Educators refuse to let renewed attacks from wave of anti-gay legislation go unanswered
“We want every student to know we respect who you are as an individual and accept you as part of our school family.”
“We want every student to know we respect who you are as an individual and accept you as part of our school family.”
“This is a public school and everybody is welcome as they are. The onus is on us to make any accommodations within our human power to help all of our students feel safe and happy.”
Tensions came to a head when students showed solidarity with fellow students by wearing rainbow colors to school on LGBT Spirit Day. Not to be outdone, some of their classmates showed up the next day draped in Confederate flags.
“The challenge has been to convince people that standing up for LGBT students has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with making these students feel safe and supported because every student deserves that.”
Students are struggling to understand not only what it means to be gay, but “the intersection of being both Black and gay and Hispanic and gay.”
55.5% of LGBTQ students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, while 37.8% felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
Schools must navigate the issue of transgender student rights in order to provide a safe learning environment for all.