The Rochester, NY city school district needed to train over 1,000 employees on how to create safe and inclusive schools for LGBT youth to prevent bullying and harassment. This is the presentation our team used to conduct this training.

1. WELCOME!
Rochester City School District Employees

2. Opening Remarks &
Introductions
•Welcome
•Who is GLSEN
Rochester?
•Why are we here?

3. Pre – Training
Survey
Before we begin…..

4. AGENDA
• Welcome: Opening Remarks & Introductions
• Setting the Stage
– Agenda, Objectives & Community Norms
• Who are LGBT students?
– Defining LGBT
– Just the Facts: A look at the impact of bullying/harassment
– Our Kids. Our Schools: “I Live…” Video & Exercise
• Creating a Safe Space
– Strategies for ending anti-LGBT harassment & bullying
• Wrap-up:
– Looking Ahead

5. Objectives
• Understand how bullying, harassment and name
calling impact the school climate
• Get information on how bullying, harassment, and
name-calling impact lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) students and staff
• Learn skills that will assist in creating a safer
school climate for all, regardless of sexual
orientation and gender identity or expression

6. Community Norms
• Listen. Respect One
Another’s Ideas &
Comments
• Cell Phones Off or On
Vibrate
• One Mic, One Voice
• Parking Lot

7. Source: From GLSEN Lunchbox, A Training Toolkit for Teachers and Educators
Lets Start Here…
Think back to the time when
you were in secondary school…
Share one experience where
you felt different, were harassed
or bullied because of an aspect
of your identity (i.e. race,
gender, sexuality, religion, body
type, etc)

8. Who are LGBTQ
students?
• L – Lesbian
– Females who are attracted sexually and
emotionally to some other females
• G – Gay
– Males who are attracted sexually and emotionally
to some other males
• B – Bisexual
– People who are attracted sexually and
emotionally to some other males & females

9. Who are LGBTQ
students?
T – Transgender
Umbrella term to describe people whose gender
expression and/or whose gender identity is
different from assigned to them upon birth
Gender Identity
A person’s internal self-awareness of being either
male or female, masculine or feminine, something
other than exclusively male/female or
masculine/feminine, or neither
Gender Expression-
The way a person expresses their gender

10. Who are LGBTQ
students?
Q – Questioning or Queer
Questioning – people who are uncertain
about their sexual orientation or gender
identity; Queer – umbrella term used by
many whose sexual orientation or gender
identity/expression is not considered
“standard”
A – Ally
Generally are non-LGBT people who are
committed to ending bias and
discrimination against LGBT people

11. Just The Facts
Statistics on Bullying,
Name-Calling and Harassment

12. Just The Facts in the Nation
Across the nation, 65% of all students report
having been verbally or physically harassed or
assaulted at school during the past year because of
their actual or perceived:
• Appearance or body size
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Gender expression
• Race or ethnicity
• Disability
• Religion
Source: From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, A Survey of Students and Teachers (2005)

13. % Often/Very Often
13%
16%
39%
8%
14%
28%
33%
Actual or
Perceived
Sexual
Orientation
Gender
Expression
Race/Ethnicity Religion Physical
Appearance
Academic
Ability
Family
Income
Just The Facts:
Reasons for Bullying and Harassment
Most common reasons students were bullied and harassed in school:
% Often/Very Often
39%
Source: From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, A Survey of Students and Teachers (2005)

14. Just The Facts in New York State
Quiz
What percentage of LGBT students in NY state reported
feeling unsafe in school?
A) 33%
B) 64%
C) 50%
D) 99%
Source: Inside New York State: Experiences of LGBT Students (findings from the 2007 National
School Climate Survey)

15. Just The Facts in New York State
Quiz
What percentage of LGBT students in NY state reported
feeling unsafe in school?
B) 64%
Source: Inside New York State: Experiences of LGBT Students (findings from the 2007 National
School Climate Survey)

16. Just The Facts in New York State
• The majority (60%) of LGBT
students in NY state who said they
were harassed or assaulted did not
report these incidents to school
staff
Source: Inside New York State: Experiences of LGBT Students (findings from the 2007 National
School Climate Survey)

17. The Reality
Our Kids. Our Schools.
Video: “I Live…”

18. The Reality
Our Kids. Our Schools.
• Based on what you saw in the film and your
personal experience, how are schools made
unsafe for many LGBT students?
• How would you respond to some of the negative
experiences cited in the film?

19. You can make a difference.
LGBT students who knew that many staff in the school
were supportive of LGBT students:
• Were less likely to feel unsafe in school
• Were less likely to miss school
• Had greater feelings of belonging at school
• Were more likely to plan on attending college
• Had higher GPAs
Source: From 2007 National School Climate Survey
TAKING ACTION:
Effects of Supporting
Students

20. TAKING ACTION:
Intervening to stop anti-LGBT
bullying & harassment
•Address comments/harassment
immediately
•Name the behavior
•Support the student who has
been bullied
•Create a teachable moment
•Change in behavior
•Consequences

21. TAKING ACTION:
What can YOU do?
•Don’t assume students’
sexual orientation or gender
identity
•Be Inclusive in your
curriculum
•Model behavior
•Remember it’s not about
changing beliefs, it’s about
changing behaviors

22. TAKING ACTION:
Utilize GLSEN Resources
•Support Gay Straight Alliances
•GSAs are student clubs that provide support,
information and safe spaces for LGBT
•students and straight allies
•Establish Safe Zone/Spaces
•Engage Your School
•No Name-Calling Week – January 25 – 29, 2010
•Day of Silence – April 16, 2010
•Seek additional training on LGBT sensitivity
www.glsen.org/rochester

23. Personal Action Plans
What are three things YOU can do to
create a safer learning
environments for LGBT Students?
TAKING ACTION:
Making a commitment

24. Questions & Wrap-Up

25. For More Resources Contact:
glsenrochester@gmail.com
WWW.GLSEN.ORG/Rochester