By William Flores. Discrimination, harassment, and bullying is what LGBTQ+ students must deal with every day at school creating a hostile environment, often leading to attempted suicide. Where does protecting our students rank?
Surrounded by a large number of students five times a week, students are constantly exposed to new people and their personalities, which can be great for making friends, however these students may experience school life differently. Statistics gathered by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, an organization that advises, advocates for, and researches comprehensive policies designed to protect LGBTQ+ students, as well as students of marginalized identities nationwide, has found that 85% of LGBTQ+ students report experiencing verbal harassment and over half of these students’ experience physical harassment at school. Ninety-seven percent of students also reported hearing the word “gay” in a negative way at school. These students will often remain silent or only talk to others who have experiences that relate to their own as a way to cope with the struggles of facing harassment instead of talking to a staff or faculty member of their school, leaving them to fight their battles alone.
A report study conducted by The Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for policies that help prevent suicide among young LGBTQ+ people, show that middle and high school students with access to school-related protective factors such as access to gender neutral bathrooms, history that discusses LGBTQ people, access to a GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance), and respected pronouns by teachers, had 26% lower odds of attempting suicide. Since then, schools nationwide have been incorporating a GSA into their schools, across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. The National School Climate Survey found that “compared to LGBTQ+ students who did not have a GSA in their school, students who had an active GSA in their school: (students) were less likely to feel unsafe regarding their sexual orientation (41.1% vs. 55.8%), gender expression (36.6% vs. 46.9%) and gender (35.5% vs 43.0%)”(2024) Additionally, over half of middle and high school LGBTQ+ students have reported that their school was ‘LGBTQ-affirming” (2022), showing that by implementing these protective factors at schools will not only keep these students in a safer environment but may encourage students to take upon activism themselves.
Jasper Izelo, a student at New York’s School of Visual Arts and a part of the LGBTQ+ community, was unsurprised by the statistics gather by GLSEN students hearing the word “gay” in a negative way at school.
“I think in high school since everybody’s trying to find like their own clique and stuff, so they tend to be obnoxious as like ‘teenage guard. ‘They don’t watch what they’re saying sometimes so like ‘gay’ has definitely been thrown around as a joke or not taking us very seriously.”
Jasper’s own experience with school-related protective factors came when he sought out the school’s guidance counselor. He expressed his gratitude towards them and has plans in pursuing a career in that field in the future because of the positive influence they can have. “That’s what pushed me in that direction, because it was like a place where I felt it was not scary out of my entire high school experience .”
At Queensborough, the Ally LGBTQ Club prides itself on creating a safe environment that is inclusive and supportive of student diversity in the areas of sexual orientation and sexual identity/expression, as well as, promoting awareness and respect of this at Queensborough and beyond. The Club is advised by Lawrence Nelson and meets on QCC’s campus in the Administration Building, Room A-310. Queensborough’s LGBTQ+ Faculty and Staff Association also supports and encourages empowerment of LGBTQ+ faculty, staff and students, by advocating “for diversity, equity, and inclusion related to gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression.” They do this by providing on campus resources like LGBTQ+ hubs, council, course offerings, policies, and gender-neutral bathrooms throughout campus.
Upcoming campus LGBTQ+ events they can be found on the QCC website LGBTQ Calendar of Events. The QCC PRIDE Center Ribbon Cutting, will take place On Wednesday, Mar 26, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, in the Administration Building, room A-206. This center will focus on helping students overcome barriers they face in graduating college, while preparing students to become self-advocates and helping students pursue further education. Hour of operations will be Monday -Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Being a student in a new environment will be hard for many, but can be especially so for students a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Incorporating open resources for students that they can be a part of and feel safe at school has proven to be impactful. Like the case of Jasper, school-provided attention can steer students in the direction of feeling safer and more confident.
