This "Equity by Design Research Brief" illustrates the relationship between mental health and LGBTQ+ identities, paying particular attention to the effects of homophobia and transphobia in schools. Homophobia and transphobia can manifest in schools in multiple ways; this brief focuses on egregious actions, such as bullying, as well as…

A nationwide study (Kosciw et al. 2016) reveals a troubling truth: More than 80% of students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) have experienced verbal or physical harassment at school and reported higher absenteeism and lower grades due to this harassment. Even more troubling: Many of these students (about 60%) reported…

Many students participate in a wide range of school or community-based extracurricular programs. Although there is strong evidence such programs promote healthy development programs that specifically serve sexual and gender minority students (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning [LGBTQ] students), and that address…

In this response, the authors critically engage bullying, which they understand as an intersectional cultural performance of/for power in relational context. They offer embodied experiences as individuals who survived bullying, performed bullying, bully, and who perpetuated institutionalized through curriculum and policy. Certainly, bullying holds…

In this stimulus essay on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) bullying in schools, Keith Berry, describes assumptions and other aspects of his phenomenological lifeworld (everyday reality) that guide his orientation to this problem. He then turns to two recent surveys to explore the prevalence and meaning of bullying for LGBT youth as…

In this stimulus essay on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) bullying in schools, the authors begin by describing assumptions and everyday reality that guide their orientation to this problem. They then turn to two recent surveys to explore the prevalence and meaning of bullying for LGBT youth as it pertains to issues of relational…

The limited research indicates that homophobia is widespread in South African schools and that schools are ill-prepared to challenge homophobic bullying. In this context, using Kumashiro's antioppressive educational framework, the author outlines the process of developing an antihomophobic educational resource for use in South African schools, its…

There has been increasing international attention to the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in schools, and a growing concern regarding anti-LGBT violence and bias directed at youth as a serious human rights issue and barrier to global development goals. This special issue highlights research that has been done…

Many primary, secondary and tertiary educators need support to engage in inclusive pedagogical practices that challenge homophobia, transphobia and heteronormativity. We present a border-crossing pedagogy (BCP) designed to assist English language arts educators in translating knowledge into action to demolish deeply engrained anti-lesbian, gay,…

This position paper highlights the mainstream educational communications and technology (ECT) research and development community's continued lack of interest towards issues located at the intersection of digital media technologies and LGBTQI stakeholders, providing evidence and commentary in this regard. The paper goes on to articulate a rationale…

Surveys show rates of sexual harassment and misogyny among students are high in U.S. secondary schools--yet most schools fail to deal with this problem. Many educators would like to intervene when they hear students use degrading or sexualized language about girls (or LGBTQ youth) or harass them, but don't know how to do so effectively. The…

In this article the author describes how Pablo, a senior at Mission High School (San Francisco, California), performs in the schools' annual Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) drag show. The drag show is a homegrown expression created by students of the school, featuring student- and teacher-choreographed dances, student and teacher "coming…

Homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools can have a serious effect on children and young people subjected to it at a crucial moment in their lives. It is an obstacle to the right to education, which is one of the basic universal human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various United Nations Conventions. This…

Few educators or philosophers of education would argue that schools' sole purpose is to keep children safe. Yet a particular subset of students in the United States--lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students--are often served by their schools as if their mere safety were a sufficient objective in and of itself.…

Over the past several decades, the shifting social climate has led to a steady increase in legal rights, social acceptance, and visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. However, there are still marked individual differences in levels of sexual prejudice as well as varying levels of comfort and exposure to the LGBT…