Transforming Our Schools

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Transforming Our Schools

• A Population at Risk
• Claremont Graduate University
• June 22, 2007
• Judy Chiasson, PhD

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A Population at Risk

• Judy Chiasson, Ph.D.
• Office of Human Relations, Diversity and Equity
• 213-241-5626
• Judy.Chiasson_at_lausd.net

3
Diversity Question

• What does Diversity mean in
• Los Angeles?

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LA County Census
5
LAUSD has 704,417 students
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California Protected Categories

• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity
• Ethnic group identification
• Race
• Color
• National origin
• Religion
• Mental or physical disability

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Bullying Checklist

• 1. Unwanted conduct
• 2. Behavior that targets one of the protected
  categories
• 3. Severe and pervasive
• 4. Objectively offensive
• 5. Denies access to educational program

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Who feels most unwelcome at school?

• Of all populations on our campus, sexual
  minorities are at the highest risk for a plethora
  of stress-related behaviors.

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Sexual Minorities

• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bisexual
• Transgender
• Queer
• Questioning
• Intersex
• Same Gender Loving
• On the Down Low
• No label

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How many are there?

• 6 of students identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual
  or transgender
• 16 of students have gay, lesbian, or transgender
  family members

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How many are there?

• 2.1 million people in LA County are or have LGBTQ
  family members (10 million x 21)
• 10,000 California children are being raised by
  gay and lesbian parents (US Census)

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The Invisible Population

• Sexual orientation is invisible.
• What is the cost of invisibility?
• Its high, its bad.

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How bad is it?

• 80 of LGBT youth have experienced verbal abuse
• 44 have been threatened with physical violence

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At school

• 97 youth report hearing anti-gay comments from
  their peers frequently
• 53 report hearing anti-gay comments made by
  teachers
• The average student hears an anti-gay comment
  25.5 times per day or every 8 minutes

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Guidance counselors

• Two-thirds of guidance counselors harbor negative
  feelings toward gay and lesbian people.
• Less than 20 of guidance counselors have
  received any training on serving gay and lesbian
  students.

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Teachers

• 77 of prospective teachers would not encourage a
  class discussion on homosexuality.
• 85 oppose integrating gay/lesbian themes into
  their existing curricula.

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Teachers

• 80 of prospective teachers report negative
  attitudes toward gay and lesbian people.
• 66 of prospective teachers can be classified as
  high-grade homophobes.
• 52 of prospective teachers report that they
  would feel uncomfortable working with an openly
  lesbian or gay colleague.

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School violence
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School shooters

• All school shooters were males who had been
  mercilessly and routinely teased and bullied.
• Their violence was retaliatory against teasing
  that was homophobic in nature (fag, queer,
  sissy).
• Michael S. Kimmel Matthew Mahler. Adolescent
  masculinity, homophobia, and violence Random
  school shootings, 1982-2001. The American
  Behavior Scientist June 2003, 46.10

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Growing up

• LGBT adults report having heard significantly
  higher frequencies of anti-gay comments while
  growing up as do heterosexuals.

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Who is saying these things?

• Parents
• Relatives
• Religious leaders
• Political leaders
• Peers
• Teachers
• Actors
• Musicians
• Comedians

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In our communities
23
2005 Hate Crimes in LA County
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Prime targets

• GLBT persons are most likely to be the targets of
  hate crimes (13.8)
• African American are 2nd most likely to be the
  targets of hate crimes (13.5)

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Suicide
33 of GLB high school students reported
attempting suicide in the previous year, compared
to 8 of heterosexual youth. LGBTQ persons are
nearly four times more likely than non-LGBT
persons to attempt suicide.
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Gay Youth of Color

• Sean Ethan Owen
• 1981-2004

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Gay Youth of Color

• Up to 46 of GLBTQ youth of color experience
  physical violence related to sexual orientation.

• Over 48 of GLBTQ youth of color were verbally
  harassed in school regarding sexual orientation
  and race/ ethnicity.

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Gay Youth of Color

• Violence against gay youth of color is more
  likely to be perpetrated by family members.
• 61 report being victims of violence by family
  members.
• 40 report being victimized by peers or
  strangers.

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Our challenge

• Understand, empathize and be compassionate about
  something that may be outside of our own
  experience.

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Intergenerational Prejudice

• Adolescents biases correlate with those of their
  parents, in this order
• Gays and lesbians
• Sexism
• HIV/AIDS
• Weight
• Race
• Ryan, M., Fishbein, H., Ritchey, P. N, 2004.
  Intergenerational transmission of prejudice, sex
  role stereotyping, and intolerance. Adolescence,
  V. 39, N. 155, pp. 407426.

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Challenges to Ending Discrimination

• Homo uality

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Desexualize homoSEXuality

• Sexual orientation is a feeling
• Sexual behavior is an act

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Desexualize homoSEXuality

• Teenage lesbians are twice as likely to become
  pregnant and are four times as likely to have
  multiple pregnancies.

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We know that

• We have a legal and moral obligation to protect
  our children.

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Legal Considerations

• California Safety and Violence Protection Act of
  2000 (AB537)
• Added sexual orientation and gender identity as
  protected classes.
• Specified deliberate indifference.
• Removed the corporate shield.

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Legal precedents

• Bob Jones University, Supreme Court, 1983
• Tinker v. DesMoines, 1969
• Nabozny v. Podlensy, 1996
• Theno v. Tonganoxie School District, 2004
• Ramirez v. LAUSD, 2004
• Nguon v. Wolf, Garden Grove School District, 2005

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Student rights

• Public display of affection
• Right to privacy
• Freedom of expression
• Protection from discrimination

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• So what do we do about it?

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Do our job

• It is our job to make the campus safe for the
  students, not the students job to make the
  campus safe for us.

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Replace labels with faces

• LGBT is not a sandwich

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Advocate for them
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Protect them
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Treasure them
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Accept them
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Teach them
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• Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged

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• Judy Chiasson, Ph.D.
• Program Coordinator
• Office of Human Relations, Diversity and Equity
• 213-241-5626
• Judy.Chiasson_at_lausd.net

48
Citations

• Carter K. Gay Slurs Abound, in The Des Moines
  Register, March 7, 1997, p. 1.
• Garafalo, R., Wolf, C., Kessel, S., Palfrey, J.
  DuRant, R (1998). The association between health
  risk behaviors and sexual orientation among a
  school-based sample of adolescents. Pediatrics,
  101, 895-902.
• GLSEN.Just the facts on gay, lesbian and bisexual
  youth in schools
• GLSEN/Detroit, Bruised Bodies, Bruised Spirits
  An Assessment of the Current Climate of Safety
  for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth in
  Southeastern Michigan Schools, pp. 31-33.
• Hetrick E., and Martin A. D. Developmental
  Issues and Their Resolution for Gay and Lesbian
  Adolescents in Journal of Homosexuality, 1987.
• http//www.doe.mass.edu/hssss/yrbs99/glb_rslts.htm
  l
• http//www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/offices/eec/proj
  ect10.htm
• 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.
• Journal Consulting Clinical Psychology, 1994,
  62261-69.
• Kosciw JG, Cullen MK. The School-Related
  Experiences of Our Nation's Lesbian, Gay,
  Bisexual, and Transgender Youth The GLSEN 2001
  National School Climate Survey. New York GLSEN,
  2001.
• Los Angeles County Human Relations Hate Crimes
  2005 http//lahumanrelations.org/publications/ind
  ex.htm
• PFLAG National Schools Assessment, January 2005
• Pittman KJ et al. Making sexuality education and
  prevention programs relevant for African American
  youth. J Sch Health 1992 62339-44.
• SIECEUS, 2001, Volume 29, 4 
• Saewyc, E., Bearinger, L., Blum, R., Resnick. M.
  (1999). Sexual intercourse, abuse and pregnancy
  among adolescent women Does sexual orientation
  make a difference? Family Planning Perspectives,
  Vol. 31, No. 3, p. 127-131.