Empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: Lessons learned from a safe schools summit

United States
Written By INQYR

Craig, S. L., Tucker, E. W., & Wagner, E. F. (2008). Empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: Lessons learned from a safe schools summit. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 20(3), 237–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720802235310

Highlights

Background

  • Bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in schools is a significant problem in the United States.
    A strategy to meet the needs of LGBT youth is based on the foundation of social work practice aimed at empowering individuals to make choices and gain control over their environments.

Study Description

  • Youth participants (n = 24) at a Florida-wide Safe Schools Summit shared their experiences with school-based violence, harassment, and discrimination, and of the effects of their attendance at the Summit in a grounded theory study.

    • Age: 74% between ages of 15–18;

    • Gender: equal number of female and male participants, as well as others who were genderqueer and androgynous;

    • Sexual Orientation: 40% of participants identified as gay, 24% as lesbian, 16% as straight, 12% as bisexual, and 8% as queer

    • Race/Ethnicity: 50% of respondents were white, 25% black, 16% multiracial, and 8% Latino

Unique Findings

safe-schools.png

  • Themes emerged around respondents’ experiences with victimization (leading to a sense of powerlessness and attempts at self-protection) and to their experiences at the Summit itself (leading to catharsis, strengthened skills, and a commitment to confront bullies and to make schools safer).

  • We developed a conceptual model to capture the interaction of these factors (see diagram).

 
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Precarious partnerships: Designing a community needs assessment to develop a system of care for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) youths