Middle School LGBT Students Face Extreme Levels of Harassment

Middle school LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students are significantly more likely to face hostile school climates than high school LGBT students, yet have less access to school resources and support, according to a new research brief from GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, released as the New York Times Magazine publishes a cover story on students coming out in middle school.

The research brief, the first national research report to look specifically at the experiences of LGBT students in middle school, is based on data from 626 LGBT middle school students who participated in GLSEN’s 2007 National School Climate Survey of 6,209 secondary school students.

“The findings should be a wake-up call to school officials and policymakers across the country that we can no longer ignore one of the biggest school climate issues facing middle school students, regardless of sexual orientation,” GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said. “GLSEN has worked for many years to provide educators/schools with evidence-based solutions that they can implement to address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. For the sake of all of our students, schools must take action to address these issues in the critical middle grades.”

More than 9 out of 10 LGBT middle school students (91%) said they experienced harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, 59% experienced physical harassment and a startling 39% said they had been physically assaulted, nearly twice as many as in high school (20%).

More than 8 out of 10 LGBT middle school students (82%) reported hearing homophobic epithets (e.g., “faggot” or “dyke”) frequently or often from other students in school – a higher percentage than high school students (73%). Perhaps most shocking, 63% of LGBT middle school students had heard school staff make homophobic remarks.

The negative and hostile climate had a profound effect on student academic success. Half of LGBT middle school students (50%) had skipped at least one day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe. Further, their grade point average was half a grade point lower than students who had not missed school due to safety concerns.

The full research brief can be found at www.glsen.org.

Major Findings

Finding: Homophobic remarks and negative comments about someone’s gender expression were pervasive in middle schools.

Finding: The majority of LGBT middle school students experienced verbal harassment because of their sexual orientation or gender expression, and sizable percentages were physically harassed or assaulted based on these characteristics.

Finding: Harassment and absenteeism as a result of an unsafe school environment negatively affected LGBT middle school students’ academic performance and ability to attend school.

Finding: Many LGBT students in middle school did not have access to important resources and interventions that can improve school climate.