Making School Safer for GLBT Youth

1. Always assume that 4-10% of class is gay/lesbian (1 to 3 people in every class of 30) and that 7-17% (2-5 students) have an immediate family member who is gay/lesbian.
    
2. Interrupt name-calling (name it, claim it, stop it); show it to be self-defeating and hurtful. Ex. use of the word "gay" in a negative way, dyke, homo, etc. Do not tolerate disrespectful language.
    
3. Identify derogatory terms, myths, and stereotypes as such, even when innocently incorporated in questions.
    
4. Answer all questions honestly, without bias.
    
5. Refer value questions home, distinguishing between feelings (not a choice, neither right nor wrong) and behavior (chosen and controversial), describing the range of beliefs about behavior in the community, and declining to express your personal beliefs about controversial issues such as sexual behavior.
    
6. Define sexuality broadly in developmentally appropriate ways to include such aspects as self-esteem, gender, gender identity, gender role, gender orientation, reproductive system, sexual response system, human needs for touch/intimacy/belonging.
    
7. Establish ground rules to protect others' feelings and to recognize healthy, enriching diversity within the group (specifically that no one should make assumptions about other people's family situations, sexual behavior, sexual orientation, beliefs, etc).
    
8. Use orientation-neutral language (e.g., in 6th grade: "People get crushes at puberty." vs "People get crushes on the other sex at puberty." or in 10th grade: "He holds the condom on his penis as he withdraws from his partner." vs. "The man holds the condom on the penis as he withdraws from the vagina.") and inclusive language ("Draw whomever you think of as family. That may be Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters; it may include step-family members, foster family members, grandparents, more than one Mom or Dad, etc.")
    
9. Incorporate specific mention of sexual minorities into various disciplines beginning in middle school, just as mention of other minority groups should not be limited to an isolated unit about those groups. For example:
   • literature (by gay/lesbian/bisexual authors, about gay/lesbian/bisexual characters)
   • history (including history of oppressions-Holocaust, Stonewall-and also historical contributions of invisible minority)
   • world cultures (homosexuality in ancient Greece, among the Samurai, American Indian cultures, etc.).
      
10. Teach specifically about sexual orientation beginning in middle school (define terms; address myths, concerns, and common questions; help students develop nurturing attitudes.)
     
11. See American Civil Liberties Union Safe Schools Information