Apr 28, 2006  |  By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG  | COMMENTS     

Seventeen-year-old Jessie Liberatore has been spit on, called a dyke and even pushed down the stairs at her public school in Havre de Grace, Md.

The harassment started even before she came out in the ninth grade when there were just rumors about her sexual orientation.

"It was worse at the beginning," she said. "I’m lucky in that I’ve gone to Havre de Grace public schools my entire life. They realize I’m still the same person that they’ve known."

According to a new survey by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, the experiences of Liberatore, who is gay, are not uncommon.

In 2005, GLSEN surveyed 1,732 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students between the ages of 13 and 20 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey results were released this week.

Almost two-thirds of those surveyed said they were verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation. About half reported they were harassed for their gender identity, according to the survey results. More than a third of those surveyed suffered anti-gay physical harassment and 25 percent experienced anti-transgender physical harassment, the survey found.

The study also reported that only 16.5 percent of students surveyed said that a school staff member often intervened when they heard anti-gay insults. About 18 percent of respondents said they had actually heard staff make homophobic comments.

These statistics reflect what Liberatore has seen at her own school. Teachers often don’t reprimand students when they say comments like, "that’s so gay," in a classroom discussion, she said. And, at times, teachers have even used the phrase themselves, Liberatore said.

"Teachers don’t consider it part of their job to provide for the safety of GLBT kids," said Judy Hoff, the Safe Schools coordinator at Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays. "The climate in our culture right now seems to be driving how things are going on in our communities."

In one of Liberatore’s classes when students try to bring up gay rights issues in a positive way, she said, the teacher stops the discussion and says, "We’re not going to talk about that."

GLSEN’s study also found that anti-gay violence and harassment leads to cutting school, poor grades and fewer gay students planning to attend college.

For example, about 28 percent of students surveyed skipped school in the past month because they felt unsafe. Gay students were more than five times more likely to cut class than the general student body, according to the survey results.

The average GPA for a student who suffered anti-gay physical harassment was 2.6 as compared with 3.1 for other students, according to the survey.

Most alarming for gay rights activists was that there was little positive change in the survey results since it was last conducted in 2003.

"I talk to other adult LGBT people," said Kevin Jennings, GLSEN’s executive director. "[They say], ‘Things must be all better for kids now.’ It’s not all better."

More attacks, less protection

Fewer students in 2005 could identify school staff they felt comfortable speaking with about gay issues, and there was no increase in resources for gay students since 2003, the study found.

"We know what works," said Jennings. "Why aren’t more of them doing it? What’s their excuse? That’s what I want to know."

What works, Jennings said, is supportive staff; an inclusive curriculum that discusses gay rights; and gay student clubs. But about 81 percent of those surveyed said they had not been taught about gay history or about notable gay people in school.

Not only are schools not taking the necessary steps to protect gay students, but more state legislatures are attacking them, Jennings said. In 2004 one state considered a law barring gay-straight student alliance clubs in schools; in 2005 six states proposed such measures, he said.

"There are more attacks and not more protection," he said.

Liberatore has tried since spring 2005 to resurrect her school’s now-defunct gay straight alliance. But her principal, Wayne D. Thibeault, has stalled, she said.

"He expressed that he doesn’t know how well received it would be," she said. "I can’t even get out of him the procedure. I’m waiting to find out what I need to do.

"I feel it is different because it’s a GSA," she said. "I’ve watched clubs form in the meantime."

Thibeault could not be reached for comment.

While Maryland has an anti-discrimination law that protects gays, the school handbook only lists protections based on race, gender and religion, Liberatore said.