Why Pride Month Matters for Young People

The end of the school year in North America coincides with the LGBTQ+ community Pride celebrations in June. I have heard many people ask the question, “why don’t we have straight Pride?” or “Now that same-sex marriage is legal, why do we need Pride?” Well, to honor Pride Month and to help others understand why these celebrations matter to so many people, I wanted to share a bit of the existing research on the importance of positive adult role models on identity formation for young people and the harms when students don’t see others like them in the world—including in books and other curricula at school.

Queer justice at school

Source: Teachers College Press/used with permission

I have recently written a book called Queer Justice at School: A Guide for Youth Activists, Allies, and Their Teachers, designed to share some of this important research with a wider audience. In this book I share some summaries of research done over the years in GLSEN’s biannual National School Climate Surveys. The 2021 survey reported that 60% of LGBTQ students are verbally harassed at school and 31% were physically harassed. They also report that transgender and nonbinary students are more likely to feel unsafe at school (84% transgender, 52% nonbinary, 20% cisgender students reported feeling unsafe). The majority of LGBTQ+ students of color experience victimization based on their race/ethnicity as well as their LGBTQIA+ identity.

The good news is that schools that have supportive adults and policies or an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum provide more supportive learning environments. For example, schools with inclusive curricula students were less likely to:

• Hear homophobic remarks at school (26% compared to 47% in schools that don’t have inclusive curricula).
• Feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation (23% vs. 34%) and gender expression 34% vs. 54%).
• Miss school in the past month because they felt unsafe (54% vs. 67% in schools that don’t have inclusive curricula).

Students who report having more supportive adults (11 or more) had higher GPAs (3.34 vs. 3.14), felt safer, and were more likely to pursue postsecondary education. Schools that had comprehensive and explicit nondiscrimination policies experience lower rates of harassment and higher rates of intervention by school staff. Student clubs like Gender & Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) are also valuable spaces to connect with like-minded peers and develop a positive sense of identity. There has been extensive research on the positive youth development aspects of such clubs which I will write about more in another post.

For young LGBTQ+ people, Pride season is an important opportunity to see their community celebrating strength, connection, diversity, and resilience. For young people who don’t have many adult supporters and role models, these public displays of thriving and happy LGBTQ+ people and families are important to their well-being. If you are interested in learning more about the research and practices on LGBTQ+ affirming education, Teachers College Press is hosting a webinar on June 25 to share more of the research and information from this book. I hope you will join us.