Supporting transgender and gender-nonconforming children and adolescents represents a challenge to schools and districts that are not prepared to do so. While much of the conversation focuses on the need for anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies, often what is left out are the support and accommodations necessary that allow transgender and gender-nonconforming children and adolescents to thrive, such as gender-neutral bathrooms, record keeping, name and pronoun usage, and gender-segregated activities. This chapter explores the process used by one safe schools organization in the United States to advocate for inclusive policies and the backlash that ensued when an opposition group began organizing against the passage of the policies. A summary of the process for passing the policies and subsequent organizing efforts to protect the district employee who supported the policies, along with the policies themselves, leads to implications for future organizing efforts.
Bullying and harassment are frequently linked to issues of bias and discrimination. Bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) comprise some of the most common forms of harassment in schools and can affect the health and functioning of all youth. In this chapter, the authors introduce Comprehensive School Transformation (CST), a new approach for addressing bias-motivated bullying and harassment, broadly, and SOGI-related harassment, specifically. This approach includes tailoring and coordinating efforts in seven key domains to the unique needs of each school context. The chapter includes support for the CST model and resources that schools can use to start the CST process in their contexts.
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