Education Policy ISSUES AFFECTING LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER YOUTH by Jason Cianciotto and Sean Cahill National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute Washington, DC 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20005-4171 Tel 202 393 5177 Fax 202 393 2241 New York, NY 121 West 27th Street, Suite 501 New York, NY 10001 Tel 212 604 9830 Fax 212 604 9831 Los Angeles, CA 5455 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1505 Los Angeles, CA 90036 Tel 323 954 9597 Fax 323 954 9454 Cambridge, MA 1151 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel 617 492 6393 Fax 617 492 0175 Policy Institute 214 West 29th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10001 Tel 212 402 1136 Fax 212 228 6414 [email protected] www.ngltf.org © 2003 The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute When referencing this document, we recommend the following citation: Cianciotto, J., & Cahill, S. (2003). Education policy: Issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. New York: The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute is a think tank dedi- cated to research, policy analysis and strategy development to advance greater understanding and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Contents PREFACE by Matt Foreman, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force . .vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . .1 1. LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER YOUTH: A CRITICAL POPULATION . .6 Introduction . .6 Gay Teen Forced to Read Aloud from Bible at School: A Profile of Thomas McLaughlin . .8 Methodological Barriers to Research on LGBT Youth . .10 How Many LGBT Youth Are There? . .11 Transgender Youth . .12 Intersex Youth . .14 Gender Nonconformity: Making the Connection . .14 Judge Rules That School Must Allow Transgender Youth to Express Her Gender Identity: A Profile of Pat Doe . .15 LGBT Youth of Color: The “Tricultural” Experience . .16 Children of LGBT Parents . .20 LGBT Youth in Foster Care . .23 Homeless LGBT Youth . .24 LGBT Youth and Their Families . .25 Strength and Resiliency of LGBT Youth . .26 iii More Than Just the “Gay Football Captain”: A Profile of Corey Johnson . .27 2. A GRAVE PICTURE OF HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS . .29 Anti-LGBT Harassment and Violence in Elementary and Middle Schools . .30 Anti-LGBT Harassment and Violence in High Schools . .32 Gay Student Sues School, Wins $900K Settlement: A Profile of Jamie Nabozny . .33 Sexual Harassment in Public Schools . .35 The Impact of Anti-LGBT Harassment and Violence . .37 3. EXISTING POLICY INTERVENTIONS . .41 The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution . .42 Court Rules School Liable For Failing to Protect Students From Harassment: A Profile of Alana Flores . .42 Federal Statutes: Title IX and The Equal Access Act . .44 State Policies . .46 Map and Table of State Nondiscrimination and Anti-harassment Policies . .47 Fifteen Lawsuits Against Public School Districts . .49 Parental Notification and “No Promo Homo” Laws . .50 Staff Development and Training . .52 Curricula . .54 Safe Schools Programs . .55 Gay-Straight Alliances . .57 GSA in Utah Fights for its Right to Meet At School: A Profile of Kelli Peterson . .59 Teachers, Administrators, and Staff . .60 Social Science Research on Child Sexual Abuse . .61 The Harvey Milk High School . .64 Lesbian Youth Takes Control of Her Life With the Help of the Harvey Milk High School: A Profile of Tenaja Jordan . .66 4. LEAVING OUR CHILDREN BEHIND: THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001 . .69 Vouchers and School Choice . .70 iv EDUCATION POLICY Charter Schools . .72 Single-Sex Education . .73 Standardized Testing and Multicultural Education . .76 Internet Filtering . .78 How Internet Filtering Works . .81 Filtering Software Promotes Right-Wing Agenda . .81 LGBT Youth and the Internet . .84 Violence Prevention and Unsafe Schools . .85 Lesbian Youth Killed in Newark: A Profile of Sakia Gunn . .86 Parental Rights Provisions . .88 Preventing the Promotion of Sexual Activities, “Whether Homosexual or Heterosexual” . .89 The Boy Scouts Equal Access Act and the Vitter Amendment . .90 5. ABSTINENCE-ONLY-UNTIL-MARRIAGE SEX EDUCATION . .93 History . .94 Abstinence Education Defined . .94 Fear, Shame, and Misinformation . .95 Impact on HIV Prevention . .96 Inherent Sexism and Antigay Bias . .97 Sex Education and HIV Prevention . .99 6. FILLING IN THE GAPS: A RESEARCH AGENDA . .100 Introduction . .100 Politics and Research on LGBT Youth . .101 The Need for Standardized Definitions . .103 Population-Based Surveys That Have Assessed Sexual Orientation in Adolescent Populations . .104 Methodological Issues . .107 Quantitative versus Qualitative Research Methodologies . .107 Participatory Action Research . .108 Sampling and Bias . .109 Longitudinal Research . .109 Ethical Issues Involved in Research on LGBT Youth . .110 The Need for Research on Understudied LGBT Populations . .110 CONTENTS v Some General Research Questions . .113 Teachers and School Staff . 115 Gay-Straight Alliances and other School-Based Student Organizations . .118 Evaluation of Safe Schools Programs and Interventions . .119 The Economic Costs of not Protecting LGBT Youth . .120 Resiliency . .120 APPENDIX A: SELL ASSESSMENT OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION . .122 APPENDIX B: FRIEDMAN MEASURE OF ADOLESCENT SEXUAL ORIENTATION . .125 BIBLIOGRAPHY . .128 Works Also Cited . .145 RESOURCES . .147 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . .150 NGLTF FUNDERS . .154 vi EDUCATION POLICY Preface BY MATT FOREMAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE The Task Force is proud to release Education Policy: Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. Thanks to a generous grant from the Kevin J. Mossier Foundation, the Task Force Policy Institute convened a research meeting in Minneapolis in October 2002, attend- ed by more than a dozen researchers and policymakers with expertise on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues in primary and secondary education. Also par- ticipating were LGBT youth advocacy groups, the National School Boards Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Psychological Association. The report you hold in your hands is the result of the discussions held at that meeting, and subsequent research and analysis prioritized by the meeting’s participants. We thank the researchers, policymakers and activists who reviewed this document and helped us develop an analysis in this critical policy area. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the extent of anti-LGBT harassment and bias, its impact on students, policy interventions that support LGBT students and improve school climate, and the changing policy context that complicates these efforts. It includes an in-depth analysis of how the No Child Left Behind Act affects LGBT stu- dents. And it profiles eight young people who stood up to the abuse and discrimination so many LGBT young people live with on a daily basis; one payed the ultimate price, when she was killed in an antigay attack. It also articulates an agenda for future research and policy analysis. In identifying gaps in our understanding of LGBT issues in schools, we encourage graduate students, professors, government-based researchers, and commu- nity activists to help fill them. This study continues a proud Task Force tradition of combating hate-motivated vio- lence, including harassment. In 1982, we launched the first national project to combat antigay violence, established the first national crisis hotline, worked with local groups to gather data, and lobbied the Justice Department to pay attention to antigay violence. Two years later, we issued the first comprehensive national report on antigay violence vii and launched our Campus Project, which documented antigay harassment and vio- lence on college campuses across the country. In 1990, thanks to Task Force–led efforts during the previous decade, the Hate Crimes Statistics Act was signed into law. In 1995, we held the first of several week-long Youth Leadership Trainings. A year later, we released Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Organizing: A Comprehensive Manual, and earlier this year we published Campus Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People: A.