Revived bill to improve teacher training for LGBTQ kids

(Calif.) In an effort to create safer and more supportive learning environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning youth, a new bill is calling for annual teacher training on how to support LGBTQ students.

AB 493–authored by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, and sponsored by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Equality California–would require schools serving middle and high school students to provide annual teacher and staff training and information on resources available to LGBTQ students.

Thurmond, who penned a similar bill as a member of the State Assembly last year, said helping teachers provide support for students facing bullying or harassment at school, or a lack of acceptance at home or discrimination in the broader community, will help youth thrive.

“I’m proud to co-sponsor AB 493, which will help protect California’s LGBTQ students by providing teachers the resources they need to support them at both school and home,” Thurmond said in a statement. “Every child deserves a caring and supportive school environment, and we must continue to work towards closing disparities in health, mental health and academic outcomes for our LGBTQ students.”

Current state law requires the California Department of Education, as part of its compliance monitoring, to assess if districts have provided information to school staff on community resources for LGBTQ students.

Thurmond’s prior bill–which passed the Legislature with bipartisan support in both the Assembly and Senate–would have formally required training on those resources at least once a year.

Former-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the bill, citing current law and concluding that “if local schools find that more training or resources on this topic is needed, they have the flexibility to use their resources as they see best.”

According to the 2017 National School Climate Survey, 82 percent of LGBTQ students reported hearing anti-LGBT remarks in their school. About 70 percent reported being called names or threatened because of their sexual orientation, while more than 33 percent reported missing at least one day of school because of feeling unsafe.

Meanwhile, a study published last year in JAMA Pediatrics that pooled and analyzed data from 35 studies representing nearly 2.5 million adolescents found that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth were 3.7 percent more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Transgender youth were nearly 5.9 percent more likely to attempt suicide.

Gloria, author of AB 493, said the bullying he experienced himself in school as a young gay kid was part of what motivated him to push for protections for today’s LGBTQ youth.

“No child should have to experience that. Students should feel safe, accepted, included, and supported in their school,” Gloria said in a statement. “Equipping educators with resources to better support LGBTQ students will create a safer and more inclusive environment for these students to be successful.”

His bill would require each public school to annually provide in-service training to teachers of students in grades 7 to 12, as well as other certified staff, on schoosite and community resources for the support of LGBTQ youth, as well as strategies to increase support for these pupils–thereby improving overall school climate.

The bill doesn’t provide funding for such training, however, and would need to be allocated by legislators at a later date.

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