Harsh Realities For Transgender Students

by: Autumn Sandeen

Wed Mar 18, 2009 at 13:00:00 PM EDT

We at [TransYouth Family Allies] are very grateful for this new publication exclusively outlining the struggles faced by transgender youth in America's schools. The results are sadly sobering, yet empowering. TYFA is empowered and inspired to take these results into schools and have better documentation to support our claims for the need of acceptance for all youth regardless of their gender identity or gender expression and the need for education for staff, students and administrators at all schools.

This publication will be an extremely powerful tool in making positive changes. Please take the time to read it and share it with others. Knowledge + Education= Power.

--Shannon Garcia, President, TransYouth Family Allies (TYFA)

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has released a new report  today, entitled Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools.  The opening paragraphs to the media release for the report are sobering (emphasis added); to me, the paragraphs offer both sadness (italicized) and hope (bolded) (italicized and bolded emphasis added).

Transgender youth face extremely high levels of victimization in school, even more so than their non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual peers. But they are also more likely to speak out about LGBT issues in the classroom, according to Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools, the first comprehensive study on transgender students, released today by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Nearly nine out of 10 transgender students experienced verbal harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation and gender expression, more than half experienced physical harassment because of their sexual orientation and gender expression and more than a quarter experienced physical assault because of their sexual orientation and gender expression. These levels of victimization were higher than those faced  by the non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual students who participated in the 2007 National School Climate Survey, GLSEN's biennial survey of LGBT students.

Here are some findings from the report:

Biased language:

•  90% of transgender students heard derogatory remarks, such as "dyke" or "faggot," sometimes, often or frequently in school in the past year.
•  90% of transgender students heard negative remarks about someone's gender expression sometimes, often or frequently in school in the past year.
•  Less than a fifth of transgender students said that school staff intervened most of the time or always when hearing homophobic remarks (16%) or negative remarks about someone's gender expression (11%).
•  School staff also contributed to the harassment. A third of transgender students heard school staff make homophobic remarks (32%), sexist remarks (39%) and negative comments about someone's gender expression (39%) sometimes, often or frequently in the past year.

School Safety and Experiences of Harassment and Assault

•  Two-thirds of transgender students felt unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation (69%) and how they expressed their gender (65%).
•  Almost all transgender students had been verbally harassed (e.g., called names or threatened) in the past year at school because of their sexual orientation (89%) and gender expression (87%).
•  More than half of all transgender students had been physically harassed (e.g., pushed or shoved) in school in the past year because of their sexual orientation (55%) and gender expression (53%).
•  More than a quarter of transgender students had been physically assaulted (e.g., punched, kicked or injured with a weapon) in school in the past year because of their sexual orientation (28%) and gender expression (26%).
•  Most transgender students (54%) who were victimized in school did not report the events to school authorities. Among those who did report incidents to school personnel, few students (33%) believed that staff addressed the situation effectively.

Impact of Victimization on Educational Outcomes

•  Almost half of all transgender students reported skipping a class at least once in the past month (47%) and missing at least one day of school in the past month (46%) because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable.
•  Transgender students experiencing high levels of harassment were more likely than other transgender students to miss school for safety reasons (verbal harassment based on sexual orientation: 64% vs. 25%, gender expression: 56% vs. 32%, gender: 68% vs. 38%).
•  Transgender students who experienced high levels of harassment had significantly lower GPAs than those who experienced lower levels of harassment (verbal harassment based on sexual orientation: 2.2. vs. 3.0, gender expression: 2.3 vs. 2.8, gender: 2.2 vs. 2.7).

Engagement with the School Community

•  Transgender students who were out to most or all other students and school staff reported a greater sense of belonging to their school community than those who were not out or only out to a few other students or staff.
•  The majority (66%) of transgender students were out to most or all of their peers, yet less than half (45%) were out to most or all of the school staff.
•  Most transgender students had talked with a teacher (66%) or a school-based mental health professional (51%) at least once in the past year about LGBT-related issues. Transgender students were also more likely than non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual students to talk with school staff about these issues.

In-School Resources and Supports

•  Although transgender students were not more likely to report having a GSA in their school, they did report attending GSA meetings more frequently than non-transgender LGB students.
•  Although most transgender students (83%) could identify at least one supportive educator, only a third (36%) could identify many (six or more) supportive staff.
•  Only half (54%) of transgender students reported that their school had an anti-harassment policy, and only 24% said that the school policy included specific protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

I find a lot of hope in the reality that even though trans students are more likely to be harassed for being perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, they don't just speak out on harassment, bullying, or other issues relating only to transgender students, but work for the entire community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.