A new study released today by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) takes an in-depth look at the climate of elementary schools in relation to bullying. The results demonstrate how important it is to be talking with young people about LGBT issues, as homophobia is clearly already playing a big role for the 3rd-6th graders who were surveyed. It’s also clear that teachers need to be better empowered to speak about LGBT issues and same-sex families so they are prepared to interrupt bullying.

Here are some of the key results from the survey:

• 45 percent of students and 49 percent of teachers hear “that’s so gay” or “you’re so gay” used negatively sometimes, often, or all the time. This was trumped only by anti-ability comments like “retard” and “spaz,” which were heard more often by students (51 percent).
• 48 percent of teachers hear students make sexist remarks at least sometimes at school, such as comments about what a boy or girl should do or wear.
• 26 percent of students and teachers hear “fag” or “lesbo” at least sometimes.
• 75 percent of students report that students in their school are called names, made fun of, or bullied with at least some regularity, with 36 percent saying they have been the target.

Bullying has a big impact on students’ experiences in the schools:

• They are less likely to say that they get good grades (57 percent vs. 71 percent).
• They are less likely to say they’re happy in school this year (34 percent vs. 69 percent).
• They are four times as likely to not want to go to school for safety reasons (33 percent vs. 8 percent).
• They are less likely to get along with their parents (61 percent vs. 75 percent).
• They are less likely to say they have a lot of friends (33 percent vs. 57 percent).
• They are three times as likely to say they feel stressed (15 percent vs. 4 percent).

Less than half of teachers feel comfortable responding to questions about gay, lesbian, and bisexual people (48 percent) or transgender people (41 percent). Only 37 percent of teachers have received professional development on gender issues and even less (23 percent) have been trained to talk about families with LGBT parents.

Anti-LGBT bullying is clearly underway among students as young as 3rd grade, even if they do not fully understand the terms they are using. Stemming the bullying epidemic and its many negative consequences requires intervention at a young age, and any attempt to censor LGBT issues — such as Tennessee’s proposed “Don’t Say Gay” bill or Anoka-Hennepin’s “neutrality” policy — would only exacerbate the harm.

Dr. Ruth Jacobs

Baltimore County is considering a bill that would protect transgender people from discrimination in public accommodations, such as restrooms, and religious conservative groups are wasting no time in smearing all trans individuals as sexual predators. The American Family Association, Focus on the Family, and the National Organization for Marriage’s Ruth Institute are all highlighting the rhetoric of Dr. Ruth Jacobs of Maryland Citizens for a Responsible Government. Here are some of Jacobs’ incendiary comments:

JACOBS: It opens up the bathrooms to men who may be just cross-dressers, who may be a pedophile who uses the law to nefarious advantage. It’s a very dangerous bill. In this law, you’re afraid to complain because [you think] Oh my goodness — maybe I’ll be considered a bigot. But, of course it could be somebody who’s trying to rape me.

This takes away from a woman being a woman. Somebody else is just like you. These people are confused about their gender.

The bill is a direct attack on women’s privacy.

Derek McCoy of the Association of Maryland Families added:

MCCOY: When you look at this bill, the terrible thing about it is you’re talking about allowing someone who self-identifies (as a man or a woman) — meaning I can get up any given day of the week, especially if I have inclinations that are not right, like being a pedophile or a sexual deviant — and putting in harm’s way children who are using public facilities. They can be taken, they can be molested. We need to be on our guard and understand what’s at stake.

Here are a couple of facts that Jacobs, McCoy, and other anti-trans talking heads ignore: Read more

The Colorado Catholic Conference is urging parishioners to oppose the state’s pending civil unions bill, the Denver Post reports, and is distributing flyers during mass asking church goers to pressure lawmakers into defeating the measure. “The key flaw with civil unions legislation is that it creates an alternative parallel structure to marriage,” the Conference says. “[M]arriage is the cornerstone of our society that exists for the benefit of children and the protection of women”:

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) urged lawmakers to pass civil unions legislation in his State of the State address, even though a similar measure failed in a House committee last year. Sen. Pat Steadman (D) has re-introduced the measure and December poll found that 76 percent of Colorado voters support legal recognition for same-sex couples through either marriage or civil unions.