Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in K–12 Education

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people participate in public K–12 schooling either as students, teachers, parents, staff, or administrators. Because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, LGBT people have faced significant challenges within the public schools. Most of these challenges can be classified into five categories:

• 1.
  Curricular invisibility of LGBT people, families, and communities
• 2.
  Job insecurity for LGBT teachers and administrators
• 3.
  Schools' lack of recognition of LGBT parents and guardians
• 4.
  Physical and verbal harassment of students perceived to be LGBT
• 5.
  School policies and norms that enforce or assume heterosexuality and/or conventional gender presentation

This entry briefly describes how each of these five challenges to LGBT inclusion is manifested in public K–12 schools in the United States.