LGBT rights have been a major social issue in the United States in the past 5 decades. It started with the Stonewall riots back in 1969, the catalyst that drove the contemporary gay rights movement. Even though we have come a long way from those days we still have much more progress and change to implement. In schools there is a severe lack of focus on the experiences of LGBT students. That lack of focus plus the number of students who are being verbally harassed with homophobic slurs is creating an issue that at best causes kids to become desensitized and at worst is causing a suicide epidemic. There are some possible solutions but for us to think that these solutions are necessary we must delve into the current problems that we have in our education system related to this topic.

In all honesty this really hits close to home because I am a member of the LGBT community. My entire education experience for the longest time wouldn't even mention anything about homosexuality. The only times I would ever hear anything in school would be from fellow peers calling me faggot or them calling each other gay as a joke. The first time I ever actually had a teacher talk about homosexuality in class was my 11th grade AP Psychology teacher. By then I had already learned about it and came out because of information that was readily available for me on the internet. Because of my home community those types of things were too taboo to talk about in a school environment. That's because it is a mainly conservative community.

This is very common for most communities. I feel like the absence of these conversations have harmed many of our students. In a study done with students from the Netherlands it was found that, "47.2% of participants had been called homophobic names by at least one source (friend, classmate, etc.) over the past month. Male adolescents were 3.82 times more likely than female adolescents to report victimization from homophobic name calling (95% CI: 2.62-5.55), and same-sex attracted adolescents were 2.34 times more likely than those without same-sex attractions to reports such victimization (95% CI: 1.26-4.36)." (Collier et. al 8). A total of 513 students' data was used so that means that ≈ 242 of the students reported being called homophobic names. In the report they had found that, "11.1 % of participants reported same-sex attractions [11.3 % of females and 10.8 % of males; x2 (1, n = 513) = .002, p = .962]"(Collier et. al 8), which means ≈ 57 of the participants were LGBT. If every person who was LGBT was called a homophobic name, then 185 students that were heterosexual had been called homophobic names. That means that, theoretically, 76.4% of the people who reported being called homophobic names weren't even LGBT. We must keep in mind that this study was completed in the Netherlands, which is one of the most LGBT friendly countries in the world. So, if this is what's happening in the Netherlands, we can only imagine what is happening in the United States.

It seems that we have started to engrave anti-LGBT sentiments into our society and pop-culture. While I was growing up and even now I would constantly hear guys messing around and calling each other gay, faggot, or homo whenever one of them did something stupid. What's been awful is I've had friends who come up and ask me if I can give them the "f" word pass. It is one of the most disrespectful and childish things I have ever been asked. People who I call my friends are asking me if they can use a homophobic slur. It shows how even though it is more socially accepted to be gay, it is not socially taboo to use gay slurs openly. My friend was realizing that she might have bisexual feelings and showed me the girl that she was talking to. She showed me the picture and then told me, "Yeah, she's a dyke." It really shocked me that she would ever say something like that because she seems very liberal and has a brother who is part of the LGBT community. But one thing that stuck out to me was that she had said that word in a whisper. It was almost as if she knew that what she was going to say was wrong.

The main question that I'm asking here is "How does lack of representation and social environment damage LGBT youth and where can we fix those issues?" The answer to that question is that LGBT youth feel unsafe while at school, have higher rates of mental health issues than other students, and have started to turn to suicide as a solution for their problems. Why is it that we have been able to turn a blind eye to kids who are suffering and need help? I hope this will be able to give a solution to a problem many of us have lived and continue to live with.

First, we need to look at where the current issues exist. What is happening right now? Currently ≈7-8% of the youth population identifies as LGBT. So that means ≈1.3 million of the kids in the U.S. identify as LGBT. However, they make up 40% of the current youth homelessness population (Williams Institute 2012). 68% of them attribute their homelessness to family rejection and 54% indicated that abuse was another major factor (Williams Institute 2012). In a 2011 study it was found that, "LGB respondents were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide in the past 12 months than heterosexuals." (Hatzenbuelher 4).While some might attribute it to a supposed mental illness that all gay people have, it was also found in the same study that, "the social environment was significantly associated with suicide attempts,…, In the model adjusted for demographics (gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation), the social environment remained significantly associated with suicide attempts,…, Among LGB youth, the risk of attempting suicide was 20% greater in negative environments,…, among heterosexual youth, the risk of suicide attempts was only 9% greater in negative environments." (Hatzenbuelher 4,5). In a 2012 study of students in the Netherlands they found that, "male adolescents and those with same-sex attractions would be more likely to report victimization from homophobic name-calling." (Collier et. al 8). These results can be applied to what I had already stated about the current climate of schools as well as the other study that found 76% of people being called homophobic names were heterosexual. If around half of students report homophobic victimization, it shows that many students are living in a negative environment. And because of the lack of attention towards these issues, it has started to become normalized, as I have already pointed out. As this gets normalized gay people like myself must adapt and assimilate into "heterosexual culture". We are "in the closet".

In an article by Dolores A. Grayson, she references a study that states, "females opt out of sports and athletics, especially coaching and officiating, due to rampant sexism and due to the fear of being labeled a 'dyke' or 'jock' (Gondola & Fitzpatrick),…, any male who resists participating in athletics or violence is bombarded with derision and cries of 'faggot', 'wimp', 'punk', 'sissy', and other attacks on his masculinity." (Grayson 4).Because of this normalized environment, students, no matter their sexual orientation, have to fit into traditional gender roles in order to be safe from ridicule. In the same article it later talks about LGBT teachers and what they see as emerging equity issues. She writes, "Reportedly, the most difficult aspect of being a gay or lesbian Educator appears to be the institutionalized necessity in most instances to maintain a dual identity,…, Fear of reprisals and loss of job, friends, family, and student rapport prevent a large majority of educators from identifying their sexual orientation,…, many go to extremes to repress their sexual identity and 'pass' as heterosexual,…, many of these same educators are the recipients of 'teacher of the year,' 'outstanding educator,' and other awards,…, since the sexual orientation of these teachers is often hidden, young gay males and lesbians are deprived of acknowledging these positive role models,…, and are constantly subjected to heterosexual images and assumptions which many adults and students interpret as 'heterosexism.'"(Grayson 4,5) In another article, from 2004, noted, "While the presence of openly LGBT teachers and school administrators could serve as positive role models for children and adolescents, the fact is that the culture operating within schools works very efficiently to keep most such teachers in the closet."(Blackburn & Donelson 1).

Even though there are plenty of LGBT teachers that would be perfect role models, they aren't allowed to show that side of them. It is always under the guise of, "A teacher's personal life should not be part of their job." While that is a completely understandable request it is not a viable argument for why LGBT teachers shouldn't be out to their students and peers when heterosexual teachers don't have to follow the same requirements. Even at Jamestown I have had at least two teachers who have spouses that work at Jamestown and have shown their relationship openly, in a professional manor. I can also talk about the many teachers who on the first day talk about their families and their spouses. Meanwhile we have LGBT teachers who have parents call for their termination because they had talked about the fact they were gay to their students when one of them asked them about their wife.

As we have been able to see, the current situation for LGBT students is not ideal. Some might say that since society is more accepting of LGBT people, they shouldn't have to worry about the ignorance in teens because they don't know any better. But it has been found that that is not the case. Even though our society may be more accepting and LGBT people can go somewhere they will be accepted, the mental effects of being victims of homophobic bullying have proven to be significant.

In a 2011 study it was found that , "LGBT school victimization accounts for the strong difference between males and females in overall levels of young adulthood depression,…, males have higher scores on average, but this difference is explained by males' higher rates of LGBT victimization, which is strongly linked to young adult suicidal ideation,…, there were several strong differences between the groups that reported high vs low LGBT school victimization. Specifically, LGBT young adults who reported high victimization during adolescence were 2.6 times more likely to report depression above the clinical cutoff and 5.6 times more likely to report having attempted suicide at least once, and having a suicide attempt that required medical attention." (Russell et. al 5). There is a disproportionate amount of LGBT adults that have mental health problems compared to heterosexual adults. These statistics show how victimization has harmed LGBT students. They have to deal with mental health problems while in school as well as future issues.

Now it is going to get a little more serious. Because I'm going to talk about my own experience with mental health and victimization. So, I didn't come out to anyone until I was in 7th grade. As I have already expressed, Williamsburg is not the most liberal of places, even with the college population. I had to deal with a new problem that made my experience at middle school pretty terrible. I had already had people making fun of me being gay before I was even out of the closet. Them making fun of me made me not want to come out because I was afraid of what people would say about me. And it was right for me to be afraid, middle schooler can be brutal. I would get the occasional "fag" when I would walk through the halls. But the moment that really affected me was when I had gotten a note in my book with a bunch of slurs on it and them writing for me to kill myself. It was awful. I was outside of my 5th period class in tears. I thought that since this was obviously bullying that administration would investigate who did it to me. Instead they decided to investigate whether I got the note or not. They had thought that none of their students could possibly do that to another and thought that I was faking all of it.

That was the first time that I realized the schools didn't want to actually help me. The only person I could go to was my counselor and even then she wouldn't do much. The most that the school system did to help me with bullying was move my locker to the 8th grad floor because I couldn't handle the bullying anymore. I have no doubt in my mind that I might have some mental health problems. At one point in middle school I seriously considered committing suicide. But I was too scared to do it. The reason that I am so passionate about this topic is because I don't want anyone else to be ignored like I was. I don't want anyone else to deal with the affects of homophobia like have had to deal with. I'm passionate about it because I know that there are ways that we can fix the problems we are dealing with.

We should probably look at how LGBT representation in schools has been applied in an actual education environment. Linda Eyre did this in the 1990's with a class of physical education majors. She did this with them in attempt to get them to use the same method in their classrooms. She also did it with them because physical education is one of the most homophobic fields in education because of how much it relies on gender roles and toxic masculinity. The way she had laid it out followed 4 prominent times she challenged, as she calls it, "heterosexism". These are the four "episodes". "I first introduced the topic of heterosexism in an introductory talk about the politics of curriculum. To illustrate a point, I asked students to evaluate any health education book for sexism, ethnocentrism, ageism, and heterosexism and present their findings to the group,…, A second critical episode occurred in response to selected reading about social relationships in classrooms. I asked students to respond in writing to an article about homophobia in schooling published by the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (Wicks, 1991),…, A third critical episode occurred when I dealt with approaches to teaching "Human Growth and Development"—Department of Education discourse for sexuality education. We discussed how the curriculum promoted sexism and heterosexism by ignoring lesbian sexuality and dealing with gay sexuality only in the context of AIDS,…, While teaching about sexuality education I received a notice from a university-based lesbian and gay men's speakers' bureau offering to provide speakers for faculty who wished to include gay and lesbian content in their classrooms." (Eyre 4,5,6).

At the end of the experience she had asked for her students to respond, but the most powerful voices in the class were the men who would shut down others' opinions. In one line it has their opinions, "A male student began by saying that the students had been talking together after class. He said something like 'We think that the presentation promoted homosexuality…and we think it is wrong.'" (Eyre 6). This is the main problem that we have seen with previous teachers trying to talk about an underrepresented group. Most of the times the parents make a call to the school talking about how they are upset that the school is promoting homosexuality. In the end she had some students who had learned from their experience, but it seemed that when someone disagreed, they were very loud and aggressive about it. I feel that this is very true. In my government class or really any class that required social debate. Whenever the majority agreed it was pretty silent among them, but the minority made sure their voice was loud. And one of the flaws of this in schools is that LGBT people, for the most part, are accepted in most environments. But because the people who are against it are louder than the majority, their demands are the ones that get met. And that is one of the things that I also want to change. Just because they are louder doesn't mean that they are the common opinion.

In Dolores Grayson's article she talks about the possible ways that we can improve equity issues in schools for LGBT students. I feel that she has a good grasp of what schools need as well as other initiatives that other schools have made. There was one policy from the Los Angeles Unified School District that I found very simple and inclusive. "Resolved that the LAUSD reaffirm its policy that students and adults in both schools and offices should treat all persons equally and respectfully and refrain from the willful or negligent use of slurs against any person on the basis of race, language spoken, color, sex, religion, handicap, national origin, immigration status, age, sexual orientation or political belief…" (Grayson 8). It is such a simple way to protect LGBT people in schools and yet there are few that do. In Dolores' article she notes that new Legislation and Policies along with Counseling support Services and Resources would be beneficial to addressing the equity issues that LGBT people face. I agree completely.

In conclusion, there has been a serious lack in representation for the LGBT community in education. That lack of representation has been proven to create mental health problems and create a suicide problem among the community. We have also been able to see that it is possible to mend the current problems by simply fixing the environment and also by giving more protections to LGBT students and implementing support services. The main drive behind this for me is the fact that I haven't had the best experience. I don't want to have others deal with what I did. And I feel that these options will help them not deal with it.