Tolerance & Acceptance of Race, Religion and Sexual Orientation, LGBTQ Anthony Eftimeo GLSEN Los Angeles Executive Director Introduction about who I am and what I do and the purpose of the presentation today. Make sure to state that hopefully there will be an opportunity for questions and answers.

Tolerance Definition: “ sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own” –Merriam Webster’s Dictionary The term “Tolerance” is steeped in privilege and has many negative connotations associated with it. It is commonly used a politically correct term that is chosen with good intentions but that the connotation is to “put up” with something. As I walked around the classroom, I approached one of my students and asked her, "Kenya, if I said to you, 'I tolerate the fact that your skin is a different color than mine,' how would you respond?" Well, she wasn't too excited about that. Then I asked her, "How would you feel if I said that I really appreciate the fact that your skin is a different color than mine?"

Changing the Mindset Acceptance/ Understanding Tolerance Appreciation The purpose of this slide is to plant the idea that we need to move away from this idea of just “tolerance” and start a progression from tolerance to understanding and ultimately acceptance and appreciation.

Statistics Biased Remarks from Students The most common types of biased remarks heard were: expressions using “gay” in a negative way, e.g. “that’s so gay” (55.0% heard often or very often), sexist remarks (56.0% heard often or very often), and racist remarks (55.4% heard often or very often). The least commonly heard remarks were negative remarks about transgender people (14.2% of students heard often or very often) and negative religious remarks (9.5% heard often or very often). - GLSEN: Teasing to Torment: School Climate Revisted 2016 It is not clear how often kids get bullied because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin. It is also unclear how often kids of the same group bully each other. Research is still growing. We do know, however, that Black and Hispanic youth who are bullied are more likely to suffer academically than their white peers. Although no specialized interventions have yet been developed or identified, some federal partners have developed campaign materials for specific racial and ethnic minority groups. For example, the Indian Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services has developed a series of materials for American Indian and Alaskan Native youth called “Stand Up, Stand Strong.” When bullying based on race or ethnicity is severe, pervasive, or persistent it may be considered harassment, which is covered under federal civil rights laws.

Statistics Continued Biased Remarks from Teachers and School Staff One quarter (25.5%) of students reported hearing school staff make negative remarks related to students’ gender expression. Approximately one-fifth of students reported hearing school staff make negative remarks about students’ academic ability (22.5%) and sexist remarks (20.6%). Students also reported hearing school staff make homophobic remarks (15.3%), racist remarks (14.4%), negative remarks about religion (14.1%), and negative remarks about transgender people (12.6%). - GLSEN: Teasing to Torment: School Climate Revisted 2016

LGBTQ LGBTQ Alphabet Soup Terms are constantly changing and evolving The term “queer” This activity can be used to greatly help demonstrate the difference between gender and sexual orientation

The Damage of Bullying Students who experience bullying are at increased risk for poor school adjustment, sleep difficulties, anxiety, and depression. (Center for Disease Control, 2015) Students who engage in bullying behavior are at increased risk for academic problems, substance use, and violent behavior later in adolescence and adulthood. (Center for Disease Control, 2015) Students who are both targets of bullying and engage in bullying behavior are at greater risk for both mental health and behavior problems than students who only bully or are only bullied. (Center for Disease Control, 2015) Students who experience bullying are twice as likely as non-bullied peers to experience negative health effects such as headaches and stomachaches. (Gini and Pozzoli, 2013) The effects of bullying are also intensified for those who belong to traditionally marginalized groups. Such people of color, minorities, Gay and Lesbian, Transgender community.

Creating Safe and Welcoming Learning Environments Provide inclusive materials and curriculum. Enumerated anti-bullying policies. Professional development/programs for staff, students etc.. Removing “Zero-Tolerance” policies. Be very mindful about Peer Mediation. Moving away from using the term tolerance and move more to acceptance/ appreciation. Difference between “reporting” and “tattling” Teachers need to be adequately prepared to effectively address bias, bullying, and LGBTQ issues. Most teachers are receiving professional development on bullying and diversity issues. Teachers are less likely to have any training on LGBT student issues, though they indicate that they would find it helpful. • The vast majority of teachers had received some type of professional development (either pre-service and/ in-service) on topics of bullying and harassment (85.1%) and diversity/multicultural education (76.4%). • Teachers were far less likely to have received professional development on LGBT issues, compared to bullying and harassment or diversity/multicultural education. Less than a third of teachers ever had any professional development on LGB student issues (32.9%); less than a quarter had any on transgender student issues (23.6%). • Teachers were least likely to have received professional development during their pre-service education, as opposed to in their current or former position. Bullying/harassment: 14.3%, Diversity/multicultural education: 18.9%; LGB student issues: 9.2%; Transgender student issues: 6.1%. • Professional development on diversity, LGB issues, and transgender issues were most closely related to greater involvement in LGBT-supportive practices. Replace the word "tolerance" with "appreciation" in all employee materials, training programs, and internal/external public relations campaign verbiage.

Resources www.glsen.org http://www.glsen.org/article/2013-national-school-climate-survey http://www.glsen.org/lscs http://www.glsen.org/article/state-state-research www.adl.org www.adl.org/education

Thank you Questions & Comments are welcome Contact: Anthony Eftimeo aeftimeo@adl.org Eftimeo@gmail.com