It’s Spirit Day once again, time to take a stand against bullying and show support for LGBTQ youth. Not all LGBTQ youth are bullied, of course, and not all victims of bullies are LGBTQ — but bullying continues to impact our community in significant ways.
GLAAD, which is organizing the event, is urging people to wear or display purple for the day. That’s not a problem here at Mombian.
As I said last year, however, we have to be careful not to “purplewash” bullying, in the same way that breast cancer has been “pinkwashed” (with companies slapping pink on everything simply to drive sales, with little or no real benefit to the cause), but I think we’re a ways from that. If wearing purple can drive awareness that leads to action, I’m all for it.
GLSEN’s 2013 School Climate Survey found that in some ways, things are indeed getting better for LGBT students:
- LGBT students in the 2013 survey reported a lower incidence of homophobic remarks than in all prior years.
- LGBT students in the 2013 survey experienced lower verbal and physical harassment based on sexual orientation than in all prior years, and lower physical assault based on sexual orientation since 2007.
- Verbal and physical harassment based on gender expression were lower than in all prior years of the survey, and physical assault has been decreasing since 2007.
- A higher percentage of LGBT students reported having supportive school staff in 2013 than in all prior survey years.
At the same time, we still have a long way to go:
- 55.5% of LGBT students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and 37.8% because of their gender expression.
- 30.3% of LGBT students missed at least one entire day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable, and over a tenth (10.6%) missed four or more days in the past month.
- 74.1% of LGBT students were verbally harassed (e.g., called names or threatened) in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 55.2% because of their gender expression.
- 36.2% were physically harassed (e.g., pushed or shoved) in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 22.7% because of their gender expression.
- 16.5% were physically assaulted (e.g., punched, kicked, injured with a weapon) in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 11.4% because of their gender expression.
- 49.0% of LGBT students experienced electronic harassment in the past year (e.g., via text messages or postings on Facebook), often known as cyberbullying.
And just as key to address:
- 56.7% of LGBT students who were harassed or assaulted in school did not report the incident to school staff, most commonly because they doubted that effective intervention would occur or the situation could become worse if reported.
- 61.6% of the students who did report an incident said that school staff did nothing in response.
All of this led to outcomes like skipping classes because of safety concerns, lower grade point averages, increased depression, and decreased self-esteem.
What can help? GLSEN has found that LGBT school-based resources and support go a long way to alleviating bullying and hostile language. These include gay-straight alliances, inclusive curriculum, supportive school staff, and comprehensive anti-bullying policies.” Additionally, “LGBT students who were more out at school reported higher levels of victimization, but also higher school belonging and self-esteem.”
Children of LGBTQ parents, regardless of whether they are LGBTQ themselves, may also be targets of bullying. In fact, according to a 2008 GLSEN study:
- Nearly a quarter of the students with LGBT parents felt unsafe at school because they had an LGBT parent
- A fifth felt unsafe because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation
- Nearly a fifth reported hearing negative remarks about having LGBT parents from other students, one-third heard such comments from school staff, and nearly a quarter from the parents of other students
If you’re looking for actions you can take to stop anti-LGBTQ bullying in your school, check out GLAAD’s Anti-Bullying Resource Kits for Students and Parent and Educators, or the many resources from GLSEN. The StopBullying.gov website from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is also a good place to start.
Even after Spirit Day, I’ll stay purple here at Mombian. I chose the color long before Spirit Day existed, but perhaps the unintended connection will serve as a reminder that I started this blog to help make the world a safer, kinder place for my son — and all our children — to grow up.