If you are an LGBTQ young person, feel free to provide this list to a teacher, guidance counselor, or school principal—or ask your parent or guardian to do so.
If you are a school administrator or educator, here's a list of the components of an effective school district policy on discrimination and harassment:
- A clear prohibition of discrimination and harassment, applying to both staff and students.
- Enumeration of “actual or perceived,” “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” among the prohibited bases for discrimination and harassment.
- Procedures and guidelines for reporting harassment. Students suffering mistreatment should not be restricted to reporting harassment to any particular person, but there should be a procedure to ensure the information reaches the principal. And any staff member who witnesses or learns of discriminatory misconduct should have a clear duty set forth in the written policy to report that misconduct to designated staff members.
- A prohibition on retaliation against any person who reports harassment or discrimination.
- Information about the disciplinary consequences of violating the policy.
- A procedure for promptly investigating complaints.
- Requirements that the policy be displayed prominently at school, be distributed annually to students, parents, faculty and staff, and appear in school publications (including web pages) that set expectations for student or staff conduct.
- Procedures for regularly measuring and evaluating compliance with the policy by employees at all levels.
- Clear designation of supportive staff members with a responsibility to address discrimination, harassment, bullying and violence.
For information about these policy points or additional requirements that may exist under the law, contact Lambda Legal at 866-542-8336 or visit www.lambdalegal.org/help.
