How Anti-LGBTQIA+ Legislation is Affecting Students and Teachers in 2023

Since 2017, there has been a rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in the United States. We first wrote about this in 2021 with the article, Anti-Trans Legislation: How We Got Here and Why it Matters and since then the proliferation of new laws targeting LGBTQIA+ youth has increased exponentially.  These bills aim to eradicate LGBTQIA+ folks, stripping many people of basic human rights, and erasing their experiences and voices from history. While advocates and members of the LGBTQIA+ community have forcefully opposed such legislation, ‌supporters of these bills have pushed forward. In fact, as of this article’s publication, there has been so much anti-queer legislation that The Human Rights Campaign has declared a state of emergency.

State of Emergency Declared for LGBTQIA+ Americans

On June 6, 2023, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued a state of emergency for LGBTQIA+ Americans for the first time since it was founded 40 years ago. The declaration came due to an “unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQIA+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year.” According to HRC's report, there have been more than twice the number of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills signed into law in the first six months of 2023 than in all of 2022, making it the worst year on record for this kind of biased targeting.

This state of emergency inflicts pain and suffering on all LGBTQIA+ folks, but especially our young people. According to The Trevor Project’s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People, “For the fifth consecutive year, these data underscore that anti-LGBTQ victimization contributes to the higher rates of suicide risk reported by LGBTQ young people and that most who want mental health care are unable to get it.”

Anti-LGBTQIA+ Bills Target Queer Youth and School Policies

According to the ACLU, there are currently more than 220 proposed or passed bills impacting LGBTQIA+ rights in schools making their way through state legislatures in nearly every state in the country. 

One example is Utah’s recently passed SB100, which gives parents full access to records related to their child’s gender expression in school and prohibits students from using their chosen name and pronouns in school without written parental consent.  Another recently passed bill, Iowa’s SF496 has introduced a broad range of restrictions and limitations, including a ban on teaching about gender identity and sexuality. Similarly to the Utah bill, it also requires school districts to tell a student's parents if their child is expressing a different gender identity than their assigned biological sex. 

The measures, often introduced under the label of parents’ rights, are finding support as child welfare measures. But what these arguments don’t take into account is the importance of allowing all young people to express themselves authentically and without fear of being outed to potentially unsupportive parents or creating a hostile home life. With fewer than 40% of LGBTQIA+ youth reporting their homes are affirming of their identity (The Trevor Project) young people’s physical and psychological safety should be a major consideration. 

Why Is This Important For Educators?

As educators creating a safe and inclusive environment for all students must be a top priority. But in their most recent National School Climate report, which surveyed more than 20,000 LGBTQ+ students nationwide, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) declared “Schools are Hostile Places for LGBTQ+ students”.

As the proliferation of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation and curriculum restrictions persist, many educators are being hindered in their efforts to support students and create an affirming learning environment. Prohibiting educators from recognizing and using a student's chosen name and pronouns; limiting student access to knowledge about gender and sexual identity; and banning books that amplify representation all lead to an educational environment that is less supportive for all students. This kind of discrimination can have detrimental effects on student outcomes, with GLSEN reporting that, “LGBTQ+ students  who experienced LGBTQ+-related discrimination at school were nearly three times as likely to have missed school in the past month as those who had not (43.3% vs. 16.4%) and had lower GPAs than their peers who experienced no anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination (2.92 vs. 3.20).” 

As Denver educator Dan Long shared with the National Education Association, “When someone doesn’t learn about LGBTQ topics in school, they’re not going to think of this community as a common, expected part of society—and this goes on to form their ideas of what’s socially acceptable.”

How Educators Can Support All of Their Students

Even for educators in states that have adopted some of these restrictive laws, there are ways to create welcoming classrooms for LGBTQIA+ students. The first step in creating inclusive learning communities is always to start with yourself. To begin consider this reflection question:

How did your own education help to affirm your identity and life experiences? How did it provide you with opportunities to engage with life experiences different from your own? Where did it fall short in these two respects? 

Next, incorporate Identity Charts and other tools that help you get to know your students and understand the many aspects of their identity. Of course, using a person’s chosen name and pronouns is important ‌in creating an inclusive classroom. The National Education Association (NEA) shared that “social interactions where a person is addressed by the name and pronouns that are consistent with their gender identity are critical to the health and well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people.” But learning about other aspects of your students’ identities and getting a fuller picture of how they see themselves can also help foster a sense of belonging. Read this article from our archives to learn more about how to build an affirming classroom in the face of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation. 

It’s also critical to consider what opportunities ‌you have to include the voices or experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in your curriculum. According to GLSEN “more than 70% of LGBTQ+ students reported their classes did not include any LGBTQ+ topics or voices.” Consider how you can choose topics and materials that give your students opportunities to see their own identities reflected, as well as to learn about other communities and experiences. Explore our Coming of Age in a Complex World ELA collection to get tools and insights on culturally-responsive text-selection.

Finally, it’s also important to know how to address headlines about this kind of legislation if it comes up in your classroom. With 85% of LGBTQIA+ young people reporting that they are paying attention to media reports about rights for people who are LGBTQ (The Trevor Project) — knowing how to foster conversation with care is more important than ever. Enroll in our free self-paced Teaching with Current Events Workshop to develop new skills that will help you facilitate productive conversations about trending news, including how to handle emotionally charged headlines.