By Dr Emily Meadows, LGBTQ+ consultant for international schools

I am an LGBTQ+ consultant for international schools. My work involves supporting schools to cultivate inclusion and belonging. I do this in various ways, including training employees, guiding policy development, offering recommended practice on relevant topics such as sports and travel, and working directly with students.

In my practice, I have the opportunity to meet students engaging in impactful learning that promotes the well-being of their community.

However, I also frequently meet students who tell me they are excluded, ignored, stigmatized, marginalized, harassed, and abused based on their identities.

Identity-based harm in schools reflects the stigma and marginalization that exist outside school, across a range of identities (I wrote about it here.)

In this post, I focus on LGBTQ+ people.

All children deserve better. 

Educators and administrators working in international schools should know that: 

1. LGBTQ+ students experience disproportionately high rates of identity-based harm within the school setting, including violence and harassment. 

2. Higher levels of identity-based harm are associated with increased levels of risks for LGBTQ+ children, including anxiety, depression, substance use and addiction, disordered eating, school absenteeism, declining school performance, and even suicidality and self-harm. 

3. Identity-based harm is not one type of harm that operates in a silo, apart from other types of harm, such as physical harm and sexual abuse. Indeed, LGBTQ+ children are more likely than their peers to be targets of physical violence and sexual and relationship abuse. 

4. The decisions schools make to address (or not) identity-based harm are impactful. When schools implement protective factors to reduce identity-based harm, LGBTQ+ children report greater safety and belonging in school, as well as improved mental health and academic outcomes. Conversely, when schools do not implement protective factors, they maintain the status quo of LGBTQ+ stigma and discrimination, creating an environment where identity-based harm can go unchallenged. 

5. The educators I work with as a consultant tend to be experienced, dedicated, and talented at their craft. And many of them report wanting to reduce identity-based harm at their school, but they are not sure how to go about it. 

6. Good news: we know what works. Plenty of school-based protective factors have been identified to reduce identity-based harm for LGBTQ+ children. In my experience as a consultant, I support schools to build up protective factors, such as: 

• Policy that maintains freedom from harassment and discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived gender and/or sexual identity, among other marginalized identity markers. 
• Training school employees on preventing, recognising, and interrupting identity-based harm. 
• Training school employees to build competence and confidence with LGBTQ+ affirming practices. 
• Parent/home adult workshops to extend LGBTQ+ safety and belonging beyond campus walls. 
• Safe/r spaces, such as LGBTQ+ student groups. 
• Access to gender-affirming rights, including choice around name, pronouns, bathrooms and other segregated facilities, sports team inclusion, and privacy. 
• Positive and authentic LGBTQ+ representation in the curriculum. 

7. The choice of which protective factors to prioritize and how to implement them will be influenced by the legal and cultural context of the school. In every context, options are available to reduce identity-based harm. 

I come to this work as an LGBTQ+ consultant, but also as a researcher, practitioner, alum, and parent in international schools. In each of these roles, I see identity-based harm raising barriers to safety and belonging for our students. My work is to support schools in reducing identity-based harm because safety is the bare minimum we must hold ourselves to when we are responsible for the care of children. Thankfully, we have effective ways to do this, and with commitment, schools can be part of the solution. 

References:

Meadows, E. (2024). Can diversity, equity, and belonging initiatives create division in schools?

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2016). Out in the open: Education sector responses to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Paris, France: UNESCO. 

Kosciw, J.G. (2016). International perspectives on homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. Journal of LGBT Youth, 13(1-2), 1-5. 

Gorse, M. (2020). Risk and protective factors to LGBTQ+ youth suicide: A review of the literature. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 39(1), 17-28.

Jadva, V., Guasp, A., Bradlow, J.H., Bower-Brown, S., & Foley, S. (2021). Predictors of self-harm and suicide in LGBT youth: The role of gender, socio-economic status, bullying and school experience. Journal of Public Health. Oxford, England.

Becerra-Culqui, T. A., Liu, Y., Nash, R., Cromwell, L., Flanders, W. D., Getahun, D., Giammettei, S. V…. & Goodman, M. (2018). Mental health of transgender and gender nonconforming youth compared with their peers. Pediatrics, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2017-3845

Hatzenbuehler, M. L. & Pachankis, J. E. (2016). Stigma and minority stress as social determinants of health among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: Research evidence and clinical implications. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 63(6), 985-997.

Atteberry-Ash, B., Walls, N.E., Kattari, S.K, Peitzmeier, S.M., Kattari, L., & Langenderfer-Magruder, L. (2020). Forced sex among youth: Accrual of risk by gender identity, sexual orientation, mental health and bullying. Journal of LGBT Youth, 17(2), 193-213.

Smith, D.M., Johns, N.E., & Raj, A. (2022). Do sexual minorities face greater risk for sexual harassment ever and at school in adolescence?: Findings from a 2019 cross-sectional study of U.S. adults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(3-4), NP1963-NP1987.  

Espelage, D. & Merrin, G. (2016). Violence victimization among sexual minority high school students: Impact of school disorganization on mental health outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 55(10), S287. 

Hatzenbuehler, M.L., Birkett, M., Van Wagenen, A., & Meyer, I.H. (2014). Protective School Climates and Reduced Risk for Suicide Ideation in Sexual Minority Youths. American Journal of Public Health, 104(2), 279-286.

Lessard, L. M., Puhl, R. M., & Watson, R. J. (2020). Gay-straight alliances: A mechanism of health risk reduction among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, DOI: 10.1016/j/ampere.2020.02.020

Carroll, A. & Mendos, L. R. (2017). State-sponsored homophobia: A world survey of sexual orientation laws: Criminalization, protection and recognition. International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Equaldex. (2020). Index of LGBT Rights by Country. Retrieved from: http://www.equaldex.com

Goodenow, C., Szalacha, L. & Westheimer, K. (2006). School support groups, other school factors, and the safety of sexual minority students. Psychology in the Schools, 43(5), 573-589.

Li, G., Wu, A. D., Marshall, S. K., Watson, R. J., Adjei, J. K., Park, M., & Saewyc, E. M. (2019). Investigating site-level longitudinal effects of population health interventions: Gay-Straight Alliances and school safety. Social Science & Medicine – Population Health, 7, DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100350 

Tobin, V., Bockting, W. O., Hughes, T. L. (2018). Mental health promotion for gender minority adolescents. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 56(12), 22-30.

Watson, R. J., Park, M., Taylor, A. B., Fish, J. N., Corliss, H. L., Eisenberg, M. E., & Saewyc, E. M. (2020). Associations between community-level LGBTQ-supportive factors and substance use among sexual minority adolescents. LGBT Health, 7(2), DOI: 10.1089/lgbt.2019.0205.

Meadows, E. S. & Shain, J. D. (2020). Supporting sexual and gender minority students in conservative school communities In Sprott, R. & Lytle, M. (Eds.) Walking the Walk: Addressing Gender and Sexual Orientation Diversity in Schools from Primary Education to College. Manuscript submitted for publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Books.