Home

By Betty Kijewski, MHRN Organizer

At the Network, we increasingly hear from students in Montana schools who are being persecuted with verbal harassment and physical violence. The youth are our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

Over the past few years, the Network has taken many steps to confront and change the hostile school environments faced by LGBT youth. These efforts have included producing a documentary, partnering with other concerned organizations, helping youth organize, and supporting policy at the Montana Legislature. In order to understand the importance of this work, it is first necessary to look at the situation facing LGBT youth on a daily basis.

Of the calls we have fielded at the Network, students have reported the attack of one of their peers whose jaw was broken, because he was perceived to be gay. We have heard from a lesbian who was sexually harassed by male students who threatened to rape her in order to "make" her straight. We have heard from LGBT youth who have had their heads shoved into the toilet and flushed. Another student was forced to take an independent study class when a teacher refused to have a gay student in the classroom. We have also become aware that, in today's schools, the term "gay" is used as an adjective to describe anybody or anything seen as stupid, crazy or different. Also, "faggot," "dyke," and "queer," as well as more derogatory comments, are heard frequently by youth. This constant bombardment by their peers, along with teachers and administrators in some cases, subjects LGBT youth to daily abuse.

Unrelenting verbal attacks create a hostile climate, undermining the ability of the targeted student to concentrate on learning and a teacher's ability to teach. When school officials choose to ignore verbal harassment or dismiss its significance, they help reinforce the hostile environment that the student is powerless to change. Youth being targeted get the message that they are not worthy of protection, and that harassment is an inevitable consequence of being gay. Often there is a deliberate indifference to this abuse by school officials, who sometimes blame the abused students for provoking the attacks by not fitting the rigid stereotypes of traditional gender roles. Sometimes officials even deny that anti-gay bias motivated the harassment or violence. Others justify their inaction by arguing that students who insist on being gay must get used to being harassed.

Anti-gay harassment finds much of its basis in sexism. Often attacks on lesbians are based on the false perception that lesbians "want to be like men" and must "be put back in their place as women." On the other hand, gay men are attacked to punish them for not being "sufficiently" masculine. Peer harassment and violence against LGBT youth is often sexualized. According to a survey in the journal Pediatrics, 33% of LGBT youth reported sexual contact against their will, compared to 9% of straight youth.

The overall result of hostile school environments is that LGBT youth spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy plotting how to avoid verbal and physical attacks. Some conceal their orientation by, as one youth explained, "constructing a specific deception that they feel compelled to maintain in order to just get by." This can result in a "fractured sense of identity" and self-hatred. Without the support of adult role models and support systems, LGBT youth can conclude they have nothing to contribute to society and have no value.

These instances illustrate the larger problem ÷ the systematic failure of school systems to protect LGBT students. Students are left to choose between struggling in isolation and dropping out to escape the ever-escalating violence. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 28% of gay youth choose the second option. Either choice profoundly impacts their access to education. Therefore, the Network is taking many different steps to counter the hostile environments LGBT youth face.

Network staff and gay youth conceived and produced the video The End of Silence: Montana Gay Youth Speak. The documentary features youth talking about trying to survive the daily harassment, the inaction of school officials, and severe violence. Most of the youth interviewed are LGBT. One youth tells how a teacher routinely told his class that the youth "chose to be gay, and it's nobody's fault but his own." Another youth talks about hearing fellow students beating another gay youth in an adjoining room with a sock containing a padlock. The gay youth in the documentary speak of trying to change hostile school environments by demanding protection and starting gay-straight alliances (GSAs). The failure of most schools has left gay youth with no other choice than to advocate for their own safety. The success of their advocacy has varied from school to school.

Since its release at the end of February 2003, The End of Silence has been presented in schools, churches, and communities over 25 times to 1,300 people. Network staff continues to present the video, which is accompanied by training on how communities can respond to the harassment and bullying of LGBT youth.

Along with the documentary, the Network took a lead role in organizing the Montana Safe Schools Coalition, which is made up of seven organizations. The Network has dedicated substantial staff time to the Coalition, which conducts trainings for teachers, staff, and administrators on how to address anti-gay bias. Several successful trainings have already been held.

In the spring of 2002, the Network met with Helena youth who wanted to organize a city-wide GSA. Along with regular meetings, the youth have participated in GSA summits, held a GSA skating party, and hosted a variety of guest speakers and panels. Youth involved in the GSA successfully advocated for the adoption of an all-inclusive, anti-harassment policy for Helena School District One by testifying at school board meetings and contacting school board members.

The Network lobbied in support of House Bill 449 during the 2003 Montana Legislature. Rep. Tom Facey (D-Missoula) sponsored the bill which would have required all school districts to adopt anti-harassment, intimidation, and bullying policies. The bill required the use of a uniform definition that banned bullying based on many characteristics, including sexual orientation. However, it left important decisions regarding implementation and enforcement of the policy up to local school districts.

Opponents to HB 449 comprised a laundry list of anti-gay, Religious Right groups in Montana, which included the Montana Family Coalition and Citizens Network. Jenny Dodge of Citizens Network claimed, "There is no integrity in this bill," while other activists said the bill would keep Christian students from protesting LGBT youth in schools. The bill was killed in committee, with legislators voting along party lines.

Kelli Evans, a former staff attorney for the ACLU, says that the rights of LGBT students can be boiled down to one simple principle. "Like all other students," Evans says, "they have the inalienable right to attend school campuses which are SAFE, SECURE, and PEACEFUL."

For information on how to assess your school climate and find resources, or to schedule showings of The End of Silence and safe-schools training, contact Betty Kijewski, Network organizer, at (406) 442-5506.