24 • March 31, 2022 - April 6, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Education ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill makes school even less safe for Black students By STEPHON JOHNSON Amsterdam News Staff In her “Intro to Black LGBTQ Studies” class at Howard University, Dr. Jennifer Williams notices a difference in students now compared to when she was a student on the campus in the ’90s. Back then, in the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Williams described the LGBTQ culture as “pretty silent.” While there were some “out” students, there wasn’t a queer presence on campus, nor were there LGBTQ organizations or courses. But now, students in her class, which had a waitlist this semester, are enthusiastic about the topic and eager to engage in discussions. “Our culture has made a shift,” Williams, an assistant professor of English, says, of attitudes toward and treatment of LGBTQ people. But if we needed proof that more change is needed, look no further than Florida’s widely criticized “Don’t Say Gay” bill (which goes into effect on July 1. The bill, which is officially titled “Parental Rights in Education” and was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 28, bans discussions of gender and sexual orientation with younger students. Opponents believe the bill will further stigmatize LGBTQ students and their families, and lead to increased bullying. New York members of the LGBTQIA community weren’t happy about the bill either. Taking a ‘one of us affects all of us’ mentality, The Center (The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center) in New York City said that loving who you are shouldn’t be the source of abuse of righteous indignation. “This is a painful, scary moment
that sends to young Black students is that there’s something about our existence that we must defend.”
New legislation could make the school experience even harder for members of the Black LGBTQ community. (Photo courtesy of Anele Lusina/Pexels)
for many of us, but it also reminds us why we do the work that we do at The Center, including providing mental health support, youth programming, and statewide advocacy—all of which are critical to ensuring that New York can be a place that celebrates and affirms everyone in our community,” read part of the group’s statement. Williams called the bill a “series of gaslighting and political violence against minoritized populations,” Williams says, because, unlike the college students in her class, elementary school-age “kids aren’t having complicated conversations about queer theory.” Williams questions how much exposure young students would even have in school to teacher-led classroom discussions about sexual orientation or activity of any kind. “This bill is talking about protecting kids,” Williams says. “You protect kids by making them feel like they belong, that they are OK, and that their feel-
ings are valid—not by shaming them into silence.”
How Florida’s legislation harms Black LGBTQ students A school is a place where children are supposed to learn and open their minds, says Sage Dolan-Sandrino, the National Black Justice Coalition Monica Roberts Fellow and member of the Youth & Young Adults Action Council. The only thing this bill is teaching children is to “silence, vilify, and erase” queer students, which would directly lead to harm against them everywhere. “These kinds of bills set extremely dystopian and violent standards and norms that ultimately encourage and excuse cultures of violence against Black and Brown trans folks and queer folks,” Dolan-Sandrino says. Black students at school deal with the intersectionality of racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ ideology and behavior. So on top of the anti-trans legislation in Texas and critical race theory bans naDated: Thursday, March 24th 2022 tionwide, the Don’t Say Gay bill adds to the messaging that DEMOCRACY PREP NEW YORK SCHOOL crucial aspects of Black LGBTQ stuMEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES dents’ identities are taboo subjects. “Too often, we are Pursuant to Section 104 Public Notice of the Open Meetings Law, and pursuant to taught that our exisExecutive Order 202.1, this notice is to inform the public that the board of trustees of tences are political Democracy Prep New York School will hold a remote meeting by teleconference on: and that our existences are something March 30th, 2022 at 8:00 am., local time, + 1 646 558 8656, that is up for debate,” Meeting ID: 874 8332 5157, Password: 432554. Dolan-Sandrino says. “The message
PUBLIC NOTICE
More than half of LGBTQ youths do not find school ‘affirming’ Even before these many pieces of legislation started targeting Black students, fewer of them were finding school to be a safe or affirming space. A 2020 report by GLSEN and NBJC focused on Black LGBTQ high school students found that among the reasons they didn’t feel safe at school, sexual orientation was the top reason, with more than 50% of respondents reporting this. Race or ethnicity ranked fourth, with around 31% reporting it. In fact, 30% said they missed at least one day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Further, around 40% of Black LGBTQ students reported being harassed or assaulted at school due to both their sexual orientation and race or ethnicity. More than half of Black LGBTQ students who were harassed or assaulted did not report these experiences to staff, mostly because they didn’t think anyone would do anything about it. “There are faculty and administrators who are not equipped with bias training or sensitivity training,” Dolan-Sandrino says. “Students don’t feel that there is any support system that they have.” Indeed, less than half of these students told family members about the bullying and victimization they faced at school. Schools not having proper support systems in place shows up in a variety of ways. Black students are already disproportionately targeted by school discipline policies, and LGBTQ intersectionality adds to that. About half of Black LGBTQ students faced disciplinary actions at school—like detention, out-of-school suspension, or expulsion—and, with increased social exclusion and victimization that comes with not identifying with any singular group, the rate was even higher for students who identify as multiracial Black. The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey found LGBTQ youths were split on whether school was an affirming space, with 50% saying it wasn’t. Only 21%, or less than a quarter, of Black LGBTQ students were taught positive representations of LGBTQ people, history, or events through their
school curriculum, according to the GLSEN and NBJC report. “It’s no secret that many of us spend much more time at school than we do in our own homes and with our own families,” Dolan-Sandrino says. “The effect of being criminalized by identifying freely and authentically undoubtedly will cause irreparable harm. So where do members of the community go? According to a report by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law released this month, over 700,000 “LGBT” people (706,000) live in the New York metropolitan area. They, like LGBT people in other parts of the country, tend to live in or near big cities. New York’s metropolitan area (including Newark and Jersey City) has the highest population of LGBT adults of any metropolitan area. “More than half of LGBT adults in the U.S. live in 55 urban areas that share economic and social ties between one or more cities and adjacent communities,” stated Kerith J. Conron, research director at the Williams Institute, in the briefing. “Policy-makers in areas covered by each metropolitan statistical area should keep in mind that a large C group of LGBT people live, work, or play in their cities and towns.” But there hasn’t been strength in numbers. Bullying and worse continue to affect the community in many ways.
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Nearly 50% of Black LGBTQ youth considered suicide in 2020 All of these factors have an impact. More than 10% of LGBTQ youths attempted suicide in 2020, but the number that “seriously considered” it was considerably higher, with Black youths only behind native and indigenous youths, according to the Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey. White youths attempted suicide at a 12% rate, compared to 21% of Black youths and 18% of Latinx youths. On top of that, 65% of Black LGBTQ youths reported experiencing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. More than half of them wanted mental health care but did not receive it. “I don’t think that Black communities are necessarily more homophobic than any other community,” Williams says, “but there are stigmas around sexuality and masculinity. The
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