LGBTQ+ Guide to Beating Bullying

This informative title offers students in grades seven to twelve practical ideas for working with teachers, parents, administrators, and other students to make their schools safe and welcoming for LGBTQ+ students. From forming Gay-Straight Alliances or similar clubs to organizing Pride days and working to support LGBTQ+-friendly policies and legislation, readers will learn concrete steps they can take to prevent bullying and make their schools safe and welcoming for everyone. For LGBTQ+ youth as well as their straight allies, this book offers a sensitive and detailed approach to ending LGBTQ+ bullying in schools.

LGBTQ+ youth face an increased risk of being bullied at school, which can lead to serious consequences for their mental health, academic performance, and physical safety. Public awareness of the issue has increased, however, and schools are now expected to provide a safe learning environment for students of every sexual orientation and gender identity. This title provides resources and strategies for helping LGBTQ+ students overcome bullying and maintain their well-being. It offers numerous suggestions on how to help bullied LGBTQ+ youth stand up for themselves, reach out to others, gain awareness of their rights, and promote tolerance in their school.

From toxic family environments to harassment in the workplace and cyberbullying, LGBTQ+ teens often face bullying beyond the schoolyard. This text explores the issues and lets teens know they're not alone when dealing with this mistreatment. Giving guidance to bystanders as well as targets, the title includes suggestions for educating families and communities that members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve the same rights and protections as other people. Targets of bullying can find encouragement along with ideas and resources on how to change their situation and heal from the damage caused by aggression and harassment.

Each chapter in this comprehensive title provides resources for teens encountering interpersonal or systemic mistreatment at home, school, work, and in their community. The text lays out their legally recognized rights in these contexts, providing information about how to make use of existing laws. Also included are strategies for meeting needs not currently recognized as legal rights, drawing on past and contemporary struggles for equality. Accessible and engaging, this title provides LGBTQ+ youth with the tools to protect themselves, participate safely in the activities they care about, and to make societal change.

A 2016 Vanderbilt University study reported that LGBTQ+ students in schools with a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) were 52 percent less likely to hear homophobic remarks and experience bullying in school. This title provides the tools and resources to organize a GSA and to become a proactive leader in a community. Also included in the guide are educational activities, tips for being a good ally to LGBTQ+ people of color, and a Myths & Facts section that debunks common assumptions about Gay-Straight Alliances. The comprehensive text is a valuable guide for LGBTQ+ youth and allies.