I’m wearing my best purple flannel and hoodie today in honor of Spirit Day, GLAAD’s annual event to speak out against anti-LGBTQ bullying and stand with LGBTQ youth. Bullying can come from peers, teachers, coaches, or even, awfully, parents—but the virulent anti-LGBTQ legislation, book bans, and curriculum restrictions around the country are also a form of bullying. That means this Spirit Day is more important than ever.
GLSEN’s latest biennial National School Climate Survey (NSCS), released today, has found few positive changes for LGBTQ students in the past two years, with 82 percent of LGBTQ students feeling unsafe at school, and almost all hearing anti-LGBTQ remarks, many from teachers and staff. What can we do about this?
Non-profit Pride and Less Prejudice, which has donated over 7,500 LGBTQ-inclusive picture books to elementary school classrooms in the U.S. and Canada since its founding in 2019, is holding a virtual auction through this weekend so they can send 800 more. Check out some of the amazing offerings!
As school-related anti-LGBTQ legislation and policies continue to rise, what should LGBTQ parents know about recent moves and how to protect their families? Two experts from Family Equality shared their thoughts with me.
Amidst a wave of book bans and challenges around the country, five—yes, five!—services are actually providing free, LGBTQ-inclusive books to schools and educators. Here’s how to request them.
Today marks the Day of Silence, when many students from middle grades to college choose to remain silent to protest the harm caused by harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ people in schools. This year, with a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills hitting young people especially hard, this silence needs to resonate more loudly than ever.
Ah, spring! Time of flowers, birdsong, and, for many of us parents and our children, college visits. My own son went through the college admissions process a couple of years ago. While I am in no way an expert on the topic, I thought I’d share a few things we found helpful.
A new report has found that more than 80 percent of the young people in the U.S.—59 million of them—live in states that have recently considered bills to censor discussions of race and LGBTQ people in schools or that would otherwise create hostile school climates, especially for LGBTQ youth.
A Florida Senate committee passed a bill this week that would quash discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms and could out LGBTQ students to parents. President Biden quickly condemned it and expressed his support for LGBTQI+ youth. Here’s what’s happening, and how you can help fight this bill, too.
A new website from one of the leading researchers on LGBTQ families offers expert information for parents and teachers who want to make schools more inclusive of LGBTQ-parent and other diverse families.
