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Article Excerpt
Abstract
The needs of gay, lesbian. Bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) students, perceptions of counselors, which interfere with meeting those needs and a pilot program for influencing those perceptions is discussed.
Introduction
In the United States, our increasingly diverse society necessitates a multicultural approach to education and educator preparation in order to influence attitudes toward students of diverse cultures. Negative attitudes prevent some educational systems from addressing the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) students who are one of the last minorities to be acknowledged. This paper addresses a variety of problematic perceptions of school faculty and counseling students and presents a program for the preparation of school counselors in order to positively influence the school climate. Best estimates indicate that between five and six percent of youth, as many as two million, are dealing with issues resulting from sexual orientation (U. S. Census Bureau, 1990). The prevalence of homophobia is a severely damaging influence on GLBT youth (Gibson, 1989), who are nearly three times as likely as their heterosexual peers to have been assaulted or involved in at least one school fight, three times as likely to have been threatened or injured at school with a weapon, and nearly four times as likely to skip school because they felt unsafe (Massachusetts Department of Education, 2000).
Effects of Harassment/Violence
Consequences of homophobia range from depression, anxiety, and fear, to self-hatred, violence, and other life-long effects. Verbal, sexual, and physical harassment because of real or perceived sexual orientation are common experiences for GLBT students who may skip school because they are simply too afraid to go to school (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educators Network, 2003). They internalize negative stereotypes, which are hypothesized to result in severe degrees of low self-esteem. GLBT students can also develop forms of antisocial behavior, such as drug and alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, and other self-harming behaviors, in attempts to escape the pain of victimization. Homophobic beliefs and attitudes often cause serious maladjustment in GLBT youth, making them the most at-risk population in our schools today (Taylor, 2000). GLBT students who choose to remain in school, often experience lack of concentration and poor educational attainment. Worrying about personal safety and avoiding harassment, many GLB students suffer negative consequences that will impact them into adulthood (D'Augelli, 1998).
Consequences of harassment and violence include developmental and career issues (Callahan, 2000). GLBT students who have been exposed to homophobia in the schools experience problems associated with maturation, development, and career concerns. Adolescence is marked by tasks of identity development and relationship formation; neither of which is easily accomplished when consumed with burdens of hiding and denying feelings, one's true self, and constantly striving to fit societal norms. Large numbers of GLBT youth feel hopeless, practice self-destructive behavior, and have thoughts of suicide. Because career initiative...
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