LGBTQ Families
Bullying among Children of LGBTQ Parents*
· Nearly a quarter (23%) of students felt unsafe around other students at school due to others’ negative attitudes toward people with LGBT parents.
· 42% of students said they had been verbally harassed at school in the past year because their parents were LGBT. Over a third (37%) of students reported that they had been verbally harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and nearly a third had experienced verbal harassment because of the way in which they expressed their gender (32%).
· Nearly a quarter (22%) of students said that a teacher, principal or other school staff person had discouraged them from talking about their family at school, and more than a third (36%) had felt that school personnel did not acknowledge their LGBT family (e.g., not permitting one parent to sign a student’s form because s/he was not the legal parent/guardian). Furthermore, 28% said they heard teachers or other school staff make negative comments about LGBT families.
GLSEN, 2008. Involved, invisible, ignored: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
parents and their children in our nations k-12 schools. New York: GLSEN.
State Laws and Policies
Georgia’ anti bullying statutes do not clearly define bullying and harassment. Moreover, they do not include enumerated categories to protect students from bullying on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, race, religion, ethnicity or disability. Anti-bullying legislation will be introduced in 2010. To find out how you can help, visit www.georgiaequality.org.
Students of LGBTQ parents are also granted “equal protection” from discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Resources for LGBTQ Families
Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE) is a national movement of children, youth and adults with one or more LGBTQ parent(s). COLAGE builds community and works toward social justice through youth empowerment , leadership development, education, and advocacy.
Family Equality Council works to ensure equality for LGBT families by building community, changing hearts and minds and advancing social justice for all families.
MEGA Family Project is a nonpartisan, statewide organization (in Georgia) dedicated to providing support, education, and advocacy work on behalf of LGBT families.