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Human Rights Campaign Foundation Releases Report on Conditions for CA LGBTQ Students (Excerpts from Press Release)

By: Dr. Loretta Whitson 
Last Week the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), in partnership with nine California civil rights and education organizations, one of which is CASC, released the California LGBTQ Youth Report, a groundbreaking resource detailing the experiences of LGBTQ students in California. 
By: Dr. Loretta Whitson 
Last Week the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), in partnership with nine California civil rights and education organizations, one of which is CASC, released the California LGBTQ Youth Report, a groundbreaking resource detailing the experiences of LGBTQ students in California. The report analyzes responses from more than 1,700 young people from California, ranging in age from 13 to 17, who participated in HRC's online 2017 LGBTQ Teen Survey. Dr. Vincent Pompei, Director of the Youth Well-Being Project at HRC will be speaking at the CASC Northern CA Conference in February outlining report highlights. Dr. Pompei is a former school counselor and former CASC President. 

The report details the need for advocates, parents, teachers, school administrators, school counselors and school board members to lead in the implementation of recommendations included in this report, including ensuring curricula are LGBTQ-inclusive and supporting LGBTQ student clubs, to create safe, affirming and welcoming schools. 

HRC conducted this research in partnership with researchers at the University of Connecticut. They found that even with California state laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ students, there still remained gaps in services and provisions including:Only 10 percent of LGBTQ youth in California say all of their school staff are supportive of LGBTQ students;
Only 32 percent of LGBTQ youth in California always feel safe in the classroom;
Half of all respondents have been teased or bullied because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, and 28 percent of LGBTQ youth in California have been threatened with physical violence at least once because of their sexual orientation or gender identity;
Forty-three percent of transgender students can NEVER use the bathroom/locker room at school that matches their gender identity. In recent years, California has passed several laws designed to explicitly protect LGBTQ students and to provide guidance on compliance. However, data suggests that some districts may be unaware of their legal obligations, and others are still in the process of updating policies and procedures to ensure LGBTQ inclusion. These oversights and delays — and, in some cases, decisions by the district to ignore the requirements — have likely contributed to the challenges experienced by LGBTQ youth who responded to the survey. 

The "California LGBTQ Youth Report" also highlights the voices of supportive California teachers, school counselors and school administrators, and offers strategies to address the disparities experienced by LGBTQ young people when they're at school.  

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