Sexual and Gender Minorities and Bullying in Japan

Japan does not have a cultural history of strong stigma against homosexuality and gender nonconformity in the ways that are true in West, but there is growing evidence that homophobia and transphobia do exist. In this chapter, the history of LGBT issues in Japan is overviewed, focusing mainly on the experiences of gay men and lesbians. Lately, more LGBT-related research has focused on studies on persons with gender identity disorder (GID) due to the approval of gender reassignment surgery as a treatment for GID. Many studies showed that sexual minority youth reported suicidal wishes or behavior because of bullying experiences, feelings of isolation, physical dysphoria, or internal homophobia or transphobia. Moreover, most teachers reported that they did not include any material on LGBT issues in classroom, thus highlighting an urgent need to educate school teachers on these issues.

Teaching About Sexual and Gender Diversity and Challenging Homophobia/Transphobia in the South African School System

The South African Constitution was the first in the world to include sexual orientation protections, and the country was an early embracer of same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, the lives of sexual and gender minorities in South Africa, including young people in schools, are often characterized by violence and discrimination. The growing body of research on sexual and gender diversity in education in South Africa indicates that homophobia is widespread in schools and that teachers and school principals are ill-prepared to challenge this homophobia and to teach in an affirming way about sexual and gender diversity. This chapter discusses the development of a training module for South African teachers on how best to challenge homophobia and transphobia and to teach about sexual and gender diversity in schools. Given the focus in South African education policy on social justice and inclusion in the post-apartheid context, this ground-breaking intervention supports transformative education policy.

LGB-Parent Families and the School Context

Children are influenced by multiple contexts, including their families and schools. Research on children with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) parents has primarily focused on their experiences within their families, with little attention to experiences in the school context. The lack of research on the family–school interface of LGB parent families is troubling because these families are vulnerable to marginalization, exclusion, and stigma in the broader society, which likely extend to the school environment. This chapter reviews research on the academic achievement, social functioning, and bullying of children with LGB parents. When relevant, the author emphasizes race/ethnicity, social class, geographic location, and other key social locations that may shape the experiences of LGB–parent families, then addresses research on LGB parents themselves, including their experiences in selecting and interacting with their children’s schools. The chapter ends with recommendations for educators and practitioners who may encounter LGB parent families.

Disrupting Hetero-Gender-Normativity

For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, schools are often sites of exclusion and victimization. Research has demonstrated that LGBT youth experience elevated rates of victimization and bullying at school relative to their peers, but less research has explored the contexts and characteristics of schools that enable negative attitudes and behaviors toward LGBT youth. The authors examine how US schools construct environments that are unwelcoming and unsafe for LGBT students and largely fail to provide the supports that could improve the school learning climate. They examine strategies and practices employed by educators, students, and education advocates that can disrupt hetero- and gender-normative practices in schools. Specifically, we examine the mechanisms by which LGBT-related school supports—gay–straight alliances (GSAs), comprehensive anti-bullying/harassment school policies, supportive educators, and LGBT-inclusive curricula—support students’ well-being and academic success and challenge the hetero- and gender-normativity embedded in US secondary schools.

Understanding and Reducing Homophobic Harassment and Victimization in Schools

Bias-based harassment, or harassment based on one’s actual or perceived social identity, such as sexual orientation, remains a prominent concern in many schools. Homophobic harassment is one form of bias-based harassment evident in schools. Not only is homophobic harassment common compared to non–bias-based victimization, it also carries distinct and elevated consequences for those who experience it. Given the seriousness of homophobic harassment and the consequences of experiencing it, this chapter addresses three key issues. First, it provides a review of individual and contextual factors that underlie homophobic behavior and its perpetuation over time. Second, the chapter describes the various processes by which homophobic victimization predicts health and academic concerns for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and heterosexual youth. Finally, the chapter covers several factors that may promote resilience among youth who experience this form of victimization. Each section notes implications for research, practice, and policy.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and School

Across the chapters of this book, several prominent themes emerge. First, the chapters highlight that SOGI issues in schools are simultaneously universally global and uniquely local. Second, supportive, safe school climates are critical for positive development, health, and academic success of young people, regardless of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation, and should be understood as human rights issues. Third, the chapters provide evidence that factors affecting SOGI issues in schools are systemic, and strategies for change must also be systemic. In this final chapter, the authors discuss these themes and their implications for creating safer and more affirming educational contexts for young people, highlight critical but as yet underexplored issues in this work, and provide recommendations on how to leverage the nexus of research, practice, and policy to ensure that all young people can realize their full academic and personal potential.

Sexual Diversity in Spanish Schools

This chapter begins with a brief sociohistorical review of the transformational history of the LGBT community in Spain and the situation of sexual minorities in the educational system before presenting the results of a study conducted in 2013, which focused on the language and attitudes of students and teachers toward non-heterosexuality and gender-nonconformity in Spain. The central focus of the research was teachers’ attitudes toward sexual diversity in schools and their responses when exposed to homophobic and/or transphobic bullying. The chapter ends with a discussion of the present situation for LGBT students in the education system in Spain and a list of best practices coming from teachers, schools, trade unions, students, and their families.

The Use of Research in Policy and Advocacy for Creating Safe Schools for LGBTQ Students

Written from the perspective of advocates, this chapter explores how research has been useful for policy and advocacy efforts to create safer schools for LGBTQ students. The authors discuss the use of population-based research that has provided demographic and baseline data about rates of bullying for LGBTQ students, youth-led research in schools that fuels student advocacy for improvements in school climate, community-based research about the steps schools can take to improve student safety and foster positive learning environments for all students, and public opinion polling designed to support and defend legislation requiring LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in schools. The chapter also discusses ways that nonprofit organizations may conduct and use research as the foundation for designing and implementing solutions and best practices that improve school climate and reduce bias-motivated bullying against students, such as school policy change, professional development for school personnel, and LGBTQ curriculum inclusion.

The Australian Context

This chapter explores the strong relationship between research and policy for same-sex attracted and gender diverse (SSAGD) youth in Australian education. It outlines the first phases of Australian research on the experiences of SSAGD youth and their corresponding well-being, particularly in school contexts over the past 20 years. It then describes how cultural changes in broader Australian society, strategic advocacy, and the promotion of Australian research findings have contributed to policy and practice changes around SSAGD youth issues within government and school communities. Specifically, it shows how particular policy documents and intervention initiatives in Victoria and New South Wales stemmed from research work. It also shows the value of shifting the research lens onto the impacts of these new policies.

The Shifting Political Winds

This chapter teases out how shifting currents in US educational policy and politics vis-à-vis LGBTQ students conflict by employing a lens from the politics of education literature: street-level bureaucrats. Regardless of the intent of a policy’s authors, how street-level bureaucrats (career civil servants like public educators) define a policy through their implementation becomes the actual meaning of the policy. Given the shifting political winds regarding LGBTQ identity and educational policy, teasing out whose understandings of a given policy are actually implemented is critical for the well-being of LGBT students attending US public schools. Educators, as street-level bureaucrats, have the potential to find spaces within these broader political and policy changes to better serve as supports for LGBT students. Finally, in the United States and other locales, economic decline can amplify political discontent, including conflicts over the course and scope of educational policies.