Background: Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) high school students as well as related environment and school-level risk and protective factors were examined. Methods: Data was acquired from the 2015 CDC's Youth Behavior Risk Survey for Kentucky (N = 2577). Prevalence of substance use was calculated for…

Time and again research has shown that schools in which students feel safe and included promote academic achievement and overall student health (see, for example, Greytak, Kosciw, Villenas, & Giga, 2016; Michael, Merlo, Basch, Wentzel, & Wechsler, 2015). Parent networks, community organizations, and school boards nationwide continuously…

Schools play an integral role in creating safe, supportive environments for students, especially for sexual minority youth (SMY). Using 2016 questionnaire data from seven high schools in a Florida school district, we obtained a sample of 1,364 SMY. Logistic regressions controlling for sex (as applicable), age, grade, race/ethnicity, and school…

Victimization based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression (SOGE) carries significant consequences. In this study, we examined how SOGE-based victimization and contextual factors predicted truancy among 886 Chilean students (M[subscript age] = 16.00, SD = 1.30) in four high schools. Victimization predicted truancy…

This article presents data from a large-scale cross-sectional survey of LGBTQ college students (N = 1,123) reflecting on their middle and high school experiences in choral music. The quantitative data indicate that students felt safer in high school than in middle school and that a small majority of high school teachers voiced support for LGBTQ…

The New York Civil Liberties Union's Teen Activist Project (TAP) and Youth Organizing Institute are peer educator and organizing programs for high school students in New York City. In recent years, students from both programs have identified bullying and harassment and the lack of comprehensive sex education as major problems in New York City…

Transgender students have unique and intense needs to be addressed for a safer and more inclusive school experience. Experiencing harassment and feeling unsafe at school can lead to negative educational outcomes, such as depression, victimization, poor academic outcomes, substance abuse, school avoidance, risky sexual behavior, suicidal ideation,…

The social landscape has changed regarding public knowledge, perception, and acceptance of "alternative" sexual lifestyles. In recent years, public and political discourse around issues of non-heterosexual orientations has shifted significantly. Despite many legal milestones, society has not realized complete inclusion of individuals…

Homophobic victimization is a pervasive problem in U.S. schools that leads to negative outcomes for students. Those who experience homophobic victimization are at greater risk for avoiding particular spaces in school because they feel unsafe or afraid. Visible school security measures (e.g., security guards, metal detectors, and cameras) offer…

There is growing attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) issues in schools, including efforts to address such issues through the curriculum. This study examines whether students' perceptions of personal safety and school climate safety are stronger when curricula that include LGBTQ people are present and…

School violence and bullying are two public health concerns with consequences for youth in and out of school, for families, students, and community members. In this article, a social-ecological framework is briefly described as a way to understand bullying and school violence; then the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) longitudinal…

Scholars have called for discussions of same-sex marriage in schools as one way of ending the curricular silence around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people. Yet, concerns about how students might talk about LGBTQ people can contribute to teachers' reluctance to initiate such discussions. Queer theory suggests that…

Emerging evidence suggests that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth experience disparate treatment in schools that may result in criminal sanctions. In an effort to understand the pathways that push youth out of schools, we conducted focus groups with youth (n = 31) from Arizona, California, and Georgia, and…

Homophobic victimization is a pervasive problem in U.S. schools that leads to negative outcomes for students. Those who experience homophobic victimization are at greater risk for avoiding particular spaces in school because they feel unsafe or afraid. Visible school security measures (e.g., security guards, metal detectors, and cameras) offer…

"The 2013 National School Climate Survey" is GLSEN's 8th biennial report on the school experiences of LGBT youth in schools, including the in-school resources that support LGBT students' well-being, the extent of the challenges that they face at school, and insights into many other aspects of LGBT students' experiences. The survey has…