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Key Findings

Since 1999, there has been a decrease •

in frequency of hearing homophobic remarks at school. There was no overall change in frequency of hearing negative remarks about someone’s gender

expression.

Overall, the frequency of harassment and •

assault based on sexual orientation and gender expression has remained relatively constant over time.

For the past 10 years, GLSEN’s National School Climate Survey has remained the only study that has consistently assessed the school experiences of LGBT students nationally, and we have made it a priority to track changes in LGBT student experiences over time. In this section, we examine any such changes over time on both indicators of a hostile school climate, such as hearing homophobic remarks and experiences of harassment and assault, and on the availability of supportive resources for LGBT students in their schools, such as supportive school staff, GSAs, and inclusive curricular resources.

Anti-LGBT Remarks Over Time

Language perpetually evolves and so is the case of anti-LGBT remarks since our 1999 survey. To keep current with changes in homophobic language usage, we have modified how we ask LGBT students about anti-LGBT remarks. In 1999, because the expression “that’s so gay” was perhaps not as commonly used, we only assessed the frequency of hearing homophobic epithets, such as “fag” or “dyke.” In 2001, we began assessing the frequency of LGBT students hearing the word “gay” to mean something that is bad or worthless, as in the expression “that’s so gay.” In 2003, we began asking questions about hearing negative remarks about gender expression, such as someone not acting “feminine enough” or “masculine enough.” And in 2009, we have begun assessing the frequency of hearing the expression “no homo.”

Anti-LGBT Remarks. Since 1999, there has been

a decreasing trend in the frequency of hearing homophobic epithets.152,153 _{As shown in Figure}

88, there was a steady decline between 1999 and 2003: two-thirds of students in 1999 and more than half of students in 2001 reported hearing these remarks frequently in their schools, in contrast to less than half in 2003, 2005, and 2007. In recent years, between 2005 and 2009, students’ reports of hearing these types of remarks have not decreased significantly.

Expressions using “gay” in a negative way, such as “that’s so gay,” have remained the most common form of biased language heard in schools by LGBT students. However, as shown in Figure 88, there has been a very small decline in frequency of this language since 2001.154 _{Across all years,}

there was no significant change in remarks about gender expression (see also Figure 88).155

Biased Language from School Staff. As shown in

Figure 89, there were very small fluctuations over time in the frequency with which students reported hearing homophobic remarks from school staff. Most notably, the percentage of LGBT students in 2009 who reported hearing such remarks from school personnel was lower than in 2007 (60.2% vs. 63.4%), but slightly higher than in 2005 (60.2% vs. 54.9%). Similarly, we saw only small fluctuations in the frequency of staff making negative remarks about gender expression. Although there was a significant decrease from 2003 to 2005, there have been no changes since then. It is important to note that there have not been any large changes across years; the percentages of students ever hearing school staff make homophobic remarks and remarks about gender expression have hovered around 60% since we started tracking this information in 2001.156

Figure 88. Biased Language by Students Over Time

20% 40% 60% 80% 100% ercentage Repor ting “F requently”

Other Homophobic Remarks (e.g., “fag” or “dyke”) “Gay” Used in a Negative Way

115 Figure 89. Biased Language by School Staff Over Time

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 P ercentage Repor ting Ev er Hear ing Remar

ks from School Staff

(percentage based on estimated

marginal means) Homophobic Remarks Negative Remarks about Gender Expression

Figure 91. Rates of Intervention In Negative Remarks about Gender Expression Over Time

1 2 3 2003 2005 2007 2009 Mean Repor ted Inter v ention

(based on estimated marginal means) Never Some of the TIme Most of the Time

Intervention by School Staff Intervention by Other Students

Figure 90. Rates of Intervention in Homophobic Remarks Over Time

1 2 3 Never Some of the TIme Most of the Time 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 Mean Repor ted Inter v ention

(based on estimated marginal means)

Intervention by School Staff Intervention by Other Students

Intervention in Biased Remarks. In our 2001

survey, we began asking students how frequently people in their school intervened when hearing homophobic remarks in their schools; in 2003, we began asking about intervention related to negative remarks about gender expression. The level of intervention in homophobic remarks has changed little since 2001 — Figure 90 shows a relatively stable level of intervention by both staff and students over time, although there was a small decrease from 20007 to 2009.157 _{The level}

of intervention in negative remarks about gender expression has also shown little change over time (see Figure 91).158 _{However, in 2009, we saw less}

reported intervention by both staff and students than in previous years.

Experiences of Harassment and Assault Over Time

To understand potential changes in school climate for LGBT middle and high school students, we examined the incidence of reported harassment

and assault from 1999 to 2009. Figure 92 shows the percentages across years of LGBT students who reported frequent harassment or assault regarding their sexual orientation.159 _{LGBT students’}

experiences of harassment and assault continued to remain relatively constant over time. For example, in each year since 1999, the percentage of students reporting frequent verbal harassment was around 25%. Nevertheless, from 2007 to 2009, there were small but statistically significant decreases in the frequency of all three types of harassment and assault based on sexual orientation.

With regard to harassment and assault based on gender expression, there have been only marginal changes since 2001, when we first asked questions about victimization related to gender expression, to 2009. As illustrated in Figure 93, percentages of LGBT students who reported frequently experiencing this type of victimization in school remained relatively constant across years. However, all three types of victimization based on gender expression were lower in 2009 than in 2007.160

Figure 92. Victimization Based on Sexual Orientation Over Time 0% 10% 20% 30% 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 P ercentage Repor ting “F requently”

(based on estimated marginal means)

Verbal Harassment

Physical Harassment Physical Assault

Figure 93. Victimization Based on Gender Expression Over Time 10% 20% ercentage Repor ting “F requently“ Verbal Harassment Physical Harassment Physical Assault

Availability of