School Safety

Students need an education free from physical and mental harm, and Texas teachers agree.

Equality Texas educates our State Senators and Representatives that regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, or physical appearance, students must be safe to learn. Teachers want training to stop and address acts of bullying and harassment to protect their students.

"What I Fear Is Words Can Break Bones" Read Joey's story

Sections:
Overview
Statement of Issues
Equality Texas Position
Equality Texas Action
Call to Action
Facts
Research

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth suffer tremendously because of anti-gay harassment and discrimination. LGBT youth drop out of school at a higher rate than straight youth and are statistically more likely to attempt suicide than straight youth.
• The Texas Education Code, Subtitle G, Chapter 37 was amended in 2005 to require independent school districts to establish a student code of conduct for the district. Section 37 requires that the policy address a prohibition on bullying, harassment, and hit lists. Harassment is defined as "threatening to cause harm or bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety."
• There are no provisions for the State of Texas to monitor the development, implementation, and enforcement of the school districts student code of conduct.

• Equality Texas supports legislation requiring public schools and colleges to adopt policies that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, physical appearance, disability, religion, national origin, or sexual identity of the student or the student's parent(s).
• Equality Texas supports extending protection to employees of public schools and colleges.
• Equality Texas supports the creation of GSAs (gay-straight alliances) in public schools to foster tolerance and diversity.

• Educate our State Senators and Representatives that regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, or physical appearance students must be safe to learn, and teachers want training to stop and address acts of bullying and harassment to protect their students.
• Work to advance legislation adding ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, disability, religion, national origin, or sexual identity of the student or the student's parent(s) as a protected class, including resubmission of the Dignity For All Students Act.
• Work to secure funding for a Statewide Study to research the incident rates of bullying and harassment and causes.
• Advocate to Texas Legislature to collect and publish all independent school district's student codes of conduct. This information will be helpful in assessing the current effectiveness of the statute governing protection of students at school.
• Work with allied progressive organizations to work with individual school districts to promote comprehensive protection against bullying and harassment.

• Tell your story of how you, your child, or someone else was the victim of bullying and harassment at school because they were a LGBT person or because their parents were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Your story is a powerful tool to let other LGBT Texans know they are not alone. Log on to www.equalitytexas.org to make a difference.
• Visit your Representative or Senator in their district office. You can visit the legislator's district office as a constituent. District office visits are one of the best opportunities for you to make an impact on your representative. Equality Texas can coordinate and assist you with these visits.
• Participate in an Equality Texas Home Visit with your elected officials. Equality Texas arranges small gatherings of supporters to visit with their legislator. In this informal environment, legislators are able to interact personally with LGBT and supportive allies to better understand our issues.
• Host or attend an Equality Texas House Party to increase support for our efforts to advance equality. The house parties are fundraisers to support Equality Texas' mission.
• Contribute to Equality Texas and support our efforts to achieve equality for all Texans and to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Contribute at www.equalitytexas.org/contribute

• Bullying increased by 60% nationally by students between 1999 and 2001.¹
• 30% of all students in grades 6 to 10 are involved in moderate to frequent bullying, as perpetrator, victim, or both.²
• School homicide perpetrators are twice as likely to have been victims of bullies compared to homicide victims.³
• Gay teens in U.S. schools are often subjected to such intense bullying that they're unable to receive an adequate education.⁴ They're often embarrassed or ashamed of being targeted and may not report the abuse.
• GLBT students are more apt to skip school due to the fear, threats, and property vandalism directed at them.⁵ One survey revealed that 22 percent of gay respondents had skipped school in the past month because they felt unsafe there.⁶
• Twenty-eight percent of gay students will drop out of school. This is more than three times the national average for heterosexual students.⁷
• GLBT youth feel they have nowhere to turn. According to several surveys, four out of five gay and lesbian students say they don't know one supportive adult at school.⁸

• Suicide: A 1989 study by the US Department of Health and Human Services showed gay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual young people. 30% of the completed youth suicides are committed by lesbian and gay youth annually and suicide is their leading cause of death.
• School Drop-Out: 28% of gay and lesbian high school students in a national study were seen to have dropped out of school because of harassment resulting from their sexual orientation. (Remafedi, G., Pediatrics, 326-330. 1987)
• Isolation: 80% of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth report severe isolation problems. They experience social isolation, emotional isolation and cognitive isolation. (Hetrick. E.S., Martin. A.D., Journal of Homosexuality 14(1/2). 25-43. 1987)
• Violence: 45% of gay males and 20% of lesbians report having experienced verbal harassment and/or physical violence as a result of their sexual orientation during high school. (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, "National Anti-Gay/Lesbian Victimization Report", 1984)
• Homelessness: 26% of gay and lesbian youth are forced to leave home because of conflicts with their families over their sexual identities. (Remafedi. G., Pediatrics, 79, 326-330,1987)
• HIV/AIDS: Approximately 20% of all persons with AIDS are 20-29 years old; given the long latency period between infection and the onset of the disease, many were probably infected as teenagers. (Lehman, M., HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 5(l), 1993)
• Student Attitudes: 97% of students in public high schools report regularly hearing homophobic remarks from their peers. (Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of Mass. Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993)
• Staff Attitudes: 53% of students report hearing homophobic comments made by school staff. (Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of Mass. Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993)
• Health Issues: 68% of adolescent gay males use alcohol and 44% use other drugs; 83% of lesbians use alcohol and 56% use other drugs. (Hunter. J. et al. Unpublished research by the Columbia University HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, 1992)
• Depression: In a study of depression and gay youth, researchers found depression strikes homosexual youth four to five times more severely than their non-gay peers. (Hammelman, TL, 1990)