In fact, one bill has been introduced that would extend the ban on LGBTQIA+ related classroom instruction through ninth grade, and prohibit students and teachers from respecting pronouns or personal titles that don’t correspond with one’s sex assigned at birth through twelfth grade. “Don’t Say Gay” has had a chilling effect, discouraging teachers at all grade levels from ever discussing the LGBTQIA+ community, offering supportive resources, or displaying symbols of Pride in their classrooms out of fear of retribution. Ron DeSantis signed what became commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to third grade or “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” The very next month, he signed the originally-named Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act, which prohibits classroom instruction or diversity training in workplaces that imply a person is privileged or oppressed based on their identity. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Florida. Nearly 7 in 10 Black LGBTQIA+ youth say debates around state laws restricting the rights of LGBTQIA+ young people have negatively impacted their mental health, and 1 in 5 also reported experiencing cyberbullying or online harassment as a result of these policies and debates in the last year. For LGBTQIA+ youth of color, these types of bills can have a compounding negative impact on their mental health and well-being-they force not just one aspect, but multiple aspects, of their identities into the shadows. We know that LGBTQIA+ young people are listening as their rights are being debated on the national stage. In 2023 alone, more than 400 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced across the country-most of which target transgender and nonbinary young people-with more popping up each day. Unfortunately, politicians are attempting to strip that hope by censoring curriculums and banning books related to both Black and LGBTQIA+ topics. When we see ourselves reflected in books or in the media, it opens up a world of possibilities that we may have never known were otherwise possible and inspires a new generation of thought-leaders. Every student should experience moments of feeling seen and represented in school. My research particularly looks at the role that protective factors-such as supportive and affirming schools or LGBTQIA+ role models and representation-have on reducing this risk. These collective experiences throughout my life made me want to continue learning and pursue a career in research, so I could help expand public knowledge on important topics impacting people like me.Īs the Director of Research Science at The Trevor Project, my work focuses on adolescent gender and sexuality, and reducing LGBTQIA+ youth mental health disparities. Reading their words instilled a sense of pride in me, particularly as someone who wrote more than I spoke. Their radically inspiring approach to Black queerness and feminist theory resonated with me on a much deeper level: How, as Lorde once wrote, “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare ” how the struggles to end racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia are inextricably intertwined. It wasn’t until much later, in graduate school, that I was introduced to the works of LGBTQIA+ authors for the very first time-writers like Audre Lorde and bell hooks. When I first discovered Angelou, I immediately started reading as much of her work as I could-albeit with a dictionary on hand-and learned how fortitude is often born from our most painful periods. While they are monumentally important to our history as Black Americans, they also represent very specific factions of our struggle for justice and liberation. As a matter of fact, I rarely learned about Black historical figures outside of the common heavy hitters such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Sojourner Truth, or Harriet Tubman. Growing up and exploring my identity further, I never once saw a Black LGBTQIA+ person like me represented in my history books.
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