The Invisible Minority
Working with Sexual Minority Youth
Judy Chiasson, PhD
Los Angeles Unified School District
BREAKING THE SILENCE
Breaking the Silence: Empowering School Counselors & Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
Queer Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth
February 2010
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From sugar & spice
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To not so nice..
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From loving home… to homeless
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Harassment, Bullying & Intimidation
Verbal
Nonverbal
Physical
Emotional/social
Cyber
Hazing
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2005 National study of school bullying
65% of teens have been harassed or assaulted:
• 39% due to physical appearance
• 33% due to perceived sexual orientation
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Bullied to death
Jaheem Herrera
April 16, 2009
Atlanta, GA
11-year old Jaheem hung
himself in his bedroom.
He had been the target
of anti-gay harassment
and bullying at school.
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Bullied to death
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover
April 9, 2009
Springfield, Massachusetts
11-year old Carl Johnson
Walker-Hoover hung himself in
his bedroom while his mother
was downstairs cooking dinner.
Carl was the target of anti-gay
harassment by his peers.
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Bullied to death
Lawrence King
February 12, 2008
Oxnard, California
14-year old Brandon
McInerney fatally shot 15year old Larry because Larry
asked Brandon to be his
Valentine.
Breaking the Silence
2008 Hate Crimes, 748 in LA County
8
1
Race, Ethnicity, National
Origin (61%)
28
120
Sexual Orientation (21%)
Religion(16%)
Gender (1%)
134
Disability (<1%)
452
Unknown (4%)
Crimes based on sexual orientation & religion increased
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Perpetrators of hate crimes by age
18-25,
40%
Under
18,
30%
over
25,
30%
Age of perpetrators of hate crime
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2008 Hate Crimes, 7783 Nationally
78
Race: 51%
894
Religion: 20%
Sexual Orientation: 17%
1297
3992
1519
Ethnicity/National Origin:
11%
Disability: 1%
Total: 7783
Violent crimes by gender
100%
99.8%
90%
90%
80%
91%
95%
95%
95%
85%
70%
60%
Females
50%
Males
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Murder
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Assault
Hate crimes
Domestic
violence
Dating
violence
Sexual
assault
Rape
Sexism affects men.
Males are judged by their
 Sexual conquest
 Athletic ability
 Money & power
SEXISM = HOMOPHOBIA
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Tough Guise
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LGBTQ2IA.SGL.MSM&W
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Lesbian
Gay
Bisexual
Transgender
Queer
Questioning
Intersex
Ally/Asexual
Fluid
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• Same Gender Loving SGL
• On the Down Low - DL
• Men who have sex with
men …and women
• No label
The Invisible
Population
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How many are there?
 10.7% of students identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgender or questionning
 1 in 2000 babies are born intersex
 16% of students have gay, lesbian, or transgender
family members
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How many are there?
 2.3 million people in LA County are or have LGBTQ
family members (10 million x 23%)
 California has the most gay and lesbian parents (US
Census):
 14,000 in foster care
 65,000 through adoption
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Over-identification
 92% experienced verbal abuse
 44% have been threatened with physical violence
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Anti-gay comments at school
 97% from their peers
 53% from their teachers
 25.5 times per day or every 8 minutes
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Anti-gay comments at home
 100% of LGB adults reported having heard
significantly higher frequencies of anti-gay comments
while growing up.
 Gender-variant children are twice as likely to be
abused by parents, compared to their siblings.
 LGBT youth of color are more likely to experience
physical violence perpetrated by a family member.
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Does family matter?
LGBT Youth from Rejecting Families are
 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide
 5.9 times more likely to be depressed
 3.4 times more likely to use drugs
 3.4 times more likely to engage in unsafe sex
 Latino males are most vulnerable to family rejection
Caitlin Ryan, 2009
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Our challenge
Understand, empathize and be compassionate
about something that may be outside of our
own experience.
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Identity development model
Confusion
Why am I
different?
It’s all
good
Unaware
I’m here, I’m
queer!
Exploration
&
Celebration
and btw.. I’m gay
Integration
Denial
I’m not gay,
I just…
I think I might be
gay.. Oh no!
Breaking the Silence
Identity development model
Confusion
Why am I
different?
It’s all
good
Unaware
I’m here, I’m
queer!
Exploration
&
Celebration
and btw.. I’m gay
Integration
Denial
I’m not gay,
I just…
I think I might be
gay.. Oh no!
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Sex?
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Romance?
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Unexpected consequences
Teenage lesbians are
twice as likely to
become pregnant
and are four times
as likely to have
multiple
pregnancies.
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Unexpected consequences
Non-gay youth who are targets of antigay bias demonstrate even greater
levels of emotional distress and
depression than do gay-identified
youth.
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We know that …
We have a legal and moral obligation to
protect our children.
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California Protected Categories









Sexual orientation
Gender identity
Sex
Ethnic group identification
Race
Color
National origin
Religion
Mental or physical disability
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Legal Considerations
California Safety and Violence Protection Act of 2000
(AB537)
1. Added sexual orientation and gender identity as
protected classes.
2. Specified deliberate indifference.
3. Removed the corporate shield.
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So what do we do
about it?
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Sow seeds of
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Collaborate with
Educators
Legislators
Direct Service Provides
Do our job
Make schools and homes safe places for
all children.
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Replace labels with faces
LGBT is not a
sandwich
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Be visible: A-Z
LGBT
Alvin Ailey *John Amaechi * James Baldwin
Tallulah Bankhead * Leonard Bernstein *
Caravaggio * Mary Cheney * Daniel Cho * Ellen
DeGeneres * Malcolm Forbes * Elton John * Kate
Hutton * Frida Kahlo * Larry King * Sheila Kuehl *
Sir Ian McKellen * Father Mychal * Rudolf
Nureyev * Bayard Rustin * Matthew Shepard *
Andrew Sullivan * Sheryl Swoopes * Tchaikovsky
* Brandon Teena * Virginia Uribe * Alice Walker *
Pedro Zamora
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Be a leader
Do a careful analysis of your practices vs. your policies. Are they
consistently followed?
Are you proactive or reactive?
How many of your students, teachers and administrators openly gay?
Do your anti-discrimination policies for students and staff include
sexual orientation & gender identity?
Have you published guidelines on how to support GLBTQ topics,
youth, staff and families?
Who is the point person in your district who oversees compliance?
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Be a leader
Do your enrollment forms recognize same-sex parents?
Does your curriculum address sexual orientation and gender identity
in a positive affirming way?
Are LGBTQ persons identified in your health, history, mathematics,
science, literature, art, library, etc., books?
Does your dress code specify gender-neutrality?
What programs and services are in place to support LGBTQ youth?
What kinds of trainings, professional developments, community &
educational resources are offered to schools to address LGBTQ
concerns?
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Be an ally
That’s so gay!
 Intervene when you hear it.
 Capture teachable moments
 Harassment in the hallway
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Become educated
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Be an advocate
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Be a teacher
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Be a parent. Don’t stop loving your child.
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Prejudice tolerated is
intolerance
encouraged
Breaking the Silence
Judy Chiasson, Ph.D.
Coordinator
Office of Human Relations, Diversity and Equity
213-241-5626
Judy.Chiasson@lausd.net
Breaking the Silence