GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, recommends four approaches that schools can begin implementing now to address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.
1. Adopt a comprehensive anti-bullying policy that enumerates categories such as race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender expression/identity. Enumeration is crucial to ensure that anti-bullying policies are effective for LGBT students. Policies without enumeration are no more effective than having no policy at all when it comes to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment, according to GLSEN's 2005 National School Climate Survey.
2. Require staff trainings to enable school staff to identify and address anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment effectively and in a timely manner.
3. Support student efforts to address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment on campus, such as the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance or participation in the National Day of Silence on April 25.
4. Institute age-appropriate, inclusive curricula to help students understand and respect difference within the school community and society as a whole.
While lethal violence like Lawrence's murder is rare, anti-LGBT bullying and harassment are pervasive problems in our schools, and effective responses are crucial to prevent escalation.
In the 2005 National School Climate Survey, nearly a fifth (17.6 percent) of LGBT students reported being physically assaulted at school in the past school year because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth (11.8 percent) because of their gender expression.
Nearly two-thirds of LGBT students (64.3 percent) said they feel unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation and two-fifths (40.7 percent) because of their gender expression.
Remembering Lawrence King
"Only 10 states and the District of Columbia protect students from bullying andharassment based on sexual orientation, and only five and the District of Columbia protect students based on gender identity/expression," GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings said last year. "We can make our schools safer, and every child deserves to know that we care enough about them to try."
Lawrence King, a 15-year-old from Oxnard, Calif., was shot and killed in school on Feb. 12, 2008 by a 14-year-old classmate because of King's sexual orientation and gender expression.
Over the course of several months, hundred of vigils were held across the country in King's memory. Check the GLSEN Web site for 2009 vigil information.
You can also view a public service announcement done last year in honor of King's memory on the GLSEN Web site
Visit glsen.org for more information.
