Consequences of Harassment Based
on Actual or Perceived Sexual Orientation
and Gender Non-Conformity and Steps
for Making Schools Safer
A Report of the
California Safe Schools Coalition
and the
4-H Center for Youth Development,
University of California, Davis
January, 2004
Safe Place
to Learn
California Safe
Schools Coalition
4-H Center for
Youth Development
California Safe Schools Coalition
160 14th Street
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 626-1680
www.casafeschools.org
4-H Center for Youth Development
Department of Human and
Community Development
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, California 95616
(530) 754-8433
http://fourhcyd.ucdavis.edu/
Authors:
Molly O’Shaughnessy, M.P.P.
Director, California Safe Schools Coalition
Stephen Russell, Ph.D., Director, 4-H Center for Youth
Development, University of California, Davis
Katherine Heck, M.P.H., 4-H Center for Youth
Development, University of California, Davis
Christopher Calhoun, Deputy Director of Public Policy,
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California
Carolyn Laub, Executive Director,
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Acknowledgements
This report was funded by grants from the California
Endowment, the Columbia Foundation, and the Evelyn
and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. All of the members of the
Steering Committee of the California Safe Schools
Coalition provided important input and support. WestEd
provided data from the California Healthy Kids Survey and
helpful comments on the report. Greg Austin of WestEd,
Caitlin Ryan of the Cesar Chavez Institute at San
Francisco State University, Carol Lee and Tracey Calhoun
of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Bob Kim of Women’s
Educational Media, Courtney Joslin of the National Center
for Lesbian Rights, and Jason Riggs of Spark
Communications all contributed valuable feedback. Cathy
Sakimura played a key role in shaping the Preventing
School Harassment survey.
Suggested Citation:
California Safe Schools Coalition and 4-H Center for
Youth Development, University of California, Davis.
Consequences of Harassment Based on Actual or Perceived
Sexual Orientation and Gender Non-Conformity and Steps for
Making Schools Safer. 2004.
Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Major Finding 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Harassment based on actual and perceived sexual orientation is
pervasive, according to the California Healthy Kids Survey.
Major Finding 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Harassment based on actual and perceived sexual orientation
has dangerous consequences for students, according to data
from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
Major Finding 3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
School climates are unsafe for LGBT students, students perceived
to be LGBT, and gender non-conforming students, according
to the Preventing School Harassment Survey.
Major Finding 4:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Schools can take steps to improve safety and health for
all students, according to the Preventing School Harassment Survey.
Conclusion and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Appendix 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Methodology and questions for future research
Appendix 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Other research on harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation and gender identity
Appendix 3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Text of the 2003 Preventing School Harassment Survey
with frequencies
Appendix 4: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Text of question on bias-related harassment from the
2001-2002 California Healthy Kids Survey
Safe Place to Learn Fact Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Table 1: Bias-related harassment is prevalent ............................... 7
Table 2: Bias-related harassment and risk outcomes .................... 12
Figure 1: Harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation is more frequent in middle school
than high school .............................................................................. 6
Figure 2: Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation occurs in all racial and ethnic groups ........................... 6
Figure 3:Victims of harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation or disability are more likely
to experience repeated attacks ........................................................ 7
Figure 4: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation are more likely to miss
school and have low grades............................................................. 8
Figure 5: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation are at greater risk for
depression and suicide…................................................................. 8
Figure 6: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation are at greater risk for
substance use................................................................................... 9
Figure 7: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation are more likely to be
victimized and to carry weapons to school .......................................9
Figure 8: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation have weaker connections
to school and teachers ....................................................................10
Figure 9: Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation report less support at home.............................. 10
Figure 10: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation have weaker connections
to community and adults outside of home..................................... 10
Figure 11: Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation are at greater risk than
students harassed for non-bias reasons ......................................... 11
Figure 12: General feelings of safety at school are
weaker among LGBT students and students harassed
based on actual or perceived sexual orientation............................ 13
Figure 13: Perceptions of LGBT safety at school are
weaker for LGBT students and students harassed based
on actual or perceived sexual orientation ...................................... 13
Figure 14: LGBT students and students harassed based
on actual or perceived sexual orientation report more
slurs and less teacher intervention................................................. 14
Figure 15: Bias-related comments and teacher response ............. 14
Figure 16: Harassment based on gender non-conformity
is prevalent..................................................................................... 15
Figure 17: Negative comments based on gender presentation
are common, and teacher intervention is uncommon.................... 15
Figure 18: School climates are unsafe for gender
non-conforming students, especially for gender
non-conforming boys.......................................................................16
Figure 19: Harassment on the basis of actual or
perceived sexual orientation and gender non-conformity is
less common among students whose schools have
harassment policies that include sexual orientation....................... 18
Figure 20: Feelings of safety at school are stronger
among students whose schools have harassment
policies that include sexual orientation...........................................18
Figure 21: Students have stronger support and
connections when schools have harassment policies
that include sexual orientation....................................................... 18
Figure 22: Harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation and gender non-conformity is less
common among students whose teachers and staff stop
negative comments and slurs based on sexual orientation.............19
Figure 23: Feelings of safety are stronger among students
whose teachers stop negative comments and
slurs based on sexual orientation....................................................19
Figure 24: Students have stronger support and connections
when teachers stop slurs and negative comments
based on sexual orientation ........................................................... 19
Figure 25: Harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation and gender non-conformity is less
common among students whose schools have a
Gay-Straight Alliance or similar club….......................................... 20
Figure 26: Feelings of safety are stronger among
students whose schools have a Gay-Straight Alliance
or similar club................................................................................. 20
Figure 27: Students whose schools have GSAs or similar
clubs have stronger support and connections…............................ 20
Figure 28: Students who are GSA members have
stronger support and connections….............................................. 20
Figure 29: Feelings of safety are stronger among students
who know where to go for information and resources on
sexual orientation and gender identity........................................... 21
Figure 30: Students have stronger support and connections
when they know where to go at school for information and
resources on sexual orientation and gender identity ...............….. 21
Figure 31: Harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation and gender non-conformity is less
common among students who have learned about LGBT
issues in school… .......................................................................... 22
Figure 32: Feelings of safety are stronger among students
who have learned about LGBT issues in school…......................... 22
Figure 33: Students have stronger support and connections
when they learn about LGBT issues at school…............................ 22
List of Tables and Figures
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
1
T
he problem of harassment in California schools on the basis of actual or perceived sexual
orientation and gender non-conformity has been widely reported, but rarely studied.
Despite the passage of the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, which
prohibits harassment and other forms of discrimination on the basis of actual and perceived
sexual orientation and gender
1
, the State of California until recently has not made any consistent
attempt to measure such harassment and discrimination, and until now, the available data has
not been analyzed.
This study, carried out by the California Safe Schools Coalition and the 4-H Center for Youth
Development at the University of California, Davis, analyzes data from two sources. The 2001-
2002 California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), designed by WestEd under a contract with the
California Department of Education, is a state survey of student health risk and resilience
factors and includes a question about harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.
The 2003 Preventing School Harassment (PSH) survey, carried out by the California Safe
Schools Coalition in partnership with Gay-Straight Alliance Network, is a more detailed
examination of school climate and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender non-
conformity.
Major findings:
1
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation is pervasive, according to the
California Healthy Kids Survey.
7.5 percent of California students reported being harassed on the basis of actual or perceived
sexual orientation. If the results of this large survey are extrapolated to the statewide population
of middle and high school students, then over 200,000 California students are the targets of
this type of harassment every year.
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation is often a repeat occurrence. In the
CHKS, 32 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation
were harassed more than four times in the past twelve months.
2
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation has dangerous consequences for
students, according to data from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
Compared to students who were not harassed, students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation are more than three times as likely to carry a weapon to school;more than
twice as likely to report depression (feeling so sad and hopeless they stopped normal activities
for two weeks), use methamphetamines, or use inhalants; and more likely to report low
grades, to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, use other illicit drugs, or be victims of violence.
Compared to students who were not harassed, students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation are also more than twice as likely to report seriously considering suicide
and more than twice as likely to report making a plan for suicide. They are three times as
likely to report missing school in the last 30 days because they felt unsafe.
Students who experienced harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation reported
weaker connections to school and community and weaker support from teachers and other
adults. For example, 59 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation agreed that “a teacher or adult at school listens to me when I have something to
say,” compared to 68 percent of other students. 62 percent of students harassed based on actual
or perceived sexual orientation agreed that a teacher or adult at school believes that I will be
a success,” compared to 70 percent of other students.
Executive Summary
1
California law prohibits discrimination and harassment based on gender,
and defines gender as “a person’s actual or perceived sex, and includes a
person’s perceived identity, appearance, or behavior, whether or not that
identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally
associated with the victim's sex at birth.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
2
3
School climates are unsafe for LGBT students, students perceived to be LGBT, and gender non-conforming
students, according to the Preventing School Harassment survey.
91 percent of students reported hearing students make negative comments based on sexual orientation.
44 percent reported hearing teachers or staff make negative comments based on sexual orientation.
46 percent of students said their schools were not safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) students.
Two out of every three students who identified as LGBT reported harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation.
Many students reported harassment based on gender non-conformity and unsafe school climates for
gender non-conforming students. 27 percent of students surveyed reported being harassed because they
were not masculine enough” or not feminine enough.” 53 percent of students said their schools were
unsafe for “guys who arent as masculine as other guys,” and 34 percent said their schools were unsafe
for “girls who aren’t as feminine as other girls.”
4
Schools can take steps to improve safety and health for all students, according to the Preventing
School Harassment survey.
Each of the following steps schools can take is related to a safer overall school climate, to lower rates of
harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender non-conformity, and to stronger
student connections to school, community, teachers, and other adults.
Steps schools can take include:
Establishing a harassment policy that specifically includes sexual orientation and gender, including
gender identity, appearance and behavior and making sure students know about it;
Training teachers and staff to intervene when they hear slurs and negative comments based on sexual
orientation or gender presentation;
Supporting the establishment of a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar club;
Ensuring that students know where to go for information and support about sexual orientation and
gender identity; and
Introducing curriculum that includes LGBT people and information about sexual orientation and
gender identity.
Recommendations
Four years after the enactment of the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, harassment
and violence on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender non-conformity are a
persistent and prevalent problem in California schools. This problem has severe effects on individual
students and profound implications for the overall educational climate. In order to ensure schools are safe
places for all students to learn, sustained action is needed at the state and local levels.
State policy makers must implement the recommendations of the Superintendent of Public
Instructions AB 537 Advisory Task Force Report, mandate training for all school staff and students,
continue to update safe schools planning materials and trainings, and monitor school districts’
compliance with state law.
Local school officials and school administrators should ensure that all teachers and school staff are
trained to prevent and respond to harassment, establish and publicize district policies prohibiting
harassment based on sexual orientation and gender, and treat all forms of harassment and discrimination
as serious and preventable.
Teachers and school staff should respond to slurs and negative comments and share with students where
to go for information about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Parents, guardians, and community members should find out about how their schools respond to
harassment and discrimination and speak out in favor of steps schools can take to improve safety.
Students can speak out when they hear slurs or name-calling, find out about school harassment
policies, and start or join a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar club that offers a safe haven and fights
harassment and discrimination at school.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
3
The CHKS does not ask students to identify their sexual
orientation or their gender identity. It does ask students
whether they were harassed because you are gay or lesbian,
or someone thought you were.” This type of harassment
affects all kinds of students, regardless of their actual sexual
orientation. When discussing CHKS results, this report
uses the phrase “harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation.”
The CHKS does not ask about harassment based on
gender identity or non-conformity. (It does ask about
harassment based on “your gender [being male or
female]”.) For that reason, our discussion of CHKS
results only refers to harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation and not harassment based on
gender identity or gender non-conformity.
Preventing School Harassment (PSH)
survey findings
The PSH survey asked about students’ own identities, their
personal experiences of harassment, hearing negative
comments (regardless of to whom the comments were
directed), and their perceptions of others’ safety.
Students who identify as LGBT: In the PSH survey,
students were asked their sexual orientation and could
choose gay/lesbian, straight/heterosexual, bisexual, queer,
questioning, or other. In a separate question on the PSH
survey, students were asked their gender, and given the
choices male, female, transgender, questioning, or other.
Students who chose gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or
transgender on either question are referred to as LGBT
students. These questions refer to students’ identities and
not their experiences of harassment.
Students who identified as transgender: Because only one
of the 634 respondents in the PSH survey identified as
transgender, the PSH data does not allow us to draw
separate conclusions about safety or harassment for
students who identify as transgender.
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation:
The PSH asks students if they have
experienced harassment “because you are gay, lesbian, or
bisexual or someone thought you were.” Students who
experience this type of harassment may or may not
personally identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. As with the
CHKS, this type of harassment is referred to in the report as
“harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.”
Harassment based on gender non-conformity: The PSH
asks students if they have experienced harassment “because
you werent ‘masculine enough’” or because you werent
‘feminine enough’.” In the report, this is referred to as
“harassment based on gender non-conformity.
Negative comments based on sexual orientation: The
survey asks if students have heard students, teachers, or
staff make negative comments based on sexual orientation.
There are referred to as “negative comments based on
sexual orientation.”
Negative comments based on gender presentation: The
PSH also asks if respondents have heard students or teachers
or staff make negative comments based on “gender
presentation.”These are referred to in the report as “negative
comments or slurs based on gender presentation.”
Perceptions of safety for LGBT students and others: In
several separate questions, the PSH asks if respondents
think their schools are safe for others, including LGBT
students, students with LGBT parents, LGBT teachers and
staff, and straight allies of LGBT students.
Perceptions of safety based on gender non-conformity or
safety for gender non-conforming students:
The PSH asks
whether respondents think their school is safe for “guys
who are not as masculine as other guys,” and “girls who
are not as feminine as other girls.” In the report, these
answers are referred to as perceptions of safety based on
gender non-conformity or safety for gender non-
conforming students.
School policies prohibiting harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation and gender, including gender
identity, appearance and behavior:
The term “gender,
including gender identity,appearance and behavior is used
in this reports recommendations, with the intention that
school policies should be updated to reflect the broad
definition of gender in state law.
A note on language
Every effort was made in this report to use clear and consistent language when discussing findings relating to sexual orientation
and gender, within the constraints of the available data sources.
California Healthy Kids Survey findings
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
4
Introduction
“I have experienced all forms of harassment and discrimination in school, from verbal and
emotional to extreme violence. I have had my teachers join their students in mocking LGBT students…
I have been hospitalized because I was beat so bad... it’s a very, very hostile climate.”
— Sarah Stuebner, reporting to the California Senate Select Committee on School Safety, 2002
In October 1999, the State of California affirmed the right of all students to learn in a safe
environment by passing the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000,
which prohibits harassment and other forms of discrimination on the basis of actual and
perceived sexual orientation and gender in California schools. California was one of the first
states to protect students from discrimination and harassment on the basis of actual and
perceived sexual orientation and gender, defined broadly to include gender identity,
appearance, and behavior.
The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act took effect on January 1, 2000.
In April 2001, a task force convened by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction issued
its recommendations for implementing the law to state and local decision makers. These
recommendations included adopting and enforcing policies prohibiting discrimination and
harassment, training all school personnel to prevent and respond to harassment and
discrimination, providing guidance for students on how to report harassment and
discrimination, and developing anti-bias education programs for students, among many
others. To date, almost none of these recommendations have been implemented.
Despite passage of the law, students report that harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation and gender non-conformity continues. Anecdotal evidence from across
California indicates that many educators and students are unaware of the law, many teachers
and administrators have not been trained to prevent and respond to illegal harassment and
discrimination, most students do not know how to file a complaint, school districts are
responding to complaints in an inconsistent manner, and many districts are failing to address
the issue entirely.
In an October 2002 public hearing of the California Senate Select Committee on School
Safety,students, teachers, parents, researchers, and advocates from all over the state recounted
stories of ongoing harassment and inadequate response from school authorities. In addition,
a number of school districts have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to settle
lawsuits by students claiming their schools failed to protect them from harassment,
intimidation, and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. More lawsuits
continue to arise. In a sweeping April 2003 decision, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled that school officials could be held liable under the U.S. Constitution for failing to
respond to incidents of harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.
2
A number of studies from around the U.S. as well as several community-based studies in
California also point to an ongoing problem of harassment and violence that has severe
consequences for students and schools. A 2001 report by Human Rights Watch documented
pervasive violence and discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation through
in-depth interviews with 140 youth and 130 teachers nationwide. Studies in other states have
documented elevated health and safety risks for students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation, and found that the problem affects all students, regardless of their actual
sexual orientation. A broad-based study in Seattle schools found that 80 percent of students
harassed on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation were in fact heterosexual. (See
Appendix 2 for more on other research.)
2
Flores v. Morgan High School District, 324 F.3d 1130
(9th Cir. 2003).
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
5
Despite the reports of ongoing harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and
gender identity, until now there has been no comprehensive study of the severity of the problem
in California, where more than one in eight of the nation’s children are growing up. For this
reason, the California Safe Schools Coalition launched a major statewide study of school safety
and harassment in California, in partnership with the 4-H Center for Youth Development at
the University of California, Davis, and with funding from the California Endowment, the
Columbia Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. The key data sources used
were the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), the state health survey designed by WestEd
under contract with the California Department of Education and administered by school
districts, and the Preventing School Harassment (PSH) survey, administered by the California
Safe Schools Coalition in partnership with Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
The CHKS is administered every year to hundreds of thousands of 7th, 9th, and 11th grade
students in California schools. While the CHKS is designed to be representative of all students
in each school district, its statewide results show very little difference in terms of student risk
behaviors and attitudes from the California Student Survey,another state health survey designed
to be representative of all students in the state. This studys analysis of CHKS data, with over
230,000 student respondents, is the largest ever study of school-based harassment based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation, including 26 times more students than any single previous
study on the issue. This analysis is also the only statewide population-based survey of this issue
in California.
The Preventing School Harassment (PSH) survey, a statewide survey administered both on
paper and online, was open to all middle school and high school students in California but
targeted LGBT students through outreach to Gay-Straight Alliance clubs, community
organizations, and youth groups. The PSH survey was designed to explore in more detail the
links between harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender non-
conformity,school climate, school policies and practices, and factors related to positive outcomes
for students. The survey also provides new data about specific steps schools can take to change
a hostile environment. By looking not just at victimization, but also at steps schools can take to
change their environment, reduce harassment, and increase the resiliency of those students who
are harassed, the survey results point the way to reforms that can improve safety and health for
all students.
This study’s analysis of
CHKS data, with over
230,000 student respondents,
is the largest ever study
of school-based harassment
based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
6
fig 1 Harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation is more frequent in
middle school than high school
8.1%
6.1%
7.3%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
7th Grade 9th Grade 11th Grade
Grade Level
Percent of students harassed based
on sexual orientation
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
44%
41%
27%
32%
12%
14%
8%
6%
7%
3%
4%
5%
American
Indian or
Alaska
Native
Native
Hawaiian
or other
Pacific
Islander
Asian African
American
LatinoWhite
Racial or ethnic identification
Percent
Percent of all students
of harassed students
Major Finding One:
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation is
pervasive, according to the California Healthy Kids Survey.
The 2001-2002 version of the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) was the first to ask students
whether they had been harassed or bullied at school based on each of the following: their race, ethnicity or
national origin; their religion; their gender; their physical or mental disability; or their actual or perceived
sexual orientation. The survey asked students how many times in the past year they had been bullied on
school property and defined bullying as “being repeatedly shoved, hit, threatened, called mean names,
teased in a way you didnt like, or had other unpleasant things done to you. It is not bullying when two
students of about the same strength quarrel or fight.” See Appendix 4 for the text of relevant CHKS
questions. The results show that bias-motivated harassment in general and harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation is pervasive in California schools.
Every year, over 200,000 students in middle school and high school are harassed based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation.
In the 2001-2002 California Healthy Kids Survey, 7.5 percent, or 17,815 of 237,544 students surveyed,
reported being harassed or bullied because they “are gay or lesbian or someone thought [they] were.” If the
results of this large survey are translated to Californias total middle and high school enrollment, then over
200,000 students are the targets of harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation every year.
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation cuts across demographic groups.
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation is more common in middle school than in high
school: 8.1 percent of 7th graders surveyed reported harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation, compared to 7.3 percent of 9th graders and 6.1 percent of 11th graders. See Figure 1. African
American, White, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander students
reported higher rates of harassment than the statewide average of 7.5 percent. Latino and Asian students
reported slightly lower rates of harassment than the statewide average. See Figure 2. Socioeconomic
differences between harassed students and all other students appeared to be small. For example, 19 percent
of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation attended schools where at least half of
the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, compared to 22 percent of students overall. 10.5 percent
of students who reported moving two or more times in the past year (often used as an indirect indicator of
socioeconomic status) reported harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, compared to 7.5
percent of students overall.
fig 2 Harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation occurs in all racial and
ethnic groups
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
7
Bias-related harassment of all types is far too common in California schools.
While this study focuses on harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, the CHKS
data make it clear that all types of bias-motivated harassment and bullying are significant problems
with severe impacts for students. A greater number of students experience harassment based on
race/ethnicity/national origin, gender, or religion than harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation or physical or mental disability. See Table 1. At the same time, students who
report harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or disability are more likely to
experience repeated attacks. See Figure 3. Student who report harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation or disability are also more likely to report negative health, safety, and
academic outcomes.
Table 1: Bias-related harassment is prevalent
Type Percentage
of Harassment of students
Any harassment 37.4
Any bias-related harassment: 27.4
Race, ethnicity, or national origin 14.3
Religion 9.1
Gender (male or female) 10.3
Actual or perceived sexual orientation 7.5
Physical or mental disability 4.9
Harassment for some other reason 23.1
Not harassed 62.6
fig 3 Victims of harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation or disability are more likely to
experience repeated attacks
52%
53%
56%
0%
24%
22%
23%
32%
31%
32%
49%
45%
46%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Race,
ethnicity
or national
origin
Gender Religion Actual or
perceived
sexual
orientation
Disability Other
reasons
Reason for harassment
Percent of those harassed
Harassed more than once
Harassed 4 or more times
Students who report
harassment based on
actual or perceived sexual
orientation or disability are
more likely to experience
repeated attacks and more
likely to report negative
health, safety, and
academic outcomes.
As a broad-based survey of student health, the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) asks students about a
variety of health factors and risk behaviors, including substance use,violence, victimization, depression, suicidal
thoughts, and missing school. The CHKS also asks about academic performance, support from teachers,
friends and family, and connections to school and community.This reports analysis of CHKS data found that
harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation is associated with much higher levels of health risk
and lower levels of resilience.While this analysis cannot test direct cause and effect, it is much more likely that
these health risks are consequences of harassment than precursors to harassment. See Table 2 on page 12 for
detailed data on risk outcomes of bias-related harassment.
Students who are harassed because they are gay or lesbian, or because someone thought they
were, report higher levels of risk on a wide array of academic, health, and safety measures.
Low grades: 24 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation reported
that their usual grades are Cs or lower, compared to 17 percent of students who were not harassed. See
Figure 4.
Missing school
3
: Although data on missing school are not directly comparable to data on other risk factors,
students who were harassed on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation were more than three
times as likely as students who were not harassed to miss at least one day of school in the last 30 days
because they felt unsafe. See Figure 4.
Depression: 55 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation reported feeling
so sad and hopeless that they stopped doing usual activities for at least two weeks during the previous 12
months, compared to 23 percent of students who were not harassed. See Figure 5.
Major Finding 2:
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation has
dangerous consequences for students, according to data from the
California Healthy Kids Survey.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
24%
17%
7%
27%
30%
Usual grades
C’s or below
Type of Risk
†Data on missing school are not directly comparable to
data on low grades
Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation
Students not harassed
Missed school in last 30
days because felt unsafe †
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
8
3
Data on missing school are not directly comparable to the data on other risk
factors and resiliency. Questions about missing school are included in an
optional module of the CHKS that is not administered in many schools.
While approximately 235,000 students answered the question about
harassment based on sexual orientation, only about 49,000 students
answered the questions about missing school.
fig 4 Students harassed based on sexual
orientation are more likely to miss
school and have low grades
fig 5 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation are at greater risk for
depression and suicide
Suicide
4
: Although data on suicide are not directly comparable to data on other risk factors,
students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation are more than three times as
likely as students who were not harassed to seriously consider suicide, and more than three times
as likely to make a plan for attempting suicide. See Figure 5.
Substance use: Students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation were much more
likely than students who were not harassed to report smoking, drinking alcohol, binge drinking,
marijuana use, amphetamine or methamphetamine use, and inhalant use. For example, students
harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation were more than twice as likely to use
inhalants and nearly twice as likely to report binge drinking as students who were not harassed.
See Figure 6.
Victimization: Students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation were more likely
than students who were not harassed to report being threatened or injured with a weapon, to be
a victim of relationship violence, and to have their property stolen or damaged. See Figure 7.
Other risk behaviors: 19 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation carried a weapon to school in the last 12 months, compared to 5 percent of students
who were not harassed. See Figure 7. 42 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation drove after drinking or rode with a driver who had been drinking, compared to
27 percent of students who were not harassed. See Figure 6.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
9
fig 6 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation are at greater risk for
substance use
fig 7 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation are more likely to be victimized
and to carry weapons to school
0%
5%
10%
22%
37%
24%
23%
13%
35%
24%
25%
10%
19%
7%
42%
27%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Type of substance use or risk
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
Students not harassed
Smoking,
past 30 days
Drinking,
past 30 days
Binge drinking,
past30 days
Marijuana
use (ever)
Inhalant
use (ever)
Amphetamine/
meth. use (ever)
Drove after drinking,
or rode in car with
drinking driver(ever)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
19%
5%
56%
20%
26%
6%
28%
5%
60%
Type of risk
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
Students not harassed
Carried a
weapon
on school
property
Property
stolen/
damaged
Hurt by
girlfriend/
boyfriend
past 12
months
Threatened
or injured
with a
weapon
4
The questions on suicide are also included in an optional module of the
CHKS and not directly comparable to data on the other health risks
discussed. Approximately 30,000 students answered the questions about
considering suicide, and approximately 46,000 answered the question
about planning suicide.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
10
Students who are harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation report weaker
connections to school, adults, and community.
Compared to other students, students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation
reported fewer feelings of connections to their communities, schools, and to supportive adults;
less support from teachers, family, and friends; and fewer resources for coping with problems.
For example, 59 percent of students harassed based on sexual orientation agreed that a teacher
or adult at school listens to me when I have something to say,” compared to 68 percent of other
students. 62 percent of students harassed based on sexual orientation agreed that a teacher or
adult at school believes that I will be a success,” compared to 70 percent of other students. See
Figures 8, 9, and 10.
73%
52%
62%
63%
77%
86%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
A parent or adult
at home
believes I will
be a success
A parent or adult
at home talks
with me about
my problems
A parent or adult
at home listens
to me when I have
something to say
% answering "pretty much true" or "very much true"
fig 9 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation report less support at home
68%
68%
79%
81%
79%
69%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
An adult outside
of home or school
tells me when I do
a good job
An adult outside
of home or school
believes that I will
be a success
I trust an adult
outside of home
or school
% answering "pretty much true" or "very much true"
fig 10 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation have weaker connections to
community and adults outside of home
fig 8 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation have weaker connections to
school and teachers
62%
59%
62%
71%
70%
68%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
A teacher or
adult at school
tells me when
I do a good job
A teacher or adult
at school listens to
me when I have
something to say
A teacher or adult
at school believes
that I will be a success
% answering "pretty much true" or "very much true"
Students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation
Students not harassed
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
11
Negative outcomes associated with harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation are more severe than those connected to “non bias-related” bullying
and harassment.
Analysis of the CHKS reveals that the outcomes associated with harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation are much more severe than outcomes associated with other
harassment and bullying not based on race/ethnicity/national origin, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, or disability. For example, students harassed based on sexual orientation were more
than twice as likely to binge drink or smoke and more than four times as likely to bring a weapon
to school than students who experienced “non bias-related” harassment.
5
In fact, students who
experience “non bias-related” harassment reported levels of substance use and low grades that are
nearly identical to students who were not harassed at all. See Figure 11.This data has important
implications for educators and policy makers with limited resources to devote to school safety
and student health. General anti-bullying efforts may be less effective than anti-bias efforts
aimed at preventing harassment on specific bases, namely actual or perceived sexual orientation,
race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, and physical or mental disability.
fig 11 Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation are at greater risk than students
harassed for non-bias reasons
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
24%
23%
19%
18%
17%
13%
5%
12%
6%
Usual grades
C's or below
Binge drinking
past 30 days
Carried a weapon
on school property
Type of Risk
*Harassment for reasons other than race/ethnicity, religion,
gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
Students harassed for other reasons (non biased-related)*
Students not harassed
5
“Non bias-related harassment” refers to harassment or bullying for reasons other
than race/ethnicity/national origin, religion, gender, actual or perceived sexual
orientation, or physical or mental disability.The CHKS does not ask about
harassment based on other categories of bias, such as body size, socioeconomic
status, or gender non-conformity.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
12
Religion
Race,
ethnicity,
national
origin
Gender
Sexual
Orientation
Physical or
mental
disability
Other harass-
ment (not
bias-related)
Outcome
Not
harassed
Bias related
harassment
occurred 4 or
more times
More than
one type of
harassment
Grades and Attendance
Usual grades C’s 21% 19% 20% 24% 24% 18% 17% 23% 22%
or below
Missed school 22% 24% 24% 27% 32% 11% 7% 26% 27%
because felt unsafe†
Depression and Suicide
Depression* 48% 48% 53% 55% 55% 38% 23% 55% 55%
Seriously considered 28% 31% 38% 45% 41% 24% 14% 38% 38%
suicide† (past 12 mos)
Made a plan for 24% 26% 30% 35% 34% 16% 9% 32% 31%
suicide† (past 12 mos)
Substance Use
Smoking, 17% 17% 18% 22% 24% 10% 10% 21% 20%
past 30 days
Drinking alcohol, 33% 30% 36% 37% 39% 25% 24% 36% 35%
past 30 days
Binge drinking, 19% 18% 21% 23% 27% 12% 13% 23% 21%
past 30 days
Marijuana use (ever) 30% 27% 30% 35% 36% 22% 24% 34% 31%
Inhalant use (ever) 19% 19% 21% 25% 27% 12% 10% 24% 22%
Amphetamine/ 12% 13% 14% 19% 21% 8% 7% 17% 16%
meth
amphetamine
use (ever)
Risk Behaviors
Carried a weapon 14% 16% 14% 19% 28% 6% 5% 19% 18%
on school property
(past 12 mos)
Drove after
drinking, or rode 37% 34% 41% 42% 44% 31% 30% 40% 39%
in car with
drinking driver (ever)
Victimization
Been threatened or 23% 24% 23% 28% 35% 10% 5% 30% 28%
injured with a
weapon
(past 12 mos)
Property stolen/ 52% 52% 53% 56% 60% 39% 20% 58% 58%
damaged
(past 12 mos)
Hurt by girlfriend/ 19% 21% 22% 26% 30% 10% 6% 26% 24%
boyfriend
(past 12 mos)
Table 2 Bias-related harassment and risk outcomes
TYPE OF HARASSMENT
* For at least two weeks during the last 12 months, felt so sad and hopeless
that they stopped doing usual activities.
† Not directly comparable to data on other risk factors. Questions on suicide
and missing school were in an optional module of the CHKS and were not
administered in all schools.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
13
Major Finding 3:
School climates are unsafe for LGBT students, students perceived
to be LGBT, and gender non-conforming students, according to
the Preventing School Harassment survey.
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is useful as a broad-based survey that reaches
hundreds of thousands of students every year and examines a number of health risk and resilience
factors in addition to harassment. However, it also has significant limitations. The CHKS does
not examine school climate factors that may relate to harassment, like slurs and name-calling not
directed at specific students. The CHKS also does not ask students’ sexual orientation or gender
identity, so its data do not reveal rates of harassment or other risk factors among lesbian, gay,
bisexual or transgender (LGBT) students.The Preventing School Harassment (PSH) survey was
designed as an in-depth examination of school safety and harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation and gender non-conformity, and it found a number of ways in which
school climates are hostile and unsafe. In order to get a deeper look at harassment, the PSH
survey targeted LGBT students; 46 percent of its 634 respondents identified as lesbian, gay,
bisexual, queer, or transgender. See Appendix 1 for details on survey methodology, and Appendix
3 for the text of the survey.
Unsafe school climates are common and are closely linked to harassment
based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.
General feelings of safety at school: Overall, 73 percent of students reported feeling safe at
school, and 60 percent said it was pretty much” or “very much true that other students felt
safe at their school. Students who identified as LGBT were less likely to report feeling safe at
school and thinking others felt safe at school. Students who experienced harassment based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation were also less likely to report feeling safe at school and
thinking others felt safe at school. See Figure 12.
Perceptions of LGBT safety at school: The PSH survey asked students whether their schools
were safe for LGBT students, students with LGBT parents, LGBT teachers and staff, and
straight allies of LGBT students. 46 percent of all students reported it was “not at all true or
a little true that their schools were safe for LGBT students. Students who identified as LGBT
were less likely to report that their schools were safe for LGBT students, students with LGBT
parents, LGBT teachers and staff, and straight allies of LGBT students. Students who had
53%
61%
62%
73%
44%
51%
54%
70%
40%
49%
66%
46%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
My school is
safe for
LGBT students*
My school is
safe for students
with LGBT parents*
My school is
safe for
LGBT teachers*
My school is safe
for straight allies
of LGBT students*
All students
Students who identify as LGBT
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
*pretty much true or very much true
fig 12 General feelings of safety at school are
weaker among LGBT students and
students harassed based on actual
or perceived sexual orientation
73%
60%
61%
49%
46%
58%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
I feel safe at my school Students feel safe at
my school (pretty much true
or very much true)
All students
Students who identify as LGBT
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
fig 13 Perceptions of LGBT safety are weaker for
LGBT students and students harassed
based on sexual orientation
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
14
been harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation were even less likely to see their
schools as safe for LGBT students, students with LGBT parents, LGBT teachers and staff,
and straight allies. See Figure 13.
Negative comments based on sexual orientation, by students and by teachers: 91 percent of
students surveyed in the PSH said they have heard other students make negative remarks
based on sexual orientation, and 79 percent heard these comments “sometimes” or “often”. 44
percent said they have heard teachers or staff make negative remarks based on sexual
orientation, and 16 percent heard these comments “sometimes” or often”. Students also
reported that teachers or staff were unlikely to intervene and stop bias-motivated comments,
particularly comments based on sexual orientation. See Figure 14. While 79 percent of
students reported “sometimes” or often hearing students make negative
comments based on sexual orientation, only 44 percent of students
reported “sometimes” or “often hearing teachers or staff stop those
negative comments. There is a clear connection between these climate-
setting comments and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation. For example, 90 percent of students harassed based on actual
or perceived sexual orientation reported “sometimes” or “often hearing
students make negative remarks based on sexual orientation, compared to
79 percent of students overall. 27 percent of students who were harassed
on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation reported hearing
teachers or staff make negative remarks based on sexual orientation
sometimes or often, compared to 16 percent of students overall. See
Figure 15.
Two in three LGBT students report being harassed or bullied based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation:
65 percent of LGBT students
surveyed in the PSH were harassed or bullied based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation. 47 percent of LGBT students experienced repeated
harassment. In addition, substantial numbers of straight students
experienced harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.
79%
43%
88%
25%
40%
90%
16%
36%
27%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
I hear students make
negative comments
based on sexual
orientation
sometimes or often
I hear teachers or staff
make negative
comments based on
sexual orientation
sometimes or often
I hear teachers or staff
stop negative
comments based on
sexual orientation
sometimes or often
All students
Students who identify as LGBT
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
70%
68%
79%
69%
39%
51%
60%
50%
43%
40%
45%
49%
52%
73%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Race /
ethnicity
Sex
Sexual
Orientation
Gender
Presentation
Body
Size
Religion
Basis of negative comments
% ”Sometimes” or ”Often” hear students make negative comments
% Sometimes” or ”Often” hear hear teachers or staff stop comments
Physical or
Mental
Disability
fig 15 LGBT students and students harassed based
on actual or perceived sexual orientation report
more slurs and less teacher intervention
fig 14 Biased-related comments and
teacher/staff response
91 percent of students
surveyed in the PSH said they
have heard other students make
negative remarks based on sexual
orientation, and 44 percent said
they have heard teachers or staff
make negative remarks based
on sexual orientation.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
15
Many students report unsafe school climates for gender non-conforming students.
The PSH survey breaks new ground by examining school safety and harassment based on gender
non-conformity. The survey asked students if their schools were safe for “guys who are not as
masculine as other guys” and for girls who are not as feminine as other girls.” It also asked
students how often they heard students and teachers or staff make negative comments based on
gender presentation, and how often they experienced harassment because they werent “masculine
enough” or “feminine enough.” California law prohibits discrimination and harassment based on
gender, and defines gender as including “identity, appearance, or behavior, whether or not that
identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the persons
sex at birth.” Despite its prohibition by law, harassment based on gender non-conformity is
common, according to the results of the PSH survey.The survey also shows that LGBT students
are more likely to experience harassment based on gender non-conformity and less likely to feel
their schools are safe for gender non-conforming students. In addition, the survey results show a
link between safety and harassment based on gender non-conformity and harassment based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation.
Harassment based on gender non-conformity: 27 percent of students surveyed, and 40 percent of
LGBT students, reported being harassed because they weren’t masculine enough” or feminine
enough.” Harassment based on gender non-conformity is clearly related to harassment based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation. 49 percent of students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation were also harassed for not being “masculine enough or “feminine
enough,” compared to 27 percent of students overall. See Figure 16.
g 16 Harassment based on gender non-conformity
is prevalent
40%
14%
49%
27%
24%
28%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
All students Students who
identify as LGBT
Students harassed
based on actual
or perceived sexual
orientation
Students harassed based on gender non-conformity
Students harassed more than once
based on gender non-conformity
Despite its prohibition
by law, harassment based
on gender non-conformity is
common, according to the
results of the PSH survey.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
16
fig 18 School climates are unsafe for gender-non-
conforming students, especially for gender
non-conforming boys
55%
33%
47%
66%
57%
36%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
My school is safe for girls
who aren't as feminine as
other girls (pretty much
or very much true)
My school is safe for guys
who aren't as masculine
as other guys (pretty much
or very much true)
All students
Students who identify as LGBT
Students harassed based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation
Negative comments and slurs based on gender presentation: 63 percent of students surveyed,
and 76 percent of LGBT students, reported that they “sometimes” or “often hear students
make negative comments based on gender presentation. In addition, 13 percent of students
surveyed, and 22 percent of LGBT students, reported that they “sometimes” or “often hear
teachers or staff make negative comments based on gender presentation. Only 40 percent of
students surveyed, and only 39 percent of LGBT students, reported that they “sometimes” or
often hear teachers or staff stop others when they make negative comments based on gender
presentation. Negative comments based on gender presentation are also clearly related to
harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. 81 percent of students harassed
based on actual or perceived sexual orientation said they “sometimes” or often hear students
make negative comments based on gender presentation, compared to 63 percent of students
overall. See Figure 17.
Perceptions of safety for gender non-conforming students: 47 percent of students surveyed,
but only 36 percent of LGBT students, agree pretty much” or very much” that their school
is safe for “guys who arent as masculine as other guys.” 66 percent of students surveyed, but
only 57 percent of LGBT students, agree “pretty much” or “very much” that their school is
safe for “girls who arent as feminine as other girls.” Safe climates for gender non-conforming
students are also clearly related to harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.
33 percent of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation agree pretty
much or very much” that their school is safe for “guys who arent as masculine as other
guys,” compared to 47 percent of students overall. See Figure 18.
fig 17 Negative comments based on gender
presentation are common, and teacher
or staff intervention is uncommon
40%
32%
76%
63%
81%
39%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
All students Students who
identify as LGBT
Students harassed
based on actual
or perceived sexual
orientation
I hear students make negative comments based
on gender presentation sometimes or often
I hear teachers or staff stop negative comments based
on gender presentation sometimes or often
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
17
Major Finding 4
Schools can take steps to improve safety and health for all students,
according to the Preventing School Harassment survey.
A more detailed look at harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender
non-conformity in the PSH survey shows that schools can take concrete steps that reduce
violence and harassment, reduce name-calling, improve students’ feelings of safety at school,
and improve students’ connections to school, community, and supportive adults. Taking these
five specific steps will help create an environment where all students are safe to learn and reach
their full potential.
STEPS
Schools Can Take
Establish and publicize a harassment policy that
specifically includes sexual orientation and gender,
including gender identity, appearance, and behavior.
Train teachers and staff to intervene when they
hear slurs or negative comments based on sexual
orientation or gender non-conformity.
Support the establishment of a Gay-Straight
Alliance or similar student club.
Ensure that students know where to go for
information and support related to sexual
orientation and gender identity.
Introduce curriculum that includes LGBT people
and information about sexual orientation and
gender identity.
OUTCOMES
for Students and School Environment
Fewer incidents of harassment and bullying.
Fewer bias-related comments and less name-calling.
Greater feelings of safety.
Improved connections to school, community,
and supportive adults.
Taking these
five specific steps
will help create
an environment
where all students
are safe to learn
and reach their
full potential.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
18
Step 1: Establish and publicize a school policy that specifically prohibits harassment
on the basis of actual and perceived sexual orientation and gender, including gender
identity, appearance, and behavior.
Students who know that their school has a harassment policy
that specifically mentions sexual orientation felt safer at
school, reported safer school climates in general, and were less
likely to be harassed based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation. For example, 61 percent of students who reported
knowing of such a school policy say students at their school
feel safe, compared to 50 percent who reported that their
school has no such policy. See Figures 19 and 20. Students
whose schools have a policy were also more likely to feel they
have a voice at school and make positive contributions to
school. They were more likely to have an adult outside of
school or home who cares about them and wants them to
succeed, more likely to report that teachers treat them fairly,
and more likely to report that teachers care about students.
See Figure 21 for how school policies relate to student scores
on common multiple-question scales of youth resilience.
fig 21 Students have stronger support and connection
when schools have harassment policies that include
sexual orientation
2.1
2.3
1.1
1.6
2.0
1.9
1.4
1.9
0
1
2
3
Students have a
voice and make
a contribution
Adults care
about me
Teachers treat
me fairly
Teachers care
about me
and others
Youth resilience scales
School has a specific harassment policy
School does not have a specific policy
N
ot at
all true
A little
true
Very
much true
Pretty
much true
fig 19 Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation and gender non-conformity is less
common among students whose schools have
harassment policies that include sexual orientation
fig 20 Feelings of safety at school are stronger among
students whose schools have harassment
policies that include sexual orientation
26%
36%
48%
57%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
I have been harassed
based on actual or
perceived sexual
orientation
I have been harassed
for not being masculine
enough or feminine
enough
School has a specific
harassment policy
School does not have a
specific policy
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
75%
60%
61%
50%
55%
36%
56%
27%
71%
42%
19%
16%
Yes, I
feel safe
at school
Students
feel safe
at my
school*
My school
is safe for
LGBT
students*
My school
is safe for
boys who
aren't as
masculine as
other boys*
My school
is safe for
girls who
aren't as
feminine as
other girls*
I rarely or
never hear
students make
negative
comments
based on
sexual
orientation
School has a specific non-discrimination policy
School does not have a specific policy
*Pretty much true or very much true
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
19
Step 2: Train teachers and staff to stop slurs and harassment.
Students who reported that teachers or staff intervene to stop negative comments based on
sexual orientation were more likely to feel safe, more likely to report safe school climates, and
less likely to be harassed. For example, 37 percent of students who said teachers or staff
sometimes” or often intervene have been harassed on the
basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation, compared to
50 percent of students whose teachers or staff never” or
rarely” intervene. See Figures 22 and 23. Students whose
teachers or staff “sometimes” or often intervene when they
hear slurs were more likely to feel they have a voice at school
and make positive contributions to school. They were more
likely to have an adult outside of school or home who cares
about them and wants them to succeed, more likely to report
that teachers treat them fairly, and more likely to report that
teachers care about students. See Figure 24 for how teachers
stopping slurs relates to student scores on common multiple-
question scales of youth resilience.
fig 24 Students have stronger support and connections
when teachers and staff stop slurs and negative
comments based on sexual orientation
2.3
2.0
1.2
2.1
1.8
1.4
2.3
2.0
0
1
2
3
Teachers and staff rarely or never stop negative comments
based on sexual orientation
Teachers and staff sometimes or often stop negative
comments based on sexual orientation
I have a voice
and make
contributions
at my school
Adults care
about me
Teachers treat
me fairly
Teachers care
about me
and others
Youth resilience scales
N
ot at
all true
A little
true
Very
much true
Pretty
much true
fig 22 Harassment based on sexual orientation and
gender is less common among students whose
teachers stop negative comments and slurs based
on sexual orientation
23%
50%
31%
37%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
I have been harassed
based on actual
or perceived
sexual orientation
I have been harassed
for not being
masculine or
feminine enough
Students whose teachers sometimes or often stop comments
Students whose teachers never or rarely stop comments
fig 23 Feelings of safety at school are stronger among
students whose teachers stop negative comments
and slurs based on sexual orientation
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
76%
70%
64%
56%
56%
51%
53%
43%
73%
60%
90%
*Pretty much true or very much true
Students whose teachers and staff sometimes or
often stop comments
Students whose teachers and staff never or rarely
stop comments
Yes, I
feel safe
at school
Students
feel safe
at my
school*
My school
is safe for
LGBT
students*
My school
is safe for
boys who
aren't as
masculine as
other boys*
My school
is safe for
girls who
aren't as
feminine as
other girls*
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
20
fig 27 Students whose schools have a GSA or similar club
have stronger support and connections
fig 25 Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation and gender non-conformity is less
common among students whose schools have a
Gay-Straight Alliance or similar club
fig 26 Feelings of safety are stronger among students
whose schools have a Gay-Straight Alliance or
similar club
44%
27%
51%
31%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Students whose schools have a GSA
Students whose schools do not have a GSA
I have been harassed
based on actual or
perceived sexual
orientation
I have been harassed
for not being masculine
or feminine enough
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
75%
61% 61%
55%
56%
40%
47%
39%
67%
60%
*Pretty much true or very much true
Students whose schools have a GSA
Students whose schools do not have a GSA
Yes, I
feel safe
at school
Students
feel safe
at my
school*
My school
is safe for
LGBT
students*
My school
is safe for
boys who
aren't as
masculine
as other
boys*
My school
is safe for
girls who
aren't as
feminine as
other girls*
1.66
2.15
1.90
2.21
0
1
2
3
Teachers treat
me fairly
Teachers care about
me and others
Youth resilience scales
Students whose schools have a GSA
Students whose schools do not have a GSA
N
ot at
all true
A little
true
Very
much true
Pretty
much true
fig 28 Students who are GSA members have stronger
support and connections
Adults care
about me
Adults care
about me
Teachers treat
me fairly
Teachers treat
me fairly
0
1
2
3
Youth resilience scales
2.3
2.1
2.1
1.8
N
ot at
all true
A little
true
Very
much true
Pretty
much true
Students who are members of a GSA
Students who are not members of a GSA
Step 3: Support the establishment of a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar student club.
Students whose schools have a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) or similar student club felt safer at
school, reported safer school climates in general, and were less likely to be harassed based on
actual or perceived sexual orientation. For example, 75 percent of students whose schools have a
GSA said they personally felt safe at school compared to 61 percent of students whose schools
have no club. See Figures 25 and 26. Students whose schools have a GSA were also more likely
to report that teachers treat them fairly and more likely to report that teachers care about
students. Students who are members of the GSA at their school were also less likely to be
harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender non-conformity, more likely
to feel their school is safe for LGBT students, more likely to have an adult outside of school or
home who cares about them and wants them to succeed, and more likely to report that teachers
treat them fairly. See Figures 27 and 28 for how having a GSA and membership in a GSA relate
to student scores on common multiple-question scales of youth resilience.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
21
fig 29 Feelings of safety are stronger among students
who know where to go at school for information
and support related to sexual orientation and
gender identity
fig 30 Students have stronger support and connections
when they know where to go at school for
information and support related to sexual
orientation and gender identity
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
75%
65%
62%
49%
57%
33%
49%
35%
69%
53%
20%
13%
*Pretty much true or very much true
Students who know where to go for information
Students who do not know where to go for information
Yes, I
feel safe
at school
Students
feel safe
at my
school*
My school
is safe for
LGBT
students*
My school
is safe for
boys who
aren't as
masculine
as other
boys*
My school
is safe for
girls who
aren't as
feminine as
other girls*
I rarely or
never hear
students
make negative
comments based
on sexual
orientation
2.2
2.3
1.6
1.9
1.4
1.9
1.9
0.9
0
1
2
3
Students who know where to go for information
Students who do not know where to go for information
I have a
voice and
make
contributions
at school
Adults care
about me
Teachers
treat
me fairly
Teachers care
about me and
others
Youth resilience scales
N
ot at
all true
A little
true
Very
much true
Pretty
much true
Step 4: Ensure that students know where to go for information and support related to
sexual orientation and gender identity.
Students who know of an adult or peer at school whom they can approach with questions about
sexual orientation or gender identity felt safer at school, reported safer school climates in
general, and were less likely to be harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. For
example, 69 percent of students who know where to go for information said their school is safe
for girls who are less feminine than other girls, compared to 53 percent of those who do not
know where to go for information. See Figure 29. Students who know where to go at school for
information about sexual orientation and gender identity were also more likely to feel they have
a voice and make positive contributions at school.They were more likely to have an adult outside
of school or home who cares about them and wants them to succeed, more likely to report that
teachers treat them fairly, and more likely to report that teachers care about students. See Figure
30 for how student awareness of where to go for information relates to student scores on
common multiple-question scales of youth resilience.
Step 5: Introduce curriculum that includes LGBT people and information about sexual
orientation and gender identity.
The PSH also sheds light on the value of curriculum changes in enhancing school safety. School climate
is improved, students feel safer, students hear fewer slurs and less name calling, and harassment is less
frequent when students report that they have learned about LGBT issues at school. For example, 67
percent of students who have learned about LGBT issues at school said their school is safe for LGBT
students, compared to 40 percent of students who have not
learned about LGBT issues at school. See Figures 31 and 32.
Students who have learned about LGBT issues at school were
also more likely to feel they have a voice at school and make
positive contributions to school. They were more likely to
have an adult outside of school or home who cares about them
and wants them to succeed, more likely to report that teachers
treat them fairly, and more likely to report that teachers care
about students. See Figure 33 for how LGBT-inclusive
curriculum relates to student scores on common multiple-
question scales of youth resilience.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
22
fig 31 Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation and gender non-conformity is less
common among students who have learned about
LGBT issues in school
fig 32 Feelings of safety are stronger among
students who have learned about LGBT
issues in school
39%
22%
51%
32%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
I have been harassed
based on actual or
perceived sexual
orientation
I have been harassed
for not being
masculine or
feminine enough
Students who have learned about LGBT
issues in school
Students who have not learned about LGBT
issues in school
2.3
2.1
2.3
1.1
2.0
1.7
2.1
1.4
0
1
2
Students have
voice and make
a contribution
Adults care
about me
Teachers
treat me fairly
Teachers care
about me
and others
Youth resilience scales
Students who have learned about LGBT issues in school
Students who have not learned about LGBT issues in school
N
ot at
all true
A little
true
Pretty
much true
3
Very
much true
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
85%
63%
74%
47%
67%
40%
60%
36%
75%
58%
25%
15%
*Pretty much true or very much true
Students who have learned about LGBT issues in school
Students who have not learned about LGBT issues in school
Yes, I
feel safe
at school
Students
feel safe
at my
school*
My school
is safe for
LGBT
students*
My school
is safe for
boys who
aren't as
masculine as
other boys*
My school
is safe for
girls who
aren't as
feminine as
other girls*
I rarely or
never hear
students make
negative
comments
based on
sexual
orientation
fig 33 Students have stronger support and connections
when they learn about LBGT issues at school
The findings of this study support a number of recommendations for state policy makers, local school officials
and school administrators, parents and community members, and students.
Recommendations for state policy makers
Four years after the enactment of the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, efforts to
implement the law are fragmented and inconsistent. Almost none of the recommendations of the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction’s AB 537 Advisory Task Force have been fully implemented at the state
level, and very few have been implemented in local school districts.
State policy makers should:
1. Review the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s AB 537 Advisory Task Force Report and
implement its recommendations.
2. Designate and train specific Department of Education staff to provide technical assistance to school
districts and to coordinate department efforts to implement the California Student Safety and Violence
Prevention Act.
3. Continue current efforts to evaluate the school safety planning process and update school safety planning
materials and training to reflect current law, including the California Student Safety and Violence
Prevention Act.
4. Mandate training for school staff and students on bias-related harassment, including training that
specifically addresses harassment and discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and
gender,including gender identity,appearance, and behavior. Include this training as part of the credentialing
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
23
Almost none of the
recommendations of the
State Superintendent
of Public Instruction’s
AB 537 Advisory Task
Force have been fully
implemented at the
state level, and very few
have been implemented
in local school districts.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In the largest-ever study examining harassment in school based on actual or perceived sexual orientation,
data from the 2001-2002 California Healthy Kids Survey reveal that such harassment is pervasive and has
severe outcomes on student health, risk behaviors, academic performance, and resilience. In a more detailed
look at school climate and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender non-
conformity, the 2003 Preventing School Harassment survey found that there are specific steps schools can
take to improve safety, reduce harassment, and strengthen students’ connections to school and community.
STEPS Schools Can Take
Establish and publicize a harassment policy that specifically includes
sexual orientation and gender, including gender identity, appearance,
and behavior.
Train teachers and staff to intervene when they hear slurs or negative
comments based on sexual orientation or gender non-conformity.
Support the establishment of a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar
student club.
Ensure that students know where to go for information and support
related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Introduce curriculum that includes LGBT people and information about
sexual orientation and gender identity.
OUTCOMES for Students
and School Environment
Fewer incidents of harassment and bullying.
Fewer bias-related comments and less name-calling.
Greater feelings of safety.
Improved connections to school, community, and supportive adults.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
24
and professional development process for teachers, counselors, and administrators. Provide technical assistance and training
resources to school districts.
5. Monitor schools’ compliance with the requirement that they notify students and parents or guardians annually of
nondiscrimination policies, complaint procedures, and California state law concerning harassment and other forms of
discrimination.
6. Include school compliance with the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act in the coordinated compliance
review process, including an examination of school policies on harassment and discrimination, procedures for student
complaints, and training of students and staff.
7. Update the Uniform Complaint Procedures regulations to reflect the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act
of 2000 and clarify the need to protect the confidentiality of student complainants.
8. Update all publications on school safety, bullying, tolerance, bias-motivated behavior, or hate violence to specifically address
bias-related harassment and discrimination, and specifically address harassment and discrimination based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation and gender, including gender identity, appearance, and behavior.
9. Integrate representations of LGBT people and discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity into existing
curriculum frameworks.
10. Expand the inquiry of the California Healthy Kids Survey into bias-related harassment as a health risk.
Provide funding to the California Department of Education for a yearly analysis of CHKS data on bias-related harassment
and associated health risks.
Evaluate the definition of bullying,” which currently focuses on individual students of unequal strength and therefore is not
inclusive of the full spectrum of harassment, including harassment that involves groups targeting individuals.
Add demographic questions asking students their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Add questions that measure school climate in terms of bias harassment, including name-calling and slurs, feelings of safety,
and staff intervention in harassment.
Recommendations for local school officials and administrators
California’s law prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on actual and perceived sexual orientation and gender,
including gender identity, appearance, and behavior has yet to improve the safety of many students because implementation and
enforcement of the law is inconsistent across the state. Local school officials and administrators must confront the serious health
and safety outcomes of bias-motivated harassment and take steps to make change in their schools.
Local school officials and administrators should:
1. Mandate training for staff, faculty, and students on bias-motivated harassment, including training that specifically addresses
harassment and discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender, including gender identity,
appearance, and behavior.
2. Clearly and regularly publicize district policies related to bias-motivated harassment, with specific reference to sexual
orientation and gender, including gender identity, appearance, and behavior.
Include a serious discussion about such harassment in student handbooks, including information making it clear how
students can file a complaint.
Post policies in clear language throughout all schools.
Reinforce the policy in school assemblies or other media, especially when incidents of bias harassment or violence occur.
3. Identify and eliminate barriers to the formation of Gay-Straight Alliances and other student anti-bias clubs, and support their
formation on every campus.
Place no restrictions on GSAs that would not be placed on any other student club.
Support GSAs’ activities to reduce harassment on campus.
Re-evaluate any policies that may have the unintentional effect of discouraging student participation in a GSA (for instance,
a parental permission policy or a policy requiring the disclosure of the names of students interested in participating to school
administrators).
4. Train professional counselors and/or peer counselors on each campus to provide students with information and support
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
25
related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and to address the multiple health risks associated with bias-related
harassment. Publicize the availability of these counseling resources to students.
5. Take consistent disciplinary action to stop all forms of bias-related harassment and make sure that students are aware that it
is not tolerated or condoned.
Treat every form of bias-related harassment as preventable, unacceptable, and deserving of a clear response.
Focus problem solving on eliminating bias-related harassment, rather than on avoiding the problem by, for instance,
changing the harassed students schedule or referring him or her to independent study.
6. Take steps to measure bias-related harassment in their school districts, such as adding an optional module to the CHKS on
bias-related harassment, including age-appropriate demographic questions asking students their sexual orientation and
gender identity.
7. Integrate representations of LGBT people and discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity into existing curricula.
Recommendations for teachers and school site staff
Teachers and school site staff who have the most contact with students are uniquely situated to help create a positive and safe
school climate and help students achieve their full potential.
Teachers and staff should:
1. Intervene when they hear bias-related comments and slurs. Use each comment as an opportunity to provide education and
reaffirm school policy.
2. Request training on preventing harassment and discrimination, and ask to help publicize school policies on harassment.
3. Set the climate in their classrooms early and as often as necessary,letting students know that bias-related harassment and slurs
are not acceptable.
4. Treat all forms of bias-related harassment and slurs as serious and preventable.
5. Find out about community resources and information related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
6. Integrate representations of LGBT people and discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity into existing curricula.
Recommendations for parents, guardians, and community members
Parents, guardians, and other members of the school community have a role to play in ensuring that school environments are safe
places for all students to learn.
Parents, guardians, and community members should:
1. Ask their children what happens at school when bias-related name-calling, harassment, and bullying occur. Ask their children
if they know what to do if they are harassed.
2. Talk to their children about sexual orientation and gender identity, name calling, and discrimination.
3. Speak out in support of specific steps school districts and schools can take: publicizing and enforcing anti-harassment policies,
supporting GSAs, providing resources to students, training teachers and other staff, measuring bias-related harassment in their
local school district, and including LGBT people and information about sexual orientation and gender identity in the curriculum.
Recommendations for students
If students feel safe and empowered, they have the ability to make their schools safer.
Students can:
1. Speak out when they hear slurs or negative comments like “thats so gay.”
2. Start a Gay-Straight Alliance to help fight harassment and discrimination at school, or join the club if one already exists.
3. Find out if the school harassment policy mentions harassment based on actual and perceived sexual orientation and gender,
including gender identity, appearance, and behavior and advocate for changing the policy if it doesnt.
4. Find out how to make a complaint when harassment occurs.
5. Speak out in support of specific steps school districts and schools can take: publicizing and enforcing anti-harassment policies,
supporting GSAs, providing resources to students, training teachers and other staff, measuring bias-related harassment in their
local school district, and including LGBT people and information about sexual orientation and gender identity in the curriculum.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
26
Methodology: The California Healthy Kids Survey
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is designed by
WestEd under contract from the California Department of
Education (CDE) and administered by school districts. The
CHKS core module and school and community asset scales
are now required to be administered every other year by all
school districts accepting certain federal education funds.
The 2001-2002 data analyzed for this study included 7th,
9th, and 11th grade students. 237,544 students answered the
question about harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation. The CHKS includes questions about
substance use, violence, health risks, student resilience, and
academic performance. Questions about specific types of
bias-related harassment were added to the survey starting
with the 2001-2002 school year in response to the passage of
AB 1785, which added hate-motivated crimes to the list of
crimes school districts must report to the state.
For districts that administer the survey,the state requires that
each district conduct a representative survey of 7th, 9th, and
11th grade students. In districts with less than 900 students
per grade, which is the case in 85 percent of the school
districts in the state, all students in those grades are surveyed.
The CHKS is designed to be representative of all students in
each district, but not necessarily all students in the state.
However comparisons between the CHKS and the
California Student Survey, which is designed to be
representative of all students in the state, show very few
differences in student attitudes and risk behaviors.
1
See
Appendix 3 for the text of CHKS questions on harassment
and bullying. For more information on the CHKS, see
www.wested.org/hks.
All CHKS data described in the Safe Place to Learn report are
statistically significant. In this report we discuss “outcomes”
or “consequences” of harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation. We acknowledge that we are unable to
test direct cause and effect with our data. However, it is far
more likely that the risk factors we examine are consequences
of harassment than precursors to harassment.
Methodology: The Preventing School Harassment
survey
The 2003 Preventing School Harassment survey (PSH) was
conducted by the California Safe Schools Coalition in
partnership with Gay-Straight Alliance Network. It was
administered both on paper and online with a convenience
sample of 634 middle and high school students from across
California. Surveys were mailed to community
organizations, student and youth groups, individuals, and to
more than 325 Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in the state. Gay-
Straight Alliance Network also promoted the survey online
and in its email newsletter. Distribution and promotion of
the survey targeted LGBT students but all middle school
and high school students in California were welcome to take
the survey. 46 percent of the PSH survey respondents
identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or transgender.The
demographics of the PSH survey are approximately
representative of statewide student populations for African-
American, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and
American Indian/Alaska Native students. Hispanic/Latino
students, male students, and heterosexual/straight students
are under-represented in the survey, and White/Caucasian
students, female students, and LGBT students are over-
represented.
The 6-page survey asked about the students’ perceptions of
safety at their schools and their experiences with bullying or
harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation,
gender non-conformity, and other reasons (such as
harassment based on race or religion). See Appendix 4 for the
text of the survey with frequencies. All PSH data described in
the Safe Place to Learn report are statistically significant.
Questions for future research
Researchers can help make schools safer places to learn by
adding to the pool of knowledge about bias-motivated
harassment, outcomes for students, and effective prevention
measures. Additional research questions include:
What other factors can reduce bias-motivated harassment?
Which programs designed to reduce bias-related
harassment are most successful?
What other factors can improve resiliency among students
who experience harassment?
The key to the success of future research is improving
existing tools for data gathering, notably the CHKS.
Researchers should also develop partnerships with local
school districts and community organizations in order to
measure bias-related harassment, its effects, and ways of
reducing it.
Appendix 1: Methodology and questions for future research
1
Hanson, T.L., Austin, G. 2003.
Student Health Risks, Resilience, and
Academic Performance in California: Year 2 Report, Longitudinal Analyses.
Los Alamitos
, CA:WestEd.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
27
LGBT youth, risk, and the school environment
Research indicates that LGBT adolescents are at higher risk
than their heterosexual peers for some of the most
compromising challenges that adolescents face today:
substance use and abuse
1
, depression and anxiety
2
, violence
and victimization
3
, and suicide
4
. Several of those problems
pertain directly to education and schooling, such as poor
academic performance, negative school attitudes
5
,or
victimization at school.
6
In addition, recent research has
begun to link the negative mental health and risk behaviors
of LGBT youth to challenges that they face in school,
including harassment and discrimination. These challenges
impede not only the students’ academic performance, but
also their general emotional and social development.
The school is one of the most important contexts for child
and adolescent development. Next to the family (and faith
for some youth), education plays a critical role in the lives of
children and adolescents. The school environment is
important not only in the development of academic and
occupational skills, but also the personal and social skills that
shape the first 20 years of life.
However, bullying and harassment on the basis of actual or
perceived sexual orientation and gender non-conformity
are pervasive in contemporary schools. Survey laws that are
restrictive or too broadly interpreted have hampered
school-based research into harassment on the basis of
actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity
and non-conformity. Research has also been limited by the
difficulty of introducing specific questions related to the
subject into the standard, population-based surveys that are
widely used to measure student health, such as the Center
for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey and its
state and local versions.
Despite these limitations, several studies have examined
harassment in school based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation. This research tells a story consistent with our
findings: harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation is pervasive and has serious consequences.
Several population-based studies of adolescent health risk
that included questions about sexual orientation, same-sex
behavior, or harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation were collected in a 1999 report by the Safe
Schools Coalition of Washington. The report included local
and state versions of the federal Youth Risk Behavior Survey
in Vermont, Seattle, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin; the
Adolescent Health Survey conducted by the University of
Minnesota; the Voice of Connecticut Youth survey; and the
National American Indian Adolescent Health Survey.
Students in these studies who were harassed based on sexual
orientation were 4 times more likely to have been threatened
or injured with a weapon in the last 12 months, 2-3 times as
likely to have missed a day of school out of fear for their
safety, 2 times as likely to have used inhalants, and 1.5 times
as likely to have seriously considered suicide
7
. Almost no
research has examined the problem of harassment based on
gender identity or non-conformity.
Every two years, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network (GLSEN) conducts the National School Climate
Survey, which examines LGBT students’ experiences of
harassment using a nationwide convenience sample built
through community outreach. In 2003, 84 percent of the
LGBT students who responded reported being harassed
based on sexual orientation during the last school year.These
harassed students had lower grades and were less likely to
intend to go to college than students who were not harassed.
8
In late 2002, the National Mental Health Association
conducted a random telephone survey inquiring into the
issue of harassment based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation. NMHA found that among its 760 adolescent
respondents, 78 percent reported that students in their
school who are gay or thought to be gay are teased or bullied.
93 percent reported that they hear words like “fag,” “homo,”
dyke,” queer,” or “gay” at school or in their neighborhood;
51 percent reported hearing such language every day.
9
While many efforts have been made to document the stories
of students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual
orientation, the most sustained and systematic efforts to
gather qualitative data may be a five-year effort by the Safe
Schools Coalition of Washington, They Don’t Even Know
Appendix 2: Other research on harassment based on actual
or perceived sexual orientation and gender non-conformity
1
Garofalo R., Wolf R.C., Kessel S., Palfrey J., DuRant R.H,The association between health
risk behaviors and sexual orientation among a school-based sample of adolescents.
Pediatrics. 1998; 101:895-902; and
Russell S.T., Joyner K. 2001.Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Suicide Risk:Evidence
from a National Study. American Journal of Public Health.
2
Russell and Joyner, 2001.
3
Garofalo, Wolf, Kessel, Palfrey and DuRant, 1998;
DuRant R.H., Krowchuck D.P., Sinal S.H.Victimization, use of violence, and drug use at
school among male adolescents who engage in same-sex sexual behavior. Journal of
Pediatrics, 1998:138;113-118; and
Russell S.T., Franz B.T.,Driscoll A.K.2001.Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Violence:
Understanding Victimization and Violence Perpetration.The American Journal of Public Health.
4
Russell and Joyner, 2001;
Hammelman,T.L. 1993. Gay and Lesbian Youth: Contributing Factors to Serious Attempts or
Considerations of Suicide. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy. 2:77-89;
Rotheram-Borus, M.J., Hunter J., Rosario M. 1994. Suicidal Behavior and Gay-Related
Stress among Gay and Bisexual Male Adolescents. Unpublished manuscript, Columbia
University; and
Russell, S.T. (2003). Sexual minority youth and suicide risk. American Behavioral Scientist.
46, 1241-1257.
5
Russell S.T., Seif H., Truong N.L. 2001. School Outcomes of Sexual Minority Youth in the
United States: Evidence from a National Study. Journal of Adolescence.
6
Garofalo, Wolf, Kessel, Palfrey and Durant, 1998;
Human Rights Watch. 2001. Hatred in the hallways: Violence and discrimination against
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students in U.S. schools. New York: Human Rights
Watch. www.hrw.org
7
Reis and Saewyc, “83,000 youth: Selected findings from eight population-based studies.
Safe Schools Coalition of Washington, 1999.
8
GLSEN, “The 2001 National School Climate Survey,” 2003. www.glsen.org
9
International Communications Research, “What Does Gay Mean? Teen Survey,” NMHA,
2002. www.nmha.org
10
Reis. “They Don’t Even Know Me:A Report on the Five-Year Anti-Violence Research
Project of the Safe Schools Coalition of Washington,” Safe Schools Coalition of
Washington, 1999. www.safeschoolscoalition.org
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
28
Me,”
10
and a report released in 2001 by Human Rights Watch,
“Hatred in the Hallways.”
11
Individual stories from both
sources confirm our quantitative data pointing to significant
harms.
California research regarding harassment
Despite an absence until now of statewide population-based
data regarding harassment based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation in California, many local communities
have chosen to look at this question, often led by advocates
for safe schools.
GSA Network’s student-led research effort surveyed more
than 1,300 students in the 2002-2003 school year. Students
in three high schools (Fremont High School in Sunnyvale,
Brentwood High School in Los Angeles, and Lakewood
High School in Long Beach) participated in the survey
project. The Fremont survey (n=940) was the most widely
distributed of the three. It revealed that 47 percent of
students heard anti-LGBT slurs directed at specific students,
teachers, or staff at least once a week; 71 percent of students
heard generalized anti-LGBT language at least once a day;
and 81 percent of students reported that teachers never or only
sometimes intervene when they hear anti-LGBT slurs. The
Lakewood student survey (n=179) found that 91 percent of
students heard anti-LGBT slurs directed at specific students,
teachers, or staff at least once a week, and the Brentwood
student survey (n=200) found that 75 percent of students
heard anti-LGBT language at school at least once a day.
12
A survey by Fremont Unified School District demonstrates
how local school districts can begin to track bias-related
harassment themselves and how community groups, in this
case, the Committee to Assure Respect in Schools, can play a
critical role in jumpstarting that process. FUSD’s “Safe
School Survey” (student n=8,021, teacher n= 322) found that
69 percent of high school students, 67 percent of junior high
school students, and 61 percent of teachers reported hearing
slurs based on sexual orientation at school. 18 percent of high
school students and 23 percent of junior high school students
reported being personally harassed on the basis of sexual
orientation in the last 30 days.
13
Another study, the Understanding the Social Environment
(USE) Survey, developed by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian
Center's Safe Haven Project, is notable particularly because
it asked about harassment based on gender non-conformity.
The survey was administered as a pilot survey by Los
Angeles Unified School District in 2001, and its sample of
154 students at one high school was designed as a
representative sample of the school's student population.
Students who participated in the pilot survey indicated that
sexual orientation was the second most likely trigger for bias-
related harassment in school, after race/ethnicity.The survey
also found that “male effeminacy” or “female masculinity”
ranked third as a basis for student harassment. Moreover,
victims of anti-LGBTQ harassment were the only group not
to seek help from school authorities.
14
The California Safe Schools Coalition and GSA Network
conducted a survey in 2002 about implementation of the
California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act and
found that 44% of students didn't know how to file a
complaint if they were verbally harassed. Youth from 76% of
the 41 schools in the survey said their school was doing
nothing that they knew of to protect LGBT students from
harassment and violence.
15
Preliminary results from a qualitative study of LGBT youth
in California support this reports findings regarding health
outcomes of school-based harassment. The Family
Acceptance Project at the César E. Chávez Institute, San
Francisco State University includes a statewide qualitative
study of white and Latino LGB and queer youth and their
families. All the youth studied (regardless of geographic area,
socioeconomic background, ethnic group, and degrees of
gender conformity) have reported some negative school
experiences related to their sexual orientation, ranging from
teasing and harassment to assault. The studys preliminary
data suggest that victimization associated with a youths
sexual and gender identity can be more traumatic and longer
lasting than was previously thought and can restrict
development and negatively impact psychological and
physical health. Nearly all parents interviewed, even those
with higher levels of education and access to resources, are
unaware that state law protects students against
discrimination and harassment in school based on sexual
orientation and gender identity, and have limited awareness or
understanding of how to advocate for their children in school.
Research on changing the school climate
Very few studies document the steps associated with a more
positive school climate in terms of reducing harassment
based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender
identity. A recent study based on the 1995 Massachusetts
Youth Risk Behavior Survey documented that LGB youth
who attend schools with gay-sensitive HIV instruction score
lower on multiple indicators of health risk.
16
A second study,
also based in Massachusetts, included data from over 1,700
students and 33 schools. Controlling for factors such as
socioeconomic status, geography, race, and school size, it
found that schools that took specific steps to implement
Massachusetts’ Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian
Students showed statistically significant improvements in
school climate for LGBT students. This study highlights
policies, trainings, and the presence of GSAs as three
significant factors in changing school climate.
17
11
Human Rights Watch, 2001.
12
GSA Network, “Make It Real” survey findings, 2003. www.gsanetwork.org
13
Fremont Unified School District, results for “Safe School Survey,” 2001. Unpublished.
14
Los Angeles Unified School District Program Evaluation and Research Branch, results for
“Understanding the Social Environment” survey, 2001. Unpublished.
15
California Safe Schools Coalition and GSA Network, ”AB 537 Implementation Survey”
findings, 2002. Unpublished.
16
Blake, S.M., Ledsky, R., Lehman, T., Goodenow, C., Sawyer, R., & Hack,T. (2001).
Preventing sexual risk behaviors among gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents: the
benefits of gay-sensitive HIV instruction in schools. American Journal of Public Health
.
91, 940-946.
17
Szalacha, “The Sexual Diversity Climate of Massachusetts’ Secondary Schools and the
Success of the Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian Students,” Harvard
University Graduate School in Education thesis, 2001.
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
29
Appendix 3: Text of the 2003 Preventing School Harassment
survey with frequencies
California Safe Schools Coalition
2003 Preventing School Harassment Survey
(Results listed as percentages.)
Questions 1 – 15: Please read each statement carefully and mark the answer that best describes how you feel.
Not at A little Pretty much Very much
all true true true true
1. In my school, teachers expect students to respect one another. 2 14 41 43
2. In my school, teachers give all students a fair chance. 7 22 55 16
3. In my school, teachers treat students as individuals, not as 7 31 39 23
members of groups.
4. In my school, teachers really care about the students; all the students. 11 33 40 16
5. In my school, students feel safe. 9 31 40 20
6. In my school, students from different races and cultures 7 31 34 28
hang out together.
7. In my school, there are classes where we learn about the history 8 26 35 31
of different races and cultures.
8. In my school, there are some classes where students get a 18 35 31 15
chance to discuss their cultural background.
9. My school is safe for guys who are not as “masculine” as other guys. 16 36 32 15
10. My school is safe for girls who are not as “feminine” as other girls. 9 25 44 22
11. My school is safe for students with lesbian, gay, bisexual 11 28 38 23
or transgender (LGBT) parents.
12. My school is safe for students who are LGBT. 15 32 36 17
13. My school is safe for teachers and staff who are LGBT. 15 23 36 25
14. My school is safe for straight allies (friends) of LGBT people. 5 21 43 30
15. I often hear positive or supportive comments about LGBT 33 34 22 12
people from teachers or other staff at my school.
16. Do you know of any students that openly identify as LGBT? Yes – 83 No – 17
17. Do you know of any teachers or staff who openly identify as LGBT? Yes – 49 No – 17
Questions 18-22: Please mark the answer that best describes your school and your experience at school.
Yes No I don’t know
18. Have you had education about LGBT issues at school? 45 49 6
19. Have you ever learned about systems of oppression (racism, homophobia, sexism, classism)? 77 17 6
20. Does your school have a written harassment policy that specifically includes race and ethnicity? 61 7 32
21. Does your school have a written harassment policy that specifically includes gender? 51 10 38
22. Does your school have a written harassment policy that specifically includes sexual orientation? 36 18 45
Questions 23 – 27: Please mark the answer that best describes how you feel.
Yes No I don’t know
23. I feel safe at my school. 73 14 13
24. I feel safe getting to and from school. 84 10 6
25. The teachers in my school treat me fairly. 79 14 7
26. I feel like I am part of my school. 62 29 9
27. I have a friend that I can count on at my school. 90 5 5
28. If you wanted information and support from your school about sexual orientation or gender identity, would you know
whom to go to? Yes – 72 No – 18 I don’t know – 10
28a. If yes, please check all that apply: Teacher – 55 Counselor – 45 Administrator or Principal – 14 School staff – 19
Coach – 6 Student leaders – 29
29. Does your school have a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar club/group? Yes 81 No – 13 I don’t know – 6
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
30
29a. If yes, then are you a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance or similar club / group?
Yes 42 : Why?_________________________ No – 58: Why?________________________
30. AB 537 is the California law that protects students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity. Do you know about AB 537? Yes – 38 No – 54 I don’t know – 7
30a. If yes, how did you learn about AB 537? (Please check all that apply)
From my school administration – 4 From a teacher – 11
From other students at school – 10 From a friend – 11
From the internet – 7 From GSA Network – 23
From my parent(s) – 2 From a community organization – 7
Other: – 6______________________
31. How often do you hear other students make negative comments based on:
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
Race or ethnicity 5 25 39 31
Sex (male or female) 7 24 37 31
Sexual orientation 9 12 25 54
Gender presentation 13 17 36 33
Body size 6 21 36 37
Religion 23 37 26 14
Physical or mental disability 18 31 29 22
Other: ____________________ 3 1 1 6
32. How often do you hear teachers or other staff make negative comments based on:
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
Race or ethnicity 62 30 6 1
Sex (male or female) 50 33 14 3
Sexual orientation 55 29 14 2
Gender presentation 60 27 11 1
Body size 62 26 9 2
Religion 66 25 7 2
Physical or mental disability 74 19 6 2
Other: ____________________ 88 7 2 1
33. How often do you hear teachers or other staff stop others from making negative comments based on:
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
Race or ethnicity 17 23 31 29
Sex (male or female) 21 28 31 20
Sexual orientation 24 33 26 18
Gender presentation 30 30 25 15
Body size 26 29 29 17
Religion 26 25 25 24
Physical or mental disability 25 23 23 29
Other: __________________ 4 3 3 2
34 - 42. During the past 12 months, how many times on school property have you...
0 times 1 time 2 to 3 times 4 or more times
34. …been pushed, shoved, slapped, hit, or kicked by someone 71 12 11 6
who wasn't just kidding around?
35. …been threatened or injured with a weapon, such as a gun, 92 5 2 1
knife, or club?
36. …been afraid of being beaten up? 70 17 8 6
37. …been in a physical fight? 83 10 5 2
38. …had mean rumors or had lies spread about you? 41 24 17 17
39. …had sexual jokes, comments, or gestures made to you? 31 21 22 27
40. …been made fun of because of your looks or the way you talk? 43 19 16 22
41. …had your property stolen or deliberately damaged, such 68 18 8 6
as your car, clothing, or books?
42. …been picked on? 45 18 15 21
43 - 51. During the past 12 months, how many times on school property were you harassed or bullied for any of the
following reasons?
0 times 1 time 2 to 3 times 4 or more times
43. Your race, ethnicity, or national origin 82 10 5 3
44. Your religion 81 8 5 6
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
31
45. Your sex (being male or female) 75 13 8 5
46. Your body size 71 11 10 8
47. Because you are gay, lesbian, or bisexual or 56 15 14 16
someone thought you were
48. A physical or mental disability 94 3 2 1
49. Because you weren’t “masculine enough” 86 5 5 4
50. Because you weren’t “feminine enough” 83 9 5 3
51. Because you didn’t fit in 64 12 13 11
52 – 55: The next questions are about you and your school. Please mark how true you feel the statements below are for you.
0 times 1 time 2 to 3 times 4 or more times
52. I have a voice in decisions that affect my school. 32 38 21 9
53. I believe that I can make a valuable contribution to my school. 20 34 25 21
54. I am a leader. 20 29 24 28
55. It is important to me to get along with people who 5 10 25 59
are different from me.
56 – 58. Not counting adults at home or at school, there is an adult in my life…
0 times 1 time 2 to 3 times 4 or more times
56. …who really cares about me. 9 13 19 59
57. …whom I trust. 12 15 21 52
58. …who makes sure that everyone is treated fairly. 15 17 24 44
59 – 64. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult…
0 times 1 time 2 to 3 times 4 or more times
59. …who really cares about me. 9 22 27 41
60. …who tells me when I do a good job. 6 15 30 49
61. …who notices when I’m not there. 10 19 26 45
62. …who listens to me when I have something to say. 5 15 27 53
63. …who believes that I will be a success. 6 14 27 54
64. …who makes sure that everyone is treated fairly and with respect. 6 14 33 48
The following questions are about you. Please answer them to the best of your ability.
65. How old are you? 12 years old – 1 13 years old – 3 14 years old – 11 15 years old – 15 16 years old – 22
17 years old – 28 18 years old – 18 Other – 2
66. What is your sex? Male – 33 Female – 66 Intersex – 1
67. What is your gender? Male – 32 Female 65 Transgender – <1 Questioning – 1 Write-in: – 1____
68. What is your sexual orientation? Gay/lesbian – 20 Straight/heterosexual – 45 Bisexual - 23 Queer - 3
Questioning 4 Write-in: – 2 ______________
69. How do you describe yourself? (Please check all that apply.) American Indian or Alaska Native – 7
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander – 3 Asian – 12 Black or African American (non-Hispanic) – 6
Hispanic or Latino/Latina – 20 White or Caucasian (non-Hispanic) – 66 Other: – 9 ____________
70. During the past 12 months, how would you describe the grades you received in school?
Mostly A's – 28 A's and B's – 32 Mostly B's – 10 B's and C's – 17 Mostly C's – 4 C's and D's – 6
Mostly D's 2 Mostly F's–2
71. What is the name of your school? ________________________________________
72. What city/town do you live in? _________________________________________
73. What is your grade level? 7th grade – 1 8th grade – 9 9th grade/freshman – 8 10th grade/sophomore – 15
11th grade/junior – 25 12th grade/senior – 240 Other – 18
74. Are you currently or have you ever been on independent study? Yes–16
No–83
75. How did you hear about this survey? (Please check all that apply)
From GSA Network – 31 From a friend – 12 From my GSA or similar student group – 28
From my community youth group – 7 From a website – 5 From a listserve – 1 At a youth event – 3 Other: ____
Your comments:_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________ THANK YOU!
SAFE PLACE TO LEARN
32
Appendix 4: Text of question on bias-related harassment
from 2001-2002 California Healthy Kids Survey
During the past 12 months, how many times on school property were you harassed or bullied for any of the following
reasons?
(You were bullied if you were repeatedly shoved, hit, threatened, called mean names, teased in a way you
didnt like, or had other unpleasant things done to you. It is not bullying when two students of about the
same strength quarrel or fight.)
0 1 2 to 3 4 or more
times time times times
A76. Your race, ethnicity, or A B C D
national origin
A77. Your religion A B C D
A78. Your gender A B C D
(being male or female)
A79. Because you are gay or A B C D
lesbian or someone
thought you were
A80. A physical or mental disability A B C D
A81. Any other reason A B C D
Safe Place to Learn
Consequences of Harassment Based on Actual or
Perceived Sexual Orientation and Gender Non-Conformity
and Steps for Making Schools Safer
Summary Fact Sheet from a Report by the California Safe Schools Coalition and
the 4-H Center for Youth Development, University of California, Davis
This study examines school-based harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender non-
conformity and steps for improving school safety. It analyzes data from two sources: the broad-based 2001-2002
California Healthy Kids Survey, designed by WestEd under a contract with the California Department of Education,
and the 2003 Preventing School Harassment survey, carried out by the California Safe Schools Coalition in
partnership with Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
Key findings
Harassment and bullying based on actual or perceived sexual orientation are pervasive, according to the
California Healthy Kids Survey.
7.5 percent of California students reported being harassed on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation: that
translates to over 200,000 middle school and high school students harassed every year.
Harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation has dangerous consequences for students,
according to data from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
Compared to students who were not harassed:
Students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation are more than three times as likely to carry a
weapon to school, to seriously consider suicide, to make a plan for attempting suicide or to miss at least one day of
school in the last 30 days because they felt unsafe.
Students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation are more than twice as likely to report depression
(feeling so sad and hopeless they stopped normal activities for two weeks), to use methamphetamines, or to use
inhalants.
Students harassed based on actual or perceived sexual orientation are also more likely to have low grades (Cs or below),
to be victims of violence, to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, binge drink, or use marijuana.
Harassment based on sexual
orientation is more frequent in
middle school than high school
8.1%
6.1%
7.3%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
7th Grade 9th Grade 11th Grade
Grade Level
Percent of students harassed based
on sexual orientation
Students harassed based on sexual
orientation are more likely to miss
school and have low grades
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
24%
17%
7%
27%
30%
Usual grades
C’s or below
Type of Risk
†Data on missing school are not directly comparable to
data on low grades
Students harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation
Students not harassed
Missed school in last 30
days because felt unsafe †
School climates are unsafe for LGBT students, students perceived to be LGBT, and gender non-
conforming students, according to the Preventing School Harassment survey.
91 percent of students reported hearing students make negative comments based on sexual orientation.
44 percent reported hearing teachers make negative comments based on sexual orientation.
46 percent of students said their schools were not safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) students.
Two out of every three students who identified as LGBT reported being harassed based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation.
School climates are also unsafe for gender non-conforming students. 53 percent of students said their
schools were unsafe for “guys who arent as masculine as other guys,” and 34 percent said their schools
were unsafe for “girls who arent as feminine as other girls.” 27 percent of students reported being
harassed for gender non-conformity.
Schools can take steps to improve safety and health for all students, according to the
Preventing School Harassment (PSH) survey.
The PSH survey reveals that specific steps schools can
take that are related to a more positive overall school
climate, lower rates of harassment based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation and gender non-
conformity, and stronger student resilience.
Local school officials and school administrators
should establish and publicize district policies
prohibiting harassment based on sexual orientation
and gender, including gender identity, appearance
and behavior; ensure that all school staff are trained
to prevent and respond to harassment; support the
formation of Gay-Straight Alliances or similar clubs;
and treat all forms of harassment and discrimination
as serious and preventable.
Teachers and school staff can make schools safer
by responding to slurs and negative comments, by
sharing with students where to go for information
about sexual orientation and gender identity, and
by including LGBT people and information about
sexual orientation and gender identity in the
curriculum.
The full Safe Place to Learn report is available at
www.casafeschools.org.
For more information, contact
Molly O’Shaughnessy at (415) 626-1680.
STEPS Schools Can Take
Establish and publicize a harassment policy that specifically includes
sexual orientation and gender, including gender identity, appearance,
and behavior.
Train teachers and staff to intervene when they hear slurs or
negative comments based on sexual orientation or gender
non-conformity.
Support the establishment of a Gay-Straight Alliance or similar
student club.
Ensure that students know where to go for information and support
related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Introduce curriculum that includes LGBT people and information
about sexual orientation and gender identity.
OUTCOMES for Students
and School Environment
Fewer incidents of harassment and bullying.
Fewer bias-related comments and less name-calling.
Greater feelings of safety.
Improved connections to school, community, and supportive adults
Steering Committee of the California Safe Schools Coalition
American Civil Liberties Union
of Southern California
www.aclu-sc.org
Anti-Defamation League
www.adl.org
California Teachers Association
www.cta.org
Equality California
www.eqca.org
Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network
www.glsen.org
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
www.gsanetwork.org
Human Rights Watch
www.hrw.org
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
www.laglc.org
National Center for Lesbian Rights
www.nclrights.org
Oakland Unified School District
www.ousd.k12.ca.us
Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays
www.pflag.org
San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender Community Center
www.thecentersd.org
Transgender Law Center
www.transgenderlawcenter.org
Women's Educational Media
www.womedia.org
Jennifer Richard, Principal Consultant,
Office of State Senator Sheila Kuehl
Stephen Russell, Ph.D., Director,
4-H Center for Youth Development,
University of California at Davis
Caitlin Ryan, Director of Adolescent
Health Initiatives,
César E. Chávez Institute,
San Francisco State University
Place Union Bug