ABSTRACT
160Many transgender and gender diverse youth are attending schools that are unequipped and unprepared to meet their needs. This lack of readiness to serve the needs of these youth has resulted in they and their supportive parents experiencing schools as hostile environments (Kosciw et al., 2014). For any child to have to endure unsupportive and unaccepting school environments is inconsistent with the core responsibility of all school administrators, educators, and staff, which is to ensure that a safe, respectful, and supportive learning environment is provided for all students. Although true for all students, this responsibility is
especially important with regard to transgender students and others whose gender expression differs from the norm, because a growing body of evidence indicates that these children and youth are often targets of harassment, discrimination, bullying and violence in school settings.
(American Psychological Association, 2015, p. 15) Many school systems across the nation are currently in transition themselves when it comes to how best to address the needs of transgender and gender diverse youth. Although some schools and school districts are already paving the way in developing guidelines and policies that are helpful to these young people, other schools and school districts are still resistant, hesitant, or in the early stages of considering how best to respond. Whether just starting or well on their way to establishing positive and helpful responses to the needs of transgender and gender diverse students, many schools are beginning to recognize that changes and accommodations need to be made. As our nation’s schools progress toward more supportive and inclusive school environments, it is vital that schools be proactive and work to make changes at all levels (e.g., in the classroom, within the school as a whole, and throughout the district), rather than try to make accommodations only when challenged by an individual student or parent requesting or demanding accommodation. As suggested by Orr et al. (2015, p. 4): “creating a more welcoming environment for students’ gender diversity is a more effective and lasting strategy than trying to ‘solve’ the concerns associated with an individual transgender student.” It is important that all schools begin to take a proactive approach to making changes and educating school administrators, counselors, and teachers, in order to support, advocate for, and protect the safety of transgender and gender diverse youth.