A recent poll showing nine out of 10 LGBTQ students in New Jersey say they've heard negative remarks about gender expression show there is more work to do.
Nearly nine out of 10 LGBTQ students in New Jersey polled in a recent survey said they've heard negative remarks about gender expression thrown around in their middle schools or high schools.
Fourteen percent of them said the homophobic remarks came from their teachers or other school staff.
The 2015 National School Climate Survey is a project of a national education advocacy group called the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
Tragically, its findings remind us that although legal strides under the Obama Administration have paved the way for marriage equality and an openly gay presence in the armed forces, life hasn't necessarily gotten any easier for our LGBTQ teenagers.
The findings in New Jersey mirror attitudes across the nation, GLSEN officials said: Verbal harassment - or worse - is as common in our schools as messy lockers and varsity jackets.
Survey: N.J. schools 'not safe' for most LGBTQ students
"Schools are still hostile environments for so many of these students," said Carol Wachter, co-chair of GLSEN of Central New Jersey. "And now more than ever they need our support."
The survey showed that teenagers in the northeastern and western regions of the country experienced less victimization than in the south and the Midwest, and that youngsters in rural areas and small towns were targeted more often than their peers in the suburbs and cities.
Some glimmers of light, however, give us a sense of where we should be headed to make schools safer and more welcoming for all our kids.
Many of the LGBTQ students in the survey said they found a source of support from teachers or other classmates. In the Garden State, 99 percent said they knew at least one supportive teacher; 82 percent said they knew six or more supportive teachers.
In its report, GLSEN offered a series of recommendations that schools could use as an action plan. Among them:
- Increasing students' access to appropriate and accurate information regarding LGBT people, history and events through inclusive curricula;
- Supporting student clubs, such as gay-straight alliances, that offer a safe place to exchange ideas and experiences;
- Providing professional development for school staff to improve rates of intervention and increase the number of supportive teachers and other personnel;
- Implementing and enforcing comprehensive anti-bullying practices that specifically target sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, including clear and effective ways for reporting and addressing incidents students experience.
To our credit, New Jersey has one of the strictest anti-bullying laws in the country, Department of Education spokesman David Saenz says, with a priority to keep schools safe and secure.
If the poll is accurate, there's obviously more work to do. But we're hopeful tomorrow's generation of students will face an easier path.
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