Introduction
Approximately 2 million young people identified as part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and additional identities (LGBTQ+) community in 2020, and federal data from 2021 show that 1 in 4 high school students identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual or are questioning their sexual identity.i, ii In recent years, education and other policy leaders across the country have engaged in fierce debate over the role of schools in supporting LGBTQ+ youth. According to the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), as of December 2024, seven states have laws that explicitly require LGBTQ+ inclusion in state standards while eight states have laws that explicitly prohibit the discussion of LGBTQ+ topics, people, and issues.iii These laws garnered recent media attention and raised questions among educators and other adults working with schools about how best to serve LGBTQ+ students.
To support state leaders—and the communities and youth they serve—amid policy change, this guide reviews the factors that shape LGBTQ+ students’ perceptions of safety and support, as well as the implications for their academic and health outcomes. Further, the guide provides state agencies with a process for understanding their state’s policy environment around LGBTQ+ topics and the supports that local education agencies (LEAs) and organizations that work with schools may need to support student learning, connection, and safety.
How LGBTQ+ Safety and Connection to Schools Support Academic and Health Outcomes
Schools are tasked with developing the knowledge and skills of the students in their care and fostering academic achievement. Historically, efforts to improve student academic outcomes targeted instructional leadership—improving how teachers delivered content and managed classrooms. In recent decades, however, advancements in the science of learning have clarified how school factors beyond instruction and curriculum influence students’ opportunities to learn.
To support state leaders in understanding this link and its implications for LGBTQ+ youth—and to assist state leaders in communicating this link to local leaders and communities—we provide a simple summary of the research that ties student learning to student’s feelings of connection and safety below.