTER.” BUT HOW MUCH BETTER HAS REALLY GOTTEN SCE THEN? AND HOW QUICKLY?ACRDG TO A PREHENSIVE NEW REPORT OM THE GAY, LBIAN AND STRAIGHT EDUTN NETWORK, SEVERAL KEY MEASUR OF ANTI-LGBT BULLYG U.S. SENDARY SCHOOLS FELL BY LS THAN 2 PERCENT PER YEAR BETWEEN 2005 AND 2015. THE SUATN FOR LGBT STUNTS MAY BE “GRADUALLY IMPROVG,” THE REPORT STAT, BUT “REMAS TROUBLOME.”IN 2005, WHEN GLSEN NDUCTED S FIRST “FROM TEASG TO TORMENT” NATNAL SURVEY, NEARLY 62 PERCENT OF U.S. MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLERS REPORTED STUNTS AT THEIR SCHOOLS WERE VICTIMIZED BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATN. IN 2015, WHEN GLSEN LLECTED DATA FOR THIS FOLLOWUP REPORT, THAT FIGURE WAS STILL JT SHY OF 50 PERCENT.OTHER CREAS ANTI-LGBT BULLYG WERE SIARLY GRADUAL. FROM 2005 TO 2015, THE PERCENTAGE OF STUNTS WHO REPORTED WNSG VICTIMIZATN BASED ON GENR EXPRSN FELL OM 60 TO 49 PERCENT, AND THE PERCENTAGE WHO REPORTED HEARG THE WORD “GAY” ED A ROGATORY FASHN DROPPED SLIGHTLY, OM 89 PERCENT TO 75 PERCENT. EVEN MORE DISTURBG IS THE FACT THAT RACE-BASED VICTIMIZATN REMAED FLAT, WH NEARLY 38 PERCENT OF STUNTS REPORTG 10 YEARS APART.“OVERALL, BULLYG STILL PERSISTS AT UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS, AND THE GAS OF THE PAST 10 YEARS THROW THE MORE TRACTABLE ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM TO HIGHER RELIEF,” GLSEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ELIZA BYRD WROTE THE REPORT’S TRODUCTN.THIS SLOW PACE OF CHANGE FOR LGBT STUNTS IS PECIALLY DISAPPOTG WHEN OFFSET AGAST THE RAPID GAS THEIR ADULT PEERS HAVE MA OVER THE SAME TIME PERD. IN 2005, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGAL ONE STATE. BY JUNE 2015, WAS LEGAL ALL 50. IN 2005, THE ARY STILL FOLLOWED “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.” NOW, LGBT PEOPLE N SERVE OPENLY EVERY BRANCH OF THE ARMED FORC.BUT THE SWEEPG VICTORI HAVE NOT ERASED THE EP-SET CULTURAL BIAS THAT EXACT A SPECIAL TOLL ON LGBT YOUTH.ACRDG TO GLSEN’S REPORT, WHICH WAS BASED A HARRIS POLL SURVEY OF NEARLY 1,400 STUNTS AND MORE THAN 1,000 TEACHERS, LGBT SENDARY-SCHOOL STUNTS STILL AL WH NSIRABLE PREJUDICE THE CLASSROOM. OVER HALF OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLERS SAID THEY STILL HEARD THEIR PEERS E PHRAS LIKE “THAT’S SO GAY” EHER “OFTEN” OR “VERY OFTEN.” OVER 40 PERCENT SAID THEY HEARD SLURS LIKE “FAGGOT” OR “DYKE” ED JT AS EQUENTLY.FIFTEEN PERCENT OF THE STUNTS SURVEYED EVEN SAID TEACHERS AND ADMISTRATORS WERE MAKG HOMOPHOBIC MENTS. NEARLY 13 PERCENT REPORTED HEARG “NEGATIVE REMARKS ABOUT TRANSGENR PEOPLE” OM SCHOOL STAFF. AND LS THAN 20 PERCENT SAID STAFF TERVENED “OFTEN” WHEN THEY HEARD NEGATIVE REMARKS ABOUT GENR EXPRSN, WHICH IS PECIALLY NCERNG GIVEN THAT NEARLY A QUARTER OF THE STUNTS POLLED DID NOT INTIFY A STRICTLY GENR-NFORMG WAY.“YOU WOULD PROBABLY EXPECT PEERS TO BEHAVE A WAY THAT’S BIASED TOWARD LGBT STUNTS, BUT TO SEE OM TEACHERS? WE FOUND [THAT] QUE TROUBLG,” GLSEN REARCHER CHRISTIAN VILLENAS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST.ACRDG TO VILLENAS, SCHOOLS N BE “SOME OF THE LAST PLAC TO CHANGE” ON LGBT ISSU, PART BEE SOME PARENTS STILL HAVE HANG-UPS ABOUT CLN TNAL SETTGS. A 2016 GLAAD REPORT FOUND THAT 29 PERCENT OF NON-LGBT ADULTS WOULD FEEL UNFORTABLE KNOWG THAT THEIR CHILD HAD AN LGBT TEACHER AND 37 PERCENT WOULD FEEL DISFORT IF THEIR CHILD “HAD A LSON ON LGBT HISTORY THEIR SCHOOL.”“THERE MIGHT BE A LIM TERMS OF WHAT SOCIETY SAYS THEY N SUPPORT,” VILLENAS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “THEY N SUPPORT SOMETHG LIKE GAY MARRIAGE, BUT WHEN TO LGBT ISSU SCHOOLS AND ALG WH YOUNG PEOPLE, THAT MAY BE WHERE CERTA PEOPLE DRAW THE LE.”AND FOR ANYONE CLED TO BELIEVE THAT BULLYG HELPS PREPARE LGBT STUNTS FOR THE “REAL WORLD,” THE GLSEN DATA TELL A MUCH DIFFERENT STORY.ALMOST 10 PERCENT OF LGBT STUNTS THE SURVEY SAMPLE SAID THEY DIDN’T PLAN TO GO TO LLEGE AS PARED TO JT 6 PERCENT OF NON-LGBT STUNTS. OVER THREE TIM AS MANY LGBT AS NON-LGBT STUNTS SAID THEY DIDN’T “EVEN PLAN TO FISH HIGH SCHOOL” (2.7 VERS 0.8 PERCENT) AND OVER SIX TIM AS MANY GENR NON-NFORMG STUNTS AS GENR-NFORMG STUNTS SAID THE SAME (3.1 VERS 0.5 PERCENT).“WHAT OUR REARCH SHOWS IS THAT [BULLYG] DON’T TOUGHEN YOU UP AND GET YOU READY FOR THE ‘REAL WORLD,’” SAID VILLENAS. “IT ACTUALLY LEADS TO POOR PSYCHOLOGIL OUT. IT LEADS TO LOWER TNAL ASPIRATNS. IT LEADS TO MORE LIKELY EXPERIENC WH SCHOOL DISCIPLE AND HIGHER ABSENTEEISM. WE SEE NO EVINCE HERE THAT PREPAR STUNTS FOR THE ‘REAL WORLD’ OR FOR LLEGE. QUE THE OPPOSE, ACTUALLY.”THE NEW GLSEN REPORT ISN’T ALL DOOM AND GLOOM, HOWEVER. FOR ONE, THE PERCENTAGE OF STUNTS WHO REPORTED HAVG ACCS TO A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA) ROSE OM 21.2 PERCENT 2005 TO 35.8 PERCENT 2015, WH REARCH SHOWG THAT GSAS ARE “RELATED TO GREATER FEELGS OF SAFETY FOR THE GENERAL STUNT BODY, WH AN EVEN GREATER IMPROVEMENT SAFETY FOR LGBTQ STUNTS SPECIFILLY.” AN IMPRSIVE 82 PERCENT OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUNTS ALSO REPORTED KNOWG AN LGBT PERSON, AND THOSE STUNTS HAD “LS NEGATIVE ATTUS TOWARD LGBT PEOPLE” THAN THEIR PEERS. AND OVERALL, MOST MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUNTS—NE OUT OF 10—STILL REPORTED FEELG SAFE AT SCHOOL.BUT AS VILLENAS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST, “THERE’S A LOT LEFT THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.”LS THAN 60 PERCENT OF SCHOOLS, FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE ANTI-BULLYG POLICI THAT SPECIFILLY CLU SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY. LAST SUMMER, CINTALLY, THE U.S. SENATE VOTED DOWN AN AMENDMENT TO THE EVERY CHILD ACHIEV ACT THAT WOULD HAVE PROHIBED ANTI-LGBT BULLYG ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS NATNWI.BUT THE MOST WORRYG TREND GLSEN FOUND IS THAT TEACHERS WERE LS FORTABLE TERVENG UPON HEARG A BIASED MENT 2015 THAN THEY WERE 2005. THAT MAY BE BEE LS THAN A THIRD OF THEM HAVE “EVER HAD ANY PROFSNAL VELOPMENT ON LGB STUNT ISSU,” AND LS THAN A QUARTER HAVE BEEN TRAED ON ISSU AFFECTG TRANSGENR STUNTS, EVEN AS SCHOOL DISTRICTS BEE EMBROILED RTROOM BAT.“ALTHOUGH TEACHERS OVERWHELMGLY ENDORSED THE IA THAT THEY HAVE AN OBLIGATN TO ENSURE SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE SCHOOLS FOR LGBT STUNTS, WHEN ME TO TAKG ACTN TO DO SO, MANY SEEMED TO STGGLE,” THE REPORT STATED.GLSEN’S REPORT WRAPS UP WH SEVERAL REMENDATNS FOR SCHOOLS THAT ULTIMATELY BOIL DOWN TO ONE PRCIPLE: DO MORE OF THE THGS THAT HELP STUNTS FEEL SAFE. THAT MEANS CREATG GSAS, TEACHG LGBT-CLIVE HISTORY LSONS, STUTG MORE PREHENSIVE ANTI-BULLYG POLICI, AND REQUIRG PROFSNAL VELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL STAFF.BEE ULTIMATELY—WHILE LIFE MAY ED GET BETTER FOR SOME LGBT TEENAGERS AFTER GRADUATN, AS SAVAGE PROMISED—’S NOT GETTG BETTER FOR LGBT STUNTS FAST ENOUGH. SAMANTHA ALLEN

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