The question from students and some educators usually sounds like this: "How can we have so much variation in gender if, biologically speaking, we only have two sexes?" Given the vast diversity of human sexual and reproductive anatomy (SRA), it is staggering how little we, as a society, know about it. There are many reasons for this…

Overall, people whose gender identity and/or expression do not correspond to traditional norms are increasingly sharing their life experiences publicly. These narratives are offered by adults as well as children and their families. Within the last year, almost every major television network and news outlet has featured at least one such story.…

There have been increasing calls to integrate counseling into multidisciplinary care for students with differences in sex development, the literature on mental health needs of this population remains scarce and there is no empirical consensus regarding mental health outcomes or appropriate intervention for these youth (Schwiezer, Brunner,…

This study is based on a national survey investigation of 968 educators, who reported the incidence of LGBTQ harassment in schools, and their advocacy efforts on behalf of this population. LGBTQ-related knowledge, attitudes, norms, and perceived ability to advocate were also assessed. Ninety percent of educators reported observing LGBTQ harassment…

Gender, although widely understood as one of the fundamental organizing principles of social life and a prism through which we understand our experiences and ourselves, is rarely pondered in daily life (Dragowski, Scharrón-del Río, & Sandigorsky, 2011; Kimmel, 2011). For most people, gender is implicitly understood as a self-evident reality--a…

In the past 10 years, gender-variant (GV) children (children who do not conform to traditional gender norms) have received increased attention from scholars, mental health practitioners, and popular media. In schools, these students have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to violence and harassment, leading to myriad negative…

A national sample of educators were surveyed to identity the attitudes, beliefs, school culture, and perceived barriers that would predict whether educators would intervene to stop bias and harassment directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in schools. The survey questionnaire was organized according to the…