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It's like walking through a hailstorm...

-Polly R. (pseudonym), parent of gender non-conforming son, describing the hostile environment that LGBT children face in schools, Utah, December 2015

Outside the home, schools are the primary vehicles for educating, socializing, and providing services to young people in the United States. Schools can be difficult environments for students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, but they are often especially unwelcoming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. A lack of policies and practices that affirm and support LGBT youth-and a failure to implement protections that do exist-means that LGBT students nationwide continue to face bullying, exclusion, and discrimination in school, putting them at physical and psychological risk and limiting their education.

In 2001, Human Rights Watch published Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students in US Schools. The report documented rampant bullying and discrimination against LGBT students in schools across the country, and urged policymakers and school officials to take concrete steps to respect and protect the rights of LGBT youth.

Over the last 15 years, lawmakers and school administrators have increasingly recognized that LGBT youth are a vulnerable population in school settings, and many have implemented policies designed to ensure all students feel safe and welcome at school.

Yet progress is uneven. In many states and school districts, LGBT students and teachers lack protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In others, protections that do exist are inadequate or unenforced. As transgender and gender non-conforming students have become more visible, too, many states and school districts have ignored their needs and failed to ensure they enjoy the same academic and extracurricular benefits as their non-transgender peers.

This undermines a number of fundamental human rights, including LGBT students' rights to education, personal security, freedom from discrimination, access to information, free expression, association and privacy.

Areas of concern include bullying and harassment, exclusion from school curricula and resources, restrictions on LGBT student groups, and other forms of discrimination and bigotry against students and staff based on sexual orientation and gender identity. While not exhaustive, these broad issues offer a starting point for policymakers and administrators to ensure that LGBT people's rights are respected and protected in schools.

LGBT Experiences in School

Social pressures are part of the school experience of many students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. But the experience can be particularly difficult for LGBT students, who often struggle to make sense of their identities, lack support from family and friends, and encounter negative messaging about LGBT people at school and in their community.

In some instances, teachers themselves mocked LGBT youth or joined the bullying. Lynette G., the mother of a young girl with a gay father in South Dakota, recalled that when her daughter was eight, "she ran home because they were teasing her. Like, 'Oh, your dad is a cocksucker, a faggot, he sucks dick.' ... She saw a teacher laughing and that traumatized her even worse."

Students also reported difficulty accessing information about LGBT issues from teachers and counselors, and found little information in school libraries and on school computers. In some districts, this silence was exacerbated by state law. In Alabama, Texas, Utah, and five other US states, antiquated states laws restrict discussions of homosexuality in schools. Such restrictions make it difficult or impossible for LGBT youth to get information about health and well-being on the same terms as heterosexual peers. "In my health class I tested the water by asking [the teacher] about safer sex, because I'm gay," Brayden W., a 17-year-old boy in Utah, said. "He said he was not allowed to talk about it."

The effects of these laws are not only limited to health or sexuality education classes. As students and teachers describe in this report, they also chilled discussions of LGBT topics and themes in history, government, psychology, and English classes.

Many LGBT youth have organized gay-straight alliances (GSAs), which can serve as important resources for students and as supportive spaces to counteract bullying and institutional silence about issues of importance to them. As this report documents, however, these clubs continue to encounter obstacles from some school administrators that make it difficult for them to form and operate.

When GSAs were allowed to form, some students said they were subject to more stringent requirements than other clubs, were left out of school-wide activities, or had their advertising defaced or destroyed. Serena I., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Utah, said: "It's mental abuse, almost, seeing all these posters up and yours is the only one that's written on or torn down."

Often, LGBT students also lacked teacher role models. In the absence of employment protections, many LGBT teachers said they feared backlash from parents or adverse employment consequences if they were open about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Discrimination and bigotry against transgender students took various forms, including restricting bathroom and locker room access, limiting participation in extracurricular activities, and curtailing other forms of expression-for example, dressing for the school day or special events like homecoming. "They didn't let me in and I didn't get my money back," said Willow K., a 14-year-old transgender girl in Texas who attempted to wear a dress to her homecoming.

LGBT students also described persistent patterns of isolation, exclusion, and marginalization that made them feel unsafe or unwelcome at school. Students described how hearing slurs, lacking resources relevant to their experience, being discouraged from having same-sex relationships, and being regularly misgendered made the school a hostile environment, which in turn can impact health and well-being.

Acanthus R., a 17-year-old pansexual, non-binary transgender student in Utah, said it was "like a little mental pinch" when teachers used the wrong pronouns. "It doesn't seem like a big deal, but eventually you bruise."

Comprehensive approaches are urgently needed to make school environments welcoming for LGBT students and staff, and to allow students to learn and socialize with peers without fearing exclusion, humiliation, or violence. Above all:

States should repeal outdated and stigmatizing laws that deter and arguably prohibit discussion of LGBT issues in schools, and enact laws protecting students and staff from bullying and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Schools should ensure that policies, curricula, and resources explicitly include LGBT people, and that the school environment is responsive to the specific needs of LGBT youth.

Teachers and administrators should work to make existing policies meaningful by enforcing protections and intervening when bullying or discrimination occurs.

To State Legislatures

Ensure that state laws against bullying and harassment include enumerated protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Ensure that state non-discrimination laws include explicit protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, particularly in education, employment, and public accommodations;

Repeal laws that preclude local school districts from providing enumerated protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Repeal laws that prohibit or restrict discussion of LGBT issues in schools.

To State Departments of Education

Ensure that teachers, counselors, and other staff receive training to familiarize them with the issues LGBT students might face;

Promulgate model guidelines for school districts to follow to make schools safe and inclusive for LGBT youth.

To School Administrators

Ensure that school policies against bullying and harassment include enumerated protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Ensure that the school provide comprehensive sexuality education that is inclusive of LGBT youth, covers same-sex activity on equal footing with other sexual activity, and is medically and scientifically accurate;

Ensure that GSAs and other LGBT student organizations are permitted to form and operate on the same terms as all other student organizations;

Ensure that same-sex couples are able to date, display affection, and attend dances and other school functions on the same terms as all other student couples;

Ensure that students are able to access facilities, express themselves, and participate in classes, sports teams, and extracurricular activities in accordance with their gender identity.

To the US Congress

Enact the Equality Act or similar legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, education, federal funding, and public accommodations;

Enact the Student Non-Discrimination Act or similar legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools;

Enact the Safe Schools Improvement Act or similar legislation to encourage states to enact strong policies to prevent bullying and harassment that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Enact the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act or similar legislation to support comprehensive sexuality education and restrict funding to health education programs that are medically inaccurate, scientifically ineffective, or unresponsive to the needs of LGBT youth.

Human Rights Watch conducted research for this report between November 2015 and May 2016 in five US states: Alabama, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Utah. The sites were chosen as a regionally diverse sample of states that, at time of writing, lacked enumerated statewide protections against bullying and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Human Rights Watch contacted potential interviewees through nongovernmental organizations, LGBT organizations in high schools and middle schools, and LGBT organizations in post-secondary institutions where recent graduates reflected on their high school experiences. The research focused on public schools, including public charter schools, rather than private schools that enjoy greater autonomy to act in accordance with their particular beliefs under US law. Researchers spoke with 358 current or former students and 145 teachers, administrators, parents, service providers, and advocates for LGBT youth.

All interviews were conducted in English. No compensation was paid to interviewees. Whenever possible, interviews were conducted one-on-one in a private setting. Researchers also spoke with interviewees in pairs, trios, or small groups when students asked to meet together or when time and space constraints required meeting with members of student organizations simultaneously.

Researchers obtained oral informed consent from interviewees, and notified interviewees why Human Rights Watch was conducting the research and how it would use their accounts, that they did not need to answer any questions they preferred not to answer, and that they could stop the interview at any time. When students were interviewed in groups, those who were present but did not actively participate and volunteer information were not recorded or counted in our final pool of interviewees.

In this report, pseudonyms are used for interviewees who are students, teachers, or administrators in schools to protect their privacy and mitigate the risk of adverse consequences for participating in the research. Unless requested by interviewees, pseudonyms are not used for individuals who work in a public capacity on the issues discussed in this report.

Agender: Does not identify with any gender.

Aromantic: Experiences little or no romantic attraction to other people.

Asexual: Experiences little or no sexual attraction to other people.

Biromantic: Romantically attracted to two or more sexes or genders.

Bisexual: Sexually or romantically attracted to two or more sexes or genders.

Cisgender: Sex assigned at birth conforms to identified or lived gender.

Demiboy: Only partly male, regardless of sex assigned at birth.

Demigirl: Only partly female, regardless of sex assigned at birth.

Demisexual: Feels attraction only to those with whom they have a strong emotional bond.

Gay: Male is primarily sexually or romantically attracted to other males.

Genderfluid: Gender fluctuates and may differ over time.

Gender Identity:Deeply felt sense of being female or male, neither, both, or something other than female and male. Does not necessarily correspond to sex assigned at birth.

Gender Non-Conforming: Does not conform to stereotypical appearances, behaviors, or traits associated with sex assigned at birth.

Genderqueer: Identifies as neither male nor female, both male and female, or a combination of male and female, and not within the gender binary.

Lesbian: Female is primarily sexually or romantically attracted to other females.

LGBT: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Non-Binary: Identifies as neither male nor female.

Pansexual: Sexual or romantic attraction is not restricted by sex assigned at birth, gender, or gender identity.

Sexual Orientation: Sense of attraction to, or sexual desire for, individuals of the same sex, another sex, both, or neither.

Transgender: Sex assigned at birth does not conform to identified or lived gender.

Successes, with Limits

LGBT communities in the United States have won a number of victories over the past decade. Among other milestones, advocates have successfully fought to include sexual orientation and gender identity in federal hate crimes legislation, repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned LGBT persons from serving in the US military, and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment by the federal government and its contractors and subcontractors. The US Supreme Court has also extended the constitutional right to marry to same-sex couples nationwide.

When LGBT youth experience family or community rejection, schools can ideally function as safe and affirming environments for them to learn, interact with peers, and feel a sense of belonging. Yet efforts to ensure such conditions for LGBT youth in schools have historically encountered strong political, legal, and cultural resistance, and continue to face such resistance today, often due to the charge that adults are "indoctrinating" or "recruiting" youth into being LGBT.

"No Promo Homo" Laws

In some instances, pervasive anxieties about indoctrination and recruitment in schools have prompted state and local efforts-some of them successful-to limit what teachers may say about LGBT topics in the classroom.

Alabama state law dictates that "[c]ourse materials and instruction that relate to sexual education or sexually transmitted diseases should include all of the following elements ... [a]n emphasis, in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state."

Texas state law specifies that the Department of State Health Services "shall give priority to developing model education programs for persons younger than 18 years of age," and "[t]he materials in the education programs intended for persons younger than 18 years of age must ... state that homosexual conduct is not an acceptable lifestyle and is a criminal offense under Section 21.06, Penal Code."

Utah state law prohibits public schools from using materials for "community and personal health, physiology, personal hygiene, and prevention of communicable disease" that include instruction in "the intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior; the advocacy of homosexuality; the advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices; or the advocacy of sexual activity outside marriage."[20]

They appear alongside more general restrictions on sexuality education, including provisions requiring or encouraging abstinence education. Although each of these restrictions specifically appears in portions of state law addressing instruction in sexuality education, their chilling effects often extend much further.

As Nora F., an administrator in Utah, said:

As interviews with administrators, teachers, and students demonstrate, the practical effect of these outdated laws has been to discourage discussion of LGBT issues throughout the school environment, from curricular instruction to counseling to library resources to GSA programming. Many teachers avoided or silenced any discussion of LGBT issues in schools. At times, this was because they were unsure what it meant to "advocate" or "promote" homosexuality and feared they would face repercussions from parents or administrators if they were too frank or supportive of students. At other times, teachers refused to teach the antiquated, discriminatory messages that some no promo homo laws require them to convey when homosexuality is discussed, and so declined to address LGBT topics at all. Without clear instruction on what the laws permit, many teachers reported that they or their colleagues erred on the side of caution, excluding information that parents or administrators might construe as falling within their scope.

Impact on LGBT Students of Discrimination and Victimization

GLSEN's findings are consistent with governmental and academic studies that consistently show that LGBT youth are at elevated risk of adverse mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidality. According to a study by the Williams Institute, a research institute at the UCLA School of Law, a disproportionate 40 percent of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBT, due in large part to families rejecting their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Amanda Keller, director of LGBTQ Programs and the Magic City Acceptance Center at Birmingham AIDS Outreach in Alabama, said students often told her they wished fellow students would "just hit them or lash out rather than just ignoring them, ignoring their identity, walking into them and pretending there's nobody there." Vanessa M., a counselor in Pennsylvania, said: " That stuff, it not only builds, but it takes a toll on their psyche where they don't like themselves."

At time of writing, 19 states and the District of Columbia had enacted laws prohibiting bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity statewide. Research indicates that laws and policies that enumerate sexual orientation and gender identity as protected grounds are more effective than those that merely provide a general admonition against bullying. Without express protections for sexual orientation and gender identity that are clearly conveyed to students and staff, bullying and harassment against LGBT students frequently goes unchecked.

Schools that have enacted protections do not always clearly convey them to students, faculty, and staff. In interviews, many students and teachers expressed uncertainty or offered contradictory information as to whether their school prohibited bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, even in schools where enumerated protections were already in place.

Many students reported that school personnel did not raise the issue of bullying on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity at assemblies and educational programming on bullying held at their school.

Interviewees identified multiple types of bullying and harassment that they encountered in schools, each of which has consequences for LGBT students' safety, sense of belonging, and ability to learn.

Physical Bullying

Yet some students did face persistent physical violence at school and many said their schools took no effective steps to stop it. Sandra C., the mother of a 16-year-old gay boy in Utah, described a pattern of harassment that culminated in her withdrawing her son from the school:

Some students who experienced physical violence hesitated to tell adults for fear that reporting would be ineffectual or make the situation worse. Willow K., a 14-year-old transgender girl in Texas, recalled being abused by members of the football team in seventh grade:

In one incident in Montgomery, Alabama in 2014, a gay high school student was surrounded and assaulted by a group of male students who punched and kicked him repeatedly, breaking his arm and leg. As Paul Hard, a counselor in Alabama, recalled:

Kevin I., a 17-year-old transgender boy in Utah, said:

When administrators react indifferently to bullying and harassment, it can deter students from coming forward. Alexander S., a 16-year-old transgender boy in Texas, said:

Alexander's parents finally learned of the bullying after he attempted suicide. He has continued to struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts, and has been repeatedly admitted to inpatient care for treatment.

Verbal Harassment and Hostile Environments

Almost all of the students interviewed for the report reported encountering verbal harassment in their school environment, even in the most LGBT-friendly schools. In some schools, derogatory phrases like "that's so gay" and slurs like "dyke" or "faggot" were used by students to belittle or taunt peers, whether or not the targets identified as LGBT. Students stressed that even these generalized slurs contributed to a sense of hostility and danger in the school environment.

In each of the five states where interviews were conducted, researchers encountered schools where slurs were ubiquitous. Katrina I., a 17-year-old gay girl in Alabama, noted: "All the time, I hear slurs. I hear 'queer' thrown around a lot, the F word [faggot] thrown around a lot." Joel W., a genderfluid 17-year-old in Pennsylvania, said: "I hear slurs almost every single class." Ryan K., an 18-year-old student in South Dakota, concurred: "I hear it like every class period." In addition to "that's so gay," "faggot," and "dyke," transgender students reported encountering anti-transgender slurs like "tranny" or being referred to with dismissive, dehumanizing terms like "it" or "fe-man."

Students also encountered anti-LGBT graffiti and slurs written on the school building, tests and papers, and personal property, and noted that their schools failed to investigate or rectify the vandalism. Kayla E., a 17-year-old lesbian student in Pennsylvania, said:

Students noted that some of the verbal harassment they encountered occurred in spaces that were unmonitored by teachers, administrators, and other staff, such as hallways, cafeterias, buses, and locker rooms. Yet even in classrooms and in communal spaces where school personnel were present, many students said teachers did little to intervene to stop slurs and verbal harassment.

Colin N., an 18-year-old transgender boy in Pennsylvania who heard slurs daily, said:

Charlie O., a genderfluid 17-year-old in Texas, described a similar incident:

In sophomore history class, we had to stand up and say our name and one thing we're part of, and I said 'Charlie, and GSA,' and a girl said 'what's GSA?,' and a boy in the corner said, 'That's the faggot club.' The teacher just kind of looked at him. The teachers turn a blind eye.

In some instances, teachers and administrators' willingness to effectively respond to slurs was compromised by laws or policies restricting the discussion of LGBT issues in schools. Alice L., a 53-year-old mother of a transgender student in Utah, said: "I've talked to teachers who are like, 'I'd like to stop it, but I don't know what to say, and particularly in light of Utah's laws where I can't promote homosexuality.'"

Lynette G., the mother of a young girl with a gay father in South Dakota, said the role of teachers in teasing was problematic as early as elementary school:

In addition to tacit encouragement, some teachers themselves made dismissive or derogatory comments about LGBT people, sometimes passing off such remarks as jokes and on other occasions appearing to intend disparagement. Bianca L., a 16-year-old bisexual girl in Alabama, said:

Michelle A., a genderfluid 18-year-old student in South Dakota, said: "I built something in a day ... and I said it wasn't really good, and he [the teacher] said, 'Well, that's lesbian construction.'"

Tristan O., a 21-year-old transgender man in Pennsylvania, recalled that when he was in school, many of his teachers made gay jokes with students, and "when teachers or authority figures make comments, you're stuck with those people in school. And that chips away at you." Kelly A., a 19-year-old gay cisgender woman in Utah, remembered: "Teachers said 'that's so gay' - my gym teacher, a math teacher, and a science teacher." Students also identified coaches and JROTC [Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps] personnel who called students "gay," "fags," or feminizing or sexist terms. Eliza H., an 18-year-old bisexual girl in Alabama, recalled: "[M]y girlfriend walked me to class and she came in and held my hand, and [the teacher] told me we're going to hell because we're together." Cheyenne F., a 17-year-old transgender student in Alabama, recalled being told in class by a health teacher "that America's acceptance of gays and abortion was the cause of the fall of the Twin Towers," a reference to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Condemnation of students on religious grounds was particularly evident in interviews in Utah. Approximately 60 percent of Utah's population belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church. Across the state, public schools give students release time in which the school disclaims responsibility for the student and allows them to leave the campus. During this period, students may attend seminary classes in church buildings adjacent to public schools for religious instruction. Students described strong pressure to attend seminary.

Cyber Bullying

LGBT students described a double-edged relationship with technology and social media, which allowed them to find communities online to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity, but also exposed them to bullying and harassment.

Students acknowledged that cyberbullying is a problem for middle and high schoolers generally, but said LGBT students could be particularly vulnerable to harassment. Miley D., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Alabama, suggested: "O nline, if you're open about anything about yourself, you're prone to be bullied. And if you're LGBT, it's 10 times worse."

Alexander S., a 16-year-old transgender boy in Texas, said:

Sexual Harassment

Unlike gay and bisexual boys, who were rarely treated as sex objects by their peers, lesbian and bisexual girls said they were regularly propositioned for sex by straight male classmates.

Other students described invasive questions about sexual practices and genitalia, which were most often reported by transgender and gender non-conforming youth. Kayla E., a 17-year-old lesbian girl in Pennsylvania, said:

In addition to sexual harassment, lesbian and bisexual girls and transgender and gender non-conforming students were subject to overt threats of sexual assault. Tracy M., an 18-year-old in Texas, said:

Julian L., a 15-year-old transgender boy in South Dakota, described being threatened during his freshman year by a senior:

Exclusion and Isolation

A lack of friends and feelings of loneliness were common for LGBT youth. Jonah O., a 16-year-old gay boy in Alabama, said:

A common example was belittling comments or exclusion from group activities. As Ginger M., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Utah, asked: "[H]ow do you go to the administration with that? Someone laughed because I'm gay?" According to Dave W., a 44-year-old teacher and GSA advisor in Pennsylvania, such slights "make a difference after a while... People don't look you in the eye, teachers don't call on you in class, they have lower expectations of you."

LGBT students responded to isolation and exclusion in different ways. Some recounted how they carefully policed their behavior, dress, and friendships to fit in and avoid harassment. Max R., a 13-year-old student in Pennsylvania, commented:

Others responded by distancing themselves even further from their peers. Caleb C., a gay non-binary 20-year-old in Utah, recalled :

Exclusion and Isolation by LGBT Peers

Reporting and Retaliation

Schools typically encourage students to report when they are bullied or harassed by students or adults. Yet some students who did report physical bullying, verbal harassment, or sexual harassment were rebuffed.

Garrett B., a 16-year-old pansexual transgender boy in Alabama, described inaction when he reported threats of physical violence:

Students reported being told their schools could not address bullying or harassment without proof, and used the fact that they lacked the evidence necessary to discipline a student to justify inaction. Furthermore, students who tried to document various forms of bullying and harassment with their phones or cameras found themselves being punished for using devices in school.

Noah P., a 14-year-old transgender boy in Texas, said:

Students who engaged or fought back faced additional barriers or punishment, even when the instigator went unpunished. Ginger M., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Utah, said:

Jordan L., a gay 17-year-old student in Texas, said:

Schools directly teach and instruct students with curricular offerings. But they also provide physical and mental health resources, library materials, access to the internet, extracurricular and noncurricular activities, and opportunities to socialize. In each of these areas, students noted that LGBT perspectives were either neglected or expressly excluded on the grounds that they were not appropriate or relevant for youth.

As LGBT people become more visible, research suggests that students are coming out or exploring their sexual orientation and gender identity at younger ages. The silence surrounding LGBT issues in schools not only sends a message to students that their identities are somehow inappropriate, but leaves them ill-prepared to deal with issues that schools equip their heterosexual and cisgender peers to handle.

Classroom Instruction and Discussion

Adults echoed students' perceptions that teachers and administrators treated LGBT issues more cautiously than others. Amy L., a teacher in Pennsylvania, said: "We read Will Grayson, Will Grayson last year, and a lot of the male students didn't want to read it because it had two students that are gay, and the school let them opt out and read a different book. We don't do that for other things."

Teachers in some schools silenced students who attempted to raise LGBT issues as a topic of discussion. Rowan C., a 15-year-old pansexual genderfluid student in Alabama, noted:

In some instances, teachers rebuked students for speaking up about LGBT issues. Angela T., a 17-year-old girl in Pennsylvania, said:

In some instances, teachers rebuked students who brought up LGBT issues or themes. Catherine G., a 17-year-old asexual girl in Alabama, recalled one such incident in a story-writing exercise in seventh grade:

Even some supportive teachers, fearing backlash, expressed reluctance to engage with LGBT topics in class. Sharon B., a teacher and GSA advisor in Alabama, said:

Horacio J., a teacher and GSA advisor in Alabama concurred:

Comprehensive Sexuality Education

In each of the states where interviews were conducted, students said the sexuality education they received was nonexistent or inadequate-only teaching abstinence, for example-often because it was not taught or was not a required component of the curriculum. However, when it was taught in their school, they said it was especially limited for LGBT youth.

Some teachers placed LGBT issues off-limits or made clear they would not be teaching about same-sex activity. Miley D., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Alabama, described how the coach who taught her health class:

Evan H., a 19-year-old man in Utah, said:

Placing the onus on students to ask questions or raise LGBT issues made it difficult for them to elicit the information that they needed to lead safe, healthy, and affirming sexual lives. For many students, it was not clear what information they would need in the future or what questions they should ask. Caleb C., a gay non-binary 20-year-old in Utah, said: "Utah teaches abstinence plus, so it's abstinence only but students can ask questions. Which sucks, because kids don't know what to ask."

When students themselves tried to raise questions that were pertinent to LGBT youth, instructors more typically reacted with embarrassment or deflection. Kevin I., a 17-year-old transgender boy in Utah, said:

As a result, many teachers err on the side of avoiding any discussion of LGBT issues at all, in sexuality education and in the curriculum generally. Even in Pennsylvania and South Dakota, which did not have a statewide no promo homo law, individual schools imposed their own limits on discussions of same-sex activity. These took various forms, from regulating curricula to restricting what teachers say in the classroom to punishing teachers who addressed LGBT issues in a frank manner.

Pauline J., a community health educator in Pennsylvania, described

In addition to LGBT issues, some students said that asexuality was not addressed in health curricula. Andrea L., a 17-year-old asexual girl in Pennsylvania, said:

The need for LGBT students to receive comprehensive sexuality education is clear. LGBT youth encounter a number of health issues that existing health classes fail to address. As Pauline J., a community health educator in Pennsylvania, said:

Although discussions of same-sex activity were restricted at the state level and by individual schools and instructors, transgender issues were also virtually absent from classroom discussions, despite the unique health concerns that transgender youth face. Joel W., a 17-year-old asexual, genderfluid student in Pennsylvania, said:

The absence of LGBT-inclusive information is particularly detrimental insofar as LGBT youth may not know where else they can obtain trustworthy information about sexuality. Many students either were not out to their parents or said their parents did not accept their sexual orientation or gender identity, limiting their ability to obtain information about sexuality when it was not provided at school.

Cameron S., a 16-year-old boy in South Dakota, said:

Refusal to convey accurate, nonjudgmental information about same-sex activity and other LGBT issues puts LGBT youth at heightened risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Maureen Gray, coordinator of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Rainbow Alliance, recalled a conversation with a HIV-positive young man in his early twenties:

The absence of LGBT-inclusive comprehensive sexuality education not only left students ill-equipped to navigate sexual activity, but often exacerbated feelings of difference, exclusion, or stigmatization. Students underscored that the sexuality education they received took for granted that they were cisgender and heterosexual. Discussions of puberty and bodily development presumed that students were cisgender; indeed, some students were divided by sex, so students who were assigned female at birth attended a discussion of women's development and bodies and students who were assigned male at birth attended a discussion of men's development and bodies.

Similarly, students noted that discussions of sexual activity, relationships, and marriage almost always operated under the assumption of heterosexuality. When same-sex relationships were acknowledged, students said it was typically as a cursory aside rather than a consistent, integrated recognition of their equal validity.

Counseling and Support

Many schools provide counselors to ensure that the academic and mental health needs of students are reliably met. Counseling is particularly important for LGBT youth, who face stressors at home and in schools that put them at a high risk for adverse mental health and academic outcomes.

These findings suggest that LGBT youth are in particular need of counselors who are attuned to their unique needs and risk factors. Unfortunately, students often lack access to supportive, culturally competent counseling in schools. None of the states surveyed required counselors to be trained on sexual orientation or gender identity, leaving it up to individual counselors to seek out cultural competency training on LGBT issues.

The result was that very few students interviewed by Human Rights Watch regarded the school counselor's office as a resource or supportive space. Natalie D., a 17-year-old agender student in Utah, called the school counselor "completely useless." Ginger M., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Utah, observed: "The counselors don't have any resources," and "asked us to bring stuff back." As Cam I., a 17-year-old bisexual student who dropped out of high school in Texas, said:

They weren't really good about grappling with mental health issues. And that's something that's really prevalent for people in the LGBT community.... That definitely factored into the decision to leave the school system.

In the absence of clear indications that counselors were accepting and inclusive of LGBT youth, many students expressed reluctance to utilize them as a resource. Some counselors overtly signaled they were unwilling or unable to be nonjudgmental resources for LGBT youth. Paul Hard, a counselor and professor in Alabama, recalled a case

In the absence of training, and with laws pertaining to gender and sexuality in schools-including anti-bullying laws and no promo homo laws-counselors may incorrectly believe they cannot counsel LGBT youth without parental permission. Rebecca C., an 18-year-old lesbian girl in Alabama, recalled seeking help from a counselor in eighth grade when she had nowhere else to turn:

Counselors may also incorrectly believe they are obligated to report a student's sexual orientation or gender identity to their parents when that fact is divulged to them. Nora F., an administrator in Utah, pointed out that this is encouraged by ambiguities in the state's anti-bullying law, which requires parental notification when children are bullied in school:

Maintaining confidentiality is critically important when serving LGBT youth, due in large part to the withdrawal of support or repercussions they may experience when their sexual orientation or gender identity is disclosed to parents, teachers, or other adults. Nonetheless, counselors, teachers, and other school personnel may fail to grasp the importance of confidentiality.

As students attested in interviews, any interaction with school personnel about one's sexual orientation or gender identity-reporting bullying, meeting with a counselor, attending the GSA, wearing gender-affirming clothes in school, or requesting access to an all-gender restroom-could be fraught with risk that students would be outed to other staff, their classmates, or their family members.

Administrators outed Alexis J., a genderfluid 19-year-old in Texas, to their family:

Incidents of outing and concerns about counselor confidentiality discouraged other students from coming forward, limiting their access to resources. Natalie D., a 17-year-old agender student in Utah, said:

Her friends stopped talking to her, and her mother kicked her out of the house. She's been crammed back in the closet. And she was tortured in high school.

Library and Internet Resources

Schools provide libraries, technological tools, and access to the internet, and in so doing, act as providers and gatekeepers for students seeking information about various topics.

However, information about sexual orientation and gender identity is often scarce. Censorship of LGBT content in schools not only sends a discriminatory and stigmatizing message that LGBT content is inherently inappropriate, but deprives students of the right to access information that could be important to their development, health, and safety.

Most students reported that they were not aware of any books or information on LGBT topics in their school libraries. Hannah L., a teacher in Utah, said:

The absence of available material meant that students looked elsewhere, typically, in commercial bookstores or on the internet, where information may be available but not necessarily curated for elementary, middle, and high school students.

Filters that schools apply to web access may limit students' ability to get information about LGBT topics using school-provided tools, and deprive students of information regarding their health, rights, and resources in their community.

William J., a 17-year-old gay boy in Texas, said: "On the school computers, when I'm trying to find stuff about LGBT youth, it'll say 'blocked site.'" Sharon B., a teacher and GSA advisor in Alabama, noted: " I had two students write a paper on a TED talk on homosexuality, and they also had to write the paper at home because they weren't able to do it at school." Veronica I., an 18-year-old student in South Dakota, said censorship can affect studies:

Forming Gay-Straight Alliances

Schools typically set out requirements that students must follow in order to form non-curricular student groups, including that students write a group charter or constitution, identify a faculty sponsor, and complete any necessary paperwork to begin meeting.

While all groups, regardless of focus, must theoretically adhere to the same requirements, interviews with students and teachers indicate that it can be harder to establish a GSA than other student groups, both because of stronger scrutiny by administrators, school boards, and parents and because GSAs may lack faculty support.

Students' perceptions were confirmed by teachers themselves, who said they were concerned that being openly supportive of LGBT youth could cost them their jobs. Renee F., a teacher and GSA advisor in Utah, said "The first time I was approached to be the GSA advisor, I was like, I'm not tenured, I'd better not." Sharon B., a teacher and GSA advisor in Alabama, recalled: " I didn't know this at the time, but when I started the GSA, parents went to the school board and tried to get me fired."

Fears of backlash against GSAs were particularly discouraging for staff who were themselves LGBT. A number of GSA leaders noted that they were able to be resources for LGBT youth precisely because they were straight, and would not face the scrutiny or backlash that an LGBT counterpart would likely face. Vanessa M., a counselor in Pennsylvania, recalled discussions she had about starting a middle school GSA:

Concerns about backlash or retaliation could prevent those with firsthand knowledge of LGBT issues, who might function as role models for LGBT youth, to remain closeted or keep their distance from the GSA. One advocate for LGBT youth in Alabama said:

Whether because of school policy or because of a fear of retaliation, GSAs in the schools examined were almost always the product of student advocacy, and not begun by teachers who recognized the need for a safe and nonjudgmental space for LGBT students and allies in school. George Taylor, an LGBT youth advocate with Shared Goals LLC in Alabama, said:

Nora F., an administrator in Utah, said:

You have to find a sponsor, so when you're in the heart of conservative Texas, you have to go through a school of classic white Christian teachers and you're really scared because they have a cross by their desk and you're like, are they those kinds of Christians?

Even with faculty backing, students attempting to form GSAs encountered other obstacles. Despite court rulings deeming the practice impermissible under the Equal Access Act, some students noted that they were told they had to broaden their GSA's mission in order to obtain approval. Levi B., a 16-year-old gay boy in Utah, said:

Other students were told they could form a GSA, but were not allowed to use terms like "LGBT" or "queer" in the name, mission, or advertising. Such a stance creates particular problems for groups with members or leaders whose primary identification is not gay or lesbian-for example, students who are bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Lucas K., an 18-year-old transgender boy in South Dakota, recalled:

The use of "queer" was a particular sticking point for administrators, who treated it as a slur rather than recognizing that it could also be a term reclaimed by LGBT communities. Piper N., a 15-year-old pansexual student at another high school in South Dakota, said:

When students expressed interest in forming a GSA, or even persisted and satisfied the necessary requirements, some school administrators stonewalled students, delaying discussions or approval until interested students gave up or graduated from the school. Jayden N., a 16-year-old gay boy in Texas, described how his principal appeared to stall approving a GSA before a local LGBT activist and a supportive adult in the school system helped push the issue on his behalf:

Mia E., a 16-year-old pansexual girl in Pennsylvania, was similarly stonewalled and ultimately unsuccessful when she tried to start a GSA:

Operating Gay-Straight Alliances

Even after students successfully formed GSAs, administrators at times imposed obstacles to their free and successful operation. When they are strictly or selectively enforced, even seemingly neutral requirements can preclude students from operating GSAs. In overt and subtle ways, GSAs were discouraged from building their membership, advertising their existence to the school community, or undertaking programming.

GSA advisors and members identified parental permission requirements as a formidable barrier to organizing and operating GSAs. Whether they are generally applicable to student clubs or specifically enforced against GSAs, these requirements exclude students who cannot obtain permission from their parents or guardians or worry about the potentially serious consequences-for example, being rejected, forced into therapy, withdrawn from school, kicked out, disowned, or subjected to violence-if their parents or guardians suspect they might be LGBT. As a result, the students who are in most need of the supportive environment provided by a GSA are often effectively barred from attending or participating.

In some instances, parental permission requirements were selectively applied against the GSA but not against other clubs. Joe J., a teacher and GSA advisor in Utah, said:

Some students did not feel they could tell their parents about their involvement with the GSA for fear they would be barred from attending or would face repercussions. Lucia B., a high school student in Pennsylvania, said:

Her classmate Ashley D., an 18-year-old girl, said:

In some instances, students said that administrators turned away announcements from the GSA or persistently neglected to make those announcements as they would for other groups. Serena I., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Utah, observed: "We've put in announcements and they skip them." GSA advisors ran into this problem as well. Arthur C., a teacher and GSA advisor in Texas, said: "I'd put announcements in weekly and they'd often go unread. The students who'd read them would laugh or start to read them and stop." Isabel M., a GSA advisor in South Dakota, noted that after a particularly contentious backlash from parents against the Day of Silence, her school's GSA was prohibited from making announcements outright.

Some students said that even after GSAs were allowed to form, school personnel restricted the words and messaging they were able to use in announcements and posters. Jayden N., a 16-year-old gay boy in Texas, said:

Misty A., a teacher in Texas, similarly recalled:

One of the most pervasive problems that GSAs faced was posters being ripped, defaced, or destroyed without consequence. Ethan B., a 16-year-old transgender boy in Texas, said:

Other GSA advisors and members explained that, because their posters were so regularly defaced, they had simply stopped making them and advertising the club in the common areas of the school.

Kevin I., a 17-year-old transgender boy in Utah, said of his GSA:

Some school administrators also strictly and selectively enforced prohibitions on involvement with speakers or groups beyond the school. Jayden N., a 16-year-old gay boy in Texas, said: "We also weren't allowed to announce events from outside groups that were part of us. But other groups would announce community events." Lucas K., an 18-year-old transgender boy in South Dakota, encountered the same resistance with his GSA:

Some GSAs were prohibited from raising awareness, speaking out against discrimination, or undertaking other programming. Patrick J., a teacher and GSA advisor in South Dakota, said the GSA had been told it could not hold a fundraising bake sale, although he noted " student council is selling root beer floats tomorrow. And the sports teams sell food like that."

Many LGBT students, teachers, and staff face overt discrimination and acts of bigotry because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

As the testimonies of LGBT students, teachers, and administrators show, discrimination and bigotry against LGBT people in school environments can be subtle or overt. Transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary youth in particular have faced discrimination and bigotry in schools, due in part to the pervasively gendered nature of many school environments, a lack of clarity about the legal obligations that schools must meet when issues arise, and a lack of training and familiarity on the part of school personnel.

Bullying and discrimination, together with a range of other practices that students identified, can lead to LGBT students being seen as anomalous or excluded from the school community. Repeated slights and microaggressions created a hostile environment for many LGBT youth in schools.

Bigotry and Fear of Repercussion Faced by LGBT Staff and Faculty

Discussions of LGBT issues in schools often focus on LGBT youth, who are especially vulnerable to bullying, harassment, and adverse academic and mental health outcomes. Yet LGBT school personnel also encounter adverse treatment because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT teachers who were out at school frequently faced harassment from students. Victoria P., a 16-year-old lesbian girl in Pennsylvania, said:

Sometimes, adverse treatment came from other faculty and staff as well. Arthur C., a transgender teacher in Texas, said:

Kevin D., a gay teacher in Texas, cited an instance when his partner kissed him on the cheek at the school door, and a student told their parent, who reported it to the principal.

Such a hostile climate can lead teachers who have not 'come out' to fear doing so. Isabel M., a GSA advisor in South Dakota, said:

Many interviewees-LGBT-identified and not-also voiced concerns about potential employment consequences of openly supporting LGBT students. In addition to the reluctance to sponsor GSAs, teachers said they wanted to avoid any perception they were expressly supportive on LGBT issues because they feared backlash from parents or school administrators. Glenda Elliott, a member of the Safe Schools Coalition in Alabama, said:

[F]aculty have no protection if they are gay, and those that might be willing to be supportive-and I've had them tell me this-they're afraid to be a strong advocate or ally, because they'll be shunned by colleagues, and they're not sure their principal will support them. You're talking about older people, in their 40s, 50s, 60s, when you're talking about principals and superintendents-and they're not changing overnight.

Nora F., an administrator in Utah, explained how this spilled into classroom instruction:

Even though outright firing was said to be rare, teachers still feared adverse consequences and hostility from colleagues and supervisors. Marisol J., an administrator in Texas, said:

Reticence about being too visible as LGBT or supportive of LGBT youth can limit the ability of supportive teachers to help students in need. Ellen A., a transgender teacher in Utah, recalled a difficult incident prior to her transition at school:

A lack of employment non-discrimination protections fueled the fear and uncertainty that teachers faced. Genie Taylor, an LGBT youth advocate with Shared Goals LLC in Alabama, explained: "If those policies were in place, according to what we've heard from teachers, they'd feel more comfortable standing up for kids if they weren't concerned about being outed." Ellen A. underscored the importance of such protections in her own decision to come out as transgender and transition in the workplace. "Senate Bill 296 in the state of Utah made it less threatening for me to lose my job."

Same-Sex Couples in Schools

Casey Akers, a sophomore at Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth, Texas, made local headlines in 2015 when her school stopped her from making a "promposal" inviting another girl in her school to prom. As she explained in an interview, "I had a friend who was a senior, and just as friends, she asked if we'd be prom dates. Texas has a thing where we prompose to people, where you ask someone to go to prom in a special way. So before school started, I asked an administrator if I could do a promposal, just when and how, not who I was asking. The same administrator found me at lunch and asked if I was asking a girl to prom, and I said, 'yes,' and she said I couldn't because it was not appropriate. The school let out a rule or notice that they had never let anyone do promposals [in her school district]. But the next day there were promposals going on with no consequence. The rule said any promposals would have consequences, but there were no consequences."

Other students reported school personnel discouraging them from bringing a same-sex date to prom, telling them that they could not do so, or refusing them a reduced price couple's ticket. Kyra S., an 18-year-old queer woman in Alabama, recalled:

Gabby W., a 19-year-old bisexual woman in Alabama, encountered similar resistance with her same-sex date:

Caleb C., a gay non-binary 20-year-old in Utah, recalled:

Access to Facilities

One of the most pressing concerns for transgender students is safety in bathrooms and locker rooms. Proponents of bathroom and locker room restrictions cite student safety as a reason to require students to use facilities according to their sex assigned at birth. But when schools require transgender girls to use the men's room or require transgender boys to use the women's room-which teachers do not monitor-they put them at risk of physical, verbal, or sexual assault from other students or adults.

Transgender students interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that being made to use facilities that did not correspond to their gender identity made them feel unsafe at school or exposed them to verbal and physical assault. Willow K., a 14-year-old transgender girl in Texas, recalled of her required eighth grade gym class:

The previous year, Willow had been assaulted by a group of football players in the locker room, making the requirement that she use the male locker room particularly difficult. Alexis J., a self-described genderfluid 19-year-old in Texas, recalled a gym class where"I had to strip down to girly underwear in front of a bunch of dudes. And they're like, 'Faggot.' And this was freshman year, so they're just vicious."

Transgender students expressed particular concern about physical assault and harassment in boys' bathrooms and locker rooms, but described harassment in girls' bathrooms and locker rooms as well. Kevin I., a 17-year-old transgender boy in Utah, said:

And while many of the transgender students interviewed identified strongly as boys or girls and wanted to use the corresponding facilities, many others said they did not feel safe in either space and felt their only option was to forego bathrooms, gym classes, and gendered extracurricular activities with their peers altogether.

The tendency to see LGBT people and issues as inherently sexual also colored lesbian, gay, and bisexual students' interactions in locker rooms. This was an especially prominent theme in interviews with young lesbian and bisexual women. Charlie O., a 17-year-old pansexual genderfluid student in Texas, offered an example:

Caleb C., a gay non-binary 20-year-old in Utah, said:

As a result of discomfort, harassment, and exclusion, some LGBT students opted not to take gym class. In some states and school districts, however, gym class is required to graduate, putting LGBT students in difficult positions. Some students interviewed for this report took gym classes online, bypassing the physical and social benefits of taking those classes with their peers. As noted above, others remained in gym classes but avoided changing or participating, often receiving poor grades as a result.

A number of medical authorities have emphasized that social transition, including access to bathrooms consistent with one's gender identity, is among the most important aspects of transition, and is crucial to transgender students' health and well-being.

Parents of transgender youth observed the repercussions of restricted access to facilities, particularly in elementary schoolers and middle schoolers. In an interview with Human Rights Watch in Texas, Tanya H., the mother of a nine-year-old transgender boy named Elijah, recalled:

A year ago at this time, he was having a really hard time, and he'd go into the girl's bathroom and girls would yell, 'There's a boy in here!' and he couldn't go to the boys' bathroom, and so he stopped going to the bathroom. There were a lot of meltdowns.

When Elijah mentioned suicide and was briefly hospitalized, his mother spoke to administrators to ensure that he would be treated as a boy when he started at a new school in the fall. Tanya recalled:

He was kind of worried about going to a new school, and he said, 'If I can go as a boy, okay.' He's just fallen into it, and he's so much happier.... He's making friends who know him as a boy.

Ingrid A., the parent of a transgender girl in fifth grade in Pennsylvania, recalled a similar shift when her daughter transitioned at school:

She was a darker child, prior. When she would be angry, her tantrums would go to a dark place: 'I want to die,' 'God made a mistake,' 'I'm not supposed to be a boy.'... But that year of transition, she just became comfortable with herself and you just saw this kid blossom.

Proponents of restrictions on bathroom and locker room access often cite the privacy or discomfort of cisgender students using the same facilities as a justification for excluding transgender youth. However, as described above, these concerns are far outweighed by the harmful and potentially dangerous impact on transgender students of policies that deny them the use of facilities that correspond to their gender identity. Such discrimination can also undermine transgender students' right to privacy, by effectively outing them as transgender to peers and school staff.

Some schools have allowed transgender students to use alternative facilities, including faculty bathrooms normally off-limits to students, as an alternative to giving them free access to facilities that correspond with their gender identity. This is not an adequate compromise. Several transgender students told us that requesting or using all-gender options that cisgender students did not use served to convey their transgender status to faculty, staff, and peers as well. Silas G., a 15-year-old transgender boy in South Dakota, said: "My teacher would grill me, 'Why are you going to the nurse?'.... And I got yelled at for using the faculty bathroom." Teagan W., a 16-year-old transgender boy in Texas, said when using the faculty bathroom, "I get a lot of weird looks from teachers. I'll wait until teachers go in so they're not like, 'What are you doing?'"

On the other hand, some transgender students prefer the use of all-gender facilities because they do not feel comfortable in bathrooms that correspond to the gender binary. In these situations, schools should take steps to minimize the degree of unwanted scrutiny this generates, including by instructing teachers to refrain from interrogating students' use of alternative facilities.

For students who feared strong disapprobation, violence, or being kicked out of their house if their transgender status was disclosed to their parents, the threat of disclosure can discourage them from talking with school officials about bathroom access, including discussions of all-gender alternatives.

Privacy is indeed lacking in many school bathroom and locker room facilities. Some schools have removed stall doors from bathrooms in an effort to deter drug use and other prohibited behavior. And many if not most school locker rooms require students to change clothes and/or shower in a shared, communal space without curtains or other barriers.

Restrictions on bathroom usage also compromise transgender students' education and their ability to participate fully in the school community on an equal footing with others. When students are preoccupied with the unavailability of safe places to relieve themselves, forego participation in gym classes, or suffer other negative impacts resulting from discriminatory restrictions, they are less able to learn and participate fully in school.

Ursula P., a 16-year-old transgender girl in Alabama, said:

They refused to put me in girls' PE last year, and I was scared to go in the locker room and [change clothes] and wouldn't participate, and so I failed. I requested to do girls' PE and it's been over a month; I don't think they're making the decision. And I need a whole year of PE to graduate.

In some instances, students who had been offered the use of all-gender bathrooms noted that these were inconveniently located-often distant from classrooms, and far less prevalent than gendered options.

Zack T., a 16-year-old transgender boy in Texas, said:

The unavailability of safe and accessible bathrooms and locker rooms also compromises participation in the school community more generally. For example, students described strategies of leaving the campus entirely to find a bathroom at a gas station, fast food restaurant, or other establishment that they could use safely and comfortably, and, as a result, missing out on opportunities to eat lunch or socialize with peers. Students also explained that they did not participate in extracurricular activities - primarily sports, but also choir, drama, and other activities - because they expected they would have to participate as their sex assigned at birth in the activity and any associated use of locker rooms or bathrooms for out of town trips.

Some students told Human Rights Watch that all-gender facilities, introduced as an option available to all students, would be their preferred solution, and lessen the stress of gender policing by peers and teachers.

Participation in School Events and Extracurricular Activities

In many schools, LGBT students are deterred or effectively excluded from participating in school events, extra-curriculars, or everyday activities because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. As a result, they are deprived of the full education that their heterosexual, cisgender peers enjoy.

Across many US states, transgender students face restrictions related to participation in sports and other extracurricular activities. The treatment of transgender students in public school sports varies considerably from state to state.

In some states, students are allowed to participate consistent with their gender identity. In others, students may participate consistent with their gender identity if they have undergone some form of medical intervention, typically hormone treatments. A number of states use case-by-case evaluations or lack any guidelines to determine how students participate. And in some states, students are required to participate in extracurricular activities as their sex assigned at birth.

Although most of the issues that students identified with sports and extracurricular activities involved restrictions based on gender identity, some lesbian, gay, and bisexual students noted pervasive hostility on the basis of sexual orientation. Francesca K., an 18-year-old lesbian girl in Alabama, said:

Expression and Dress

LGBT students often experienced rigorous policing of how they dressed and expressed their gender. Wearing gender-affirming clothing is an important part of social transition, making such regulations particularly stressful and humiliating for transgender youth.

Sometimes, this policing of transgender and gender non-conforming youth happened during the school day. Caleb C., a gay non-binary 20-year-old in Utah, recalled a student who was routinely punished for wearing women's clothing.

At other times, policing happened at events and other occasions. Willow K., a 14-year-old transgender girl in Texas, recalled: "I tried to wear a dress-I bought my ticket, went to homecoming wearing a dress, and they didn't let me in and I didn't get my money back." Julian L., a 15-year-old gay transgender boy in South Dakota, observed that in JROTC: " I asked like five times last year if I could wear the men's uniform, and they said they'd look into it but never did.... I want to feel like the other guys."

Even when students were not punished, adults at times ridiculed them for gender non-conformity, including clothing. Adrian C., a 17-year-old student in Utah, said:

Glenda Elliott of the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition said no promo homo laws are invoked to justify censorship:

School Events

In some instances, school spirit events and competitions explicitly or implicitly excluded LGBT youth. For example, in some schools, same-sex couples were excluded from elections to the homecoming court or other school competitions. Malia E., an 18-year-old bisexual girl in Texas, recalled: "The sponsor for student council didn't allow us to put up two guys for homecoming court. She said, 'You don't have to try to make a statement.'" Carol G., an administrator in Texas, recalled an incident where "the senior class nominated two men for a cutest couples contest, and the teacher in charge took them out of it, and then lied to the administrator by saying they had withdrawn."

Even when parents complained, schools let the days proceed. Rhoda B., a parent in South Dakota, reached out to the high school to urge them to change the theme and was rebuffed: " I reached out to school board members, and every one of them, for the most part, said 'I can't believe they're doing it either'... but nobody did anything about it."

Gender Policing

Even in high school, students described being instructed to divide into teams of boys or girls, being seated in alternating boy-girl patterns, or being addressed in gendered ways, with rigid policing of who goes where. Susanna K., a parent and school photographer in Utah said:

Names and Pronouns

Students spoke favorably of strategies teachers employed to ensure their gender identity was respected. One common tactic was to pass out notecards at the beginning of the year where students could write information they wanted the teacher to know; for example, their preferred name and pronouns, any medical information that might be pertinent, any disabilities or learning difficulties, or other concerns.

While some schools and teachers invited students to identify their names and pronouns, a more typical arrangement was that it was up to transgender students to identify themselves and their name and pronouns to their teachers on a case-by-case, class-by-class basis. Putting the onus on students to inform teachers was a stressful process, particularly when teachers rejected the student's gender identity. Because schools and school personnel typically did not indicate to students that they would respect names and pronouns, some students declined to take the risk of volunteering that information.

Tanner H., a pansexual 18-year-old in Texas, said:

Anthony G., a 16-year-old demisexual transgender boy in Texas, said:

In many instances, students observed that they had informed teachers of their identified name and pronouns, but teachers failed to use them and routinely misgendered the student before their peers. Silas G., a 15-year-old transgender boy in South Dakota, said:

Paolo V., a 19-year-old transgender man in Texas, recalled:

A further effect of misgendering in class was to stigmatize transgender students in front of peers. Charlie O., a 17-year-old pansexual genderfluid student in Texas, said of another student:

Tristan O., a 21-year-old transgender man in Pennsylvania, agreed:

Record Keeping

The use of incorrect names and pronouns was exacerbated by administrators' refusal or failure to update student information in school records. Some transgender students said they were told the school was unable to update any school records unless they had legally changed their name and gender. Administrators in other schools did update student information without incident, however, particularly in their internal records.

Willow K., a 14-year-old transgender girl in Texas, said:

While schools do have recordkeeping obligations related to statewide testing, social services, and other legal requirements, as well as entry into the Selective Service System, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and other federal programs, some schools have demonstrated that internal systems can be successfully modified to include spaces for identified name and gender, such that that information appears on roll call, grading sheets, and other internal systems.

Schools may not realize that in many instances, documents and materials that reflect a student's gender need not include gender at all. Where gender is pertinent, schools can either provide a menu of options beyond male and female or, ideally, leave an open-ended space for students to provide the gender with which they identify. Systems can be put in place for students to change their identified gender in school records, recognizing that the gender on a student's birth certificate or initial records in kindergarten may not be the student's gender in middle school or high school.

Graduation

Many of the human rights problems LGBT students face in schools also undermine their right to education. The US Constitution does not guarantee the right to education but the laws or constitutions of all 50 US states recognize that all children are entitled to primary and secondary education. The right to education is protected under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The US has signed but not ratified the ICESCR and is therefore not bound by its provisions. However, the ICESCR provides an important source of guidance as to the necessary content of the right to education and the measures needed to uphold it.

Violence and Bullying

Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) speaks directly to the need to protect children from all forms of physical and mental violence. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the expert body charged with interpreting state obligations under the CRC, has emphasized that bullying constitutes physical or mental violence against children and that it "not only harms a child's physical and psychological integrity and well-being in the immediate term, but often has severe impact on his or her development, education, and social integration in the medium and long term." UNICEF has similarly urged states to take steps to curb anti-LGBT bullying, noting "robust evidence to suggest that LGBT children and youth exposed to discrimination are more likely to consider or attempt suicide than their peers."

Freedoms of Expression, Association, and Assembly

As part of the right to freedom of expression, Article 19 of the ICCPR recognizes the "freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds." This right is not restricted to adults; it is guaranteed to "everyone." The Convention on the Rights of the Child reaffirms that children, like adults, have "freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice." The absence of education related to LGBT issues and the continued existence of no promo homo laws undermines the right to freedom of expression for both students and teachers. The UN Human Rights Committee, reviewing a conviction under Russia's law prohibiting "propaganda of homosexuality among minors," thus concluded that "there is no doubt that there has been a restriction on the exercise of the author's right to freedom of expression" under such laws.

Right to Privacy

While making every effort to ensure that the school environment welcomes and includes LGBT students, education policies should also seek to ensure respect for LGBT students' privacy. In particular, schools should take steps not only to respect the gender identity of transgender students, but to refrain from treating those students in a manner that could "out" them against their will to other members of the school community. In practice there is substantial overlap between many of the steps needed to display full respect for a transgender student's gender identity and those needed to protect their privacy-such as consistent use of students' preferred names and pronouns, reflecting their gender identity.

Discrimination

Education, Personal Development, and the School Environment

To State Legislatures

Ensure that state laws against bullying and harassment include enumerated protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Ensure that state laws against bullying and harassment respect student confidentiality and do not encourage disclosure of a student's sexual orientation or gender identity to parents without prior discussions with the student;

Ensure that state non-discrimination laws include explicit protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, particularly in education, employment, and public accommodations;

Repeal laws that preclude local school districts from providing enumerated protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Repeal laws that prohibit or restrict discussion of LGBT issues in schools;

Enact laws that provide for comprehensive sexuality education in schools that is medically and scientifically accurate, is inclusive of LGBT youth, and covers same-sex activity on equal footing with other sexual activity;

Repeal laws that require parental permission to join GSAs and access other age-appropriate resources and support;

Enact laws permitting transgender students to access facilities and participate in classes, sports teams, and extracurricular activities in accordance with their gender identity;

Modify any building regulations that require particular numbers or percentages of gendered restrooms in public or commercial buildings to permit the designation of all-gender restrooms.

To State Departments of Education

Ensure that teachers, counselors, and other staff receive sufficient training and support to intervene in bullying and harassment when it occurs;

Ensure that teachers, counselors, and other staff receive training to familiarize them with the issues LGBT students might face;

Promulgate model guidelines for school districts to follow to make schools safe and inclusive for LGBT youth;

Develop a system to integrate school records that reflect a student's name and pronouns with state operated databases and standardized testing.

To School Administrators

Ensure that school policies against bullying and harassment include enumerated protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Ensure that school policies against bullying and harassment establish and clearly specify what constitutes bullying, procedures for victims to lodge complaints, consequences for perpetrators, and protections against retaliation;

Notify students that cyberbullying is unacceptable, establish clear reporting guidelines, and train staff to identify and respond to incidents. Have systems in place to document cyberbullying, report it to authorities when appropriate, and offer counseling and support to students who are targeted.

Ensure that school policies against bullying and harassment are circulated to the school community and clearly understood by students, faculty, staff, and third-party providers operating in the school setting;

Require a response to all reported incidents of bullying and harassment, whether or not the victim files a written complaint;

Require schools to document all incidents of bullying and harassment and how the incident was addressed;

Ensure that the school provide comprehensive sexuality education that is inclusive of LGBT youth, covers same-sex activity on equal footing with other sexual activity, and is medically and scientifically accurate;

Ensure that GSAs and other LGBT student organizations are permitted to form and operate on the same terms as all other student organizations;

Consider facilitating and supporting the formation of GSAs and other LGBT student organizations at the middle school level;

Ensure that same-sex couples are able to date, display affection, and attend dances and other school functions on the same terms as all other student couples;

Ensure that students are able to access facilities, express themselves, and participate in classes, sports teams, and extracurricular activities in accordance with their gender identity;

Consider erecting stalls, barriers, and privacy curtains to maximize student privacy in all bathrooms, locker rooms, and shared facilities;

Designate all-gender restrooms in easily accessible locations throughout the school where feasible, particularly where single-user restrooms are currently gendered;

Incorporate all-gender restrooms and private changing and shower areas into new construction of school facilities;

Modify school recordkeeping systems to allow students to specify the name and pronouns they wish to use in school and ensure those identifiers are respected by staff and faculty and reflected in class lists, yearbooks, diplomas, and other documentation, to the extent permitted by law;

Create avenues for graduates to obtain updated school records and diplomas consistent with their gender identity;

Take steps to ensure that agender or non-binary students are able to fully participate throughout the school environment.

To the US Congress

Enact the Equality Act or similar legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, education, federal funding, and public accommodations;

Enact the Student Non-Discrimination Act or similar legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools;

Enact the Safe Schools Improvement Act or similar legislation to encourage states to enact strong policies to prevent bullying and harassment that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity;

Enact the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act or similar legislation to support comprehensive sexuality education and restrict funding to health education programs that are medically inaccurate, scientifically ineffective, or unresponsive to the needs of LGBT youth.

To the US Department of Education

Develop a system to integrate school records that reflect a student's name and pronouns with federally operated databases and programs like Selective Service Registration and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Ryan Thoreson, researcher in the LGBT Rights Program, wrote this report based on research undertaken from November 2015 to May 2016. Additional interviews were conducted by Michael Bochenek, senior counsel in the Children's Rights Division.

The report was reviewed by Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT Rights Program; Michael Bochenek, senior counsel in the Children's Rights Division; Megan McLemore, senior researcher in the Health and Human Rights Division; Antonio Ginatta, US advocacy director; Chris Albin-Lackey, senior Legal advisor; and Danielle Haas, senior Program editor. Production assistance was provided by Oliva Hunter, Publications associate; Fitzroy Hepkins, administrative manager; and Jose Martinez, senior coordinator.

Human Rights Watch would like to thank M. Dru Levasseur of Lambda Legal and the experts and organizations that assisted us in reaching out to potential interviewees, especially Youth First in Dallas, TX; LGBTQ Saves in Fort Worth, TX; GALA Youth in Carrollton, TX; Hatch Youth in Houston, TX; Out Youth in Austin, TX; the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City, UT; Equality Utah in Salt Lake City, UT; the ACLU of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, SD; the Center for Equality in Sioux Falls, SD; the Black Hills Center for Equality in Rapid City, SD; the Magic City Acceptance Project in Birmingham, AL; the Alabama Alliance for Healthy Youth in Birmingham, AL; the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition in Birmingham, AL; Montgomery Pride United in Montgomery, AL; Free2Be in Huntsville, AL; the ACLU of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA; the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, PA; the LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, PA; the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, PA; and the NEPA Rainbow Alliance in Pittston, PA.

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This report documents a range of problems facing LGBT students. The concerns include bullying and harassment, exclusion of LGBT topics from school curricula and resources, restrictions on LGBT student groups, and discrimination and bigotry from both classmates and school personnel on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

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Why are kids bullied because of their race?

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Why are kids bullied because of their race?

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- different than the majority race
- minority kids are sometimes bullied by kids that get bullied for the same reason (*don't want to be the bottom of the totem pole*)

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- 62% of Asian Americans report being harassed online once or twice a month (*only 18.1% of white Americans report the same thing*)
- Asian Americans are the most bullied group of kids
- 44% of elementary school kids and 33% of high school kids report being victimized because of ethnicity
- minority groups more likely to be bullied than majority race

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Why are kids bullied because of their religion?

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Why are kids bullied because of their religion?

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- they have different traditions, accents, clothing, etc.
- not part of the big religious group in that specific area

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- 23% or about 1/4 of children are bullied because of their faith
- 9% of kids believe they are bullied because of religious symbols they wear
- 13% of kids believe they are bullied because of religious stereotypes

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- they are physically vulnerable to bullies
- impaired social skills
- intolerant environments
- special health needs

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- 62% of kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder get bullied once or more per week
- kids with disabilities are 2 to 3 times more likely to be bullied
- England: 8 out of 10 disabled kids bullied
- Survey of 500: 58% of kids with learning disabilities have been physically hurt by bullies

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- have a lack of support from friends and family
- struggling to make their own identities
- dismissed by faculty because they are "so open about it"
- some states ban talks about LGBT issues
- only some states have laws against bullying because of sexual orientation and gender identity

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- 74.1% of LGBT students are bullied verbally because of their sexual orientation
- 55.2% of LGBT students are bullied verbally because of their gender expression
- 55.5% feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation
- 37.8% feel unsafe at school because of their gender expression

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Bullying uses superior strength or influences to force him or her to do what ones what. These victims are mostly chosen are by their skin color, gender, or sexuality. It really isn't funny or cool how someone makes fun of someone for the most stupidest reason. You can hurt or scare them so badly that they end up taking their own life

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Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories.  For example an unfair treatment for someone age,  ethnicity, or even their disabilities.

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How to Prevent/Change Bullying and Discrimination

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How to Prevent/Change Bullying and Discrimination

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Option Three: Speak up. Talking to an adult can go a long way in bullying situations. Even though people may say “Don’t snitch” or “You’re a tattle-tale” you’re actually helping the situation. You can even request to remain anonymous. Adults know how to handle the situation in a mature way. That way nothing is worsened and the situation will be alleviated.

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How to Prevent/Change Bullying and Discrimination

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How to Prevent/Change Bullying and Discrimination

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Option Two:
One way to prevent bullying and discrimination is to take things as compliments. If someone calls you ugly, then you can just say "Thank you." If you do that, then the bully is going to get bored and move on to someone else.

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How to Prevent/Change Bullying and Discrimination

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How to Prevent/Change Bullying and Discrimination

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Option One:
One way to prevent discrimination is to band together. I realize that it seems incredibly cheesy. "All the children of the world hand in hand against the common enemy standing on a rainbow." However, in reality, when you surround yourself with people that will support you and defend you it goes a long way.

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http://www.nme.com/news/music/justin-timberlake-25-1208140

Justin Timberlake was bullied while growing up "they called me different, they called me weird, they called me a couple of other words I can't say on television". He is a great role model for young teens.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/lady-gaga-rolling-stone-bullied-high-school-ugly-big-nose-article-1.142854

Lady Gaga was bullied in High School for being different. "Being teased for being ugly, having a big nose, being annoying," she said. "'Your laugh is funny, you're weird, why do you always sing, why are you so into theater, why do you do your make-up like that?"
She was also discriminated in public. "I was being poked and probed and people would actually touch me and touch my clothes." And yet Lady Gaga still chooses to be herself no matter where she goes. She's a great role model for kids who are different. Ignore the haters and focus on your actual fans.

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http://www.capitalfm.com/features/famous-people-celebrities-bullying/rihanna/

The famous star Rihanna was bullied because she was "too white". In the end she was able to overcome the bullies and become world famous.

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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/15/tyra-banks-weight-self-esteem-girls-club-interview_n_1886465.html

Tyra Banks was bullied for being skinny. She grew much taller in a short amount of time and lost lots of weight. She was bullied for looking sick and frail even though there was  nothing wrong with her.
"When I was 11 years old, I grew three inches and lost 30 pounds in three months. So I went from being a cute little chubby girl to shooting up, [weighing] 98 pounds and just looking sick and frail. I wasn’t sick, but people thought there was something wrong with me. I would try to stuff food down my throat to gain weight. Nothing would work. I lived at the hospital with needles in my arms trying to figure out what was wrong with me."

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http://www.k12.wa.us/safetycenter/BullyingHarassment/pubdocs/Race-EthnicityResearch.pdf

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/types-bullying/faith-religious-bullying/

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/nov/17/bullying-faith

https://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/groups/index.html

https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/07/walking-through-hailstorm/discrimination-against-lgbt-youth-us-schools

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2017/05/02/429529/widespread-discrimination-continues-shape-lgbt-peoples-lives-subtle-significant-ways/

https://www.qld.gov.au/disability/children-young-people/bullying-disability-mental-health

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201208/religious-bullying-in-schools-bullying-in-the-name-god

https://nobullying.com/is-your-child-a-target-of-bullying-because-of-their-race/

www.bullingstatistics.org/content/bulling0-and-suicide.html

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1.  More than one out of every five (20.8%) students report being bullied (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2016)

2.  Rates of bullying vary across studies (from 9% to 98%). A meta-analysis of 80 studies analyzing bullying involvement rates (for both bullying others and being bullied) for 12-18-year-old students reported a mean prevalence rate of 35% for traditional bullying involvement and 15% for cyberbullying involvement

The rates of bullying vary from 9% to 98%. A  (Modecki, Minchin, Harbaugh, Guerra, & Runions, 2014)

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- Racial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOUhBlHHEQc
- Gender-Based
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QChKAqCZQU
- Age
- Religious
-Sexual Orientation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkqgrdeEImI

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkqgrdeEImI