Equity & Diversity Report Roundup

Gay and Lesbian Parents

By Mary C. Breaden — March 11, 2008 1 min read
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Research for the nationally representative survey was conducted between May and August of 2005 through online and mail-in surveys of 588 parents in the LGBT community with children in middle and high school, and 154 students in middle and high school with LGBT parents.

About 50 percent of students whose parents are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender reported hearing school staff members make homophobic remarks, and about 40 percent of students in middle and high school reported hearing sexist remarks from school personnel, according to a survey by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, a New York City-based advocacy group.

The survey found that while LGBT parents were roughly 20 percentage points more likely than other parents to be involved with their children’s schools, through such activities as volunteering and parent-teacher conferences, more than 50 percent of such parents reported being excluded from their school communities by negative comments from other parents and students, or by parents’ and school officials’ failure to acknowledge their type of family, the report on the findings says.

Research for the nationally representative survey was conducted between May and August of 2005 through online and mail-in surveys of 588 parents in the LGBT community with children in middle and high school, and 154 students in middle and high school with LGBT parents.

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A version of this article appeared in the March 12, 2008 edition of Education Week

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