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Student Testimonials
These testimonials were gathered from students from multiple US states and countries for LGBTeach. They have been kept anonymous for the students' privacy. The intent of these stories is to show how much inclusive schools help LGBT+ students and how damaging schools can be when they're not inclusive. (Occasionally edited for length and clarity.)
"I went through most of my schooling never seeing myself reflected in my own education. Not in school staff, not in school policy, and certainly not in the curriculum. It was very isolating. Ultimately, the message I received was that school was not a place I was wanted or welcome."
College student,
Queer
“There where these two kids in my class who where especially homophobic. I was in a group with one of them. She would stop doing her work and start telling me to stop. I was really confused until she said being lesbian. She then continued to tell me that if I didn't stop I would go to hell.”
7th grade, Lesbian
“It's all been full of contrasts. I've found teachers who publicly supported LGBT+ people and others who said it's nonsense and are full of hate. Same thing with classmates and other students. Most of them say they respect LGBT+ but, in fact, hearing the word "f*ggot" is (sadly) quite frequent.”
Student in secondary school
[My friend and I] went to a really conservative school junior year. My friend is trans, ftm, and nearly everyone at the school was cruel to him, including teachers. There were some good people there, but only about 2 teachers were nice to him. The bullying wasnt subtle either. But even when my friend moved, people, including teachers, still talked bad about him. Also slurs were very common in the school sadly.
High school,
LGBT
I'm not out at my school but me and a group of friends are out to each other and we have a spot on this slide where we sit and chat regularly. One day written on the slide were insults toward all six of us calling us names, making fun of my gay friend and there were drawings of genitals. We went to tell the teacher and he shrugged and said to just erase it.
Student,
LGBT
I used to be friends with some really popular girls and we all would go out and eat lunch. I never came out to any of them. I remember we had gym together one day and a girl came in who was bisexual and I remember when we went out to lunch that same day a girl commented on it. And she was talking about starting a petition that LGBTQ people shouldn’t be allowed to enter the locker rooms where they’re changing, and I remember no one said anything for a really long time.
High school Junior
My teachers say girlfriend or boyfriend when they ask if people have dates to prom and I have a principal who is very supportive of LGBT. He comes into GSA meetings sometimes and is always asking us what he can do to help.
Student,
LGBT
“I have a friend who’s non-binary and people question them all the time. Worst of all the teachers don’t correct students when they misgender or insult them. It sucks and make me uncomfortable.”
Student,
LGBT
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