2.  LGBT is an acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer.  Lesbian- A woman attracted to a woman.  Gay-Men attracted to men. Colloquially used as an umbrella term to include all LGBTIQ people.  Bisexual-Also bi. A person who is attracted to two sexes or two genders, but not necessarily simultaneously or equally.

3.  Transgender-Transgender people are those whose psychological self ("gender identity") differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with.  Intersex-Intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that feature congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system. Non standard chromosomes, genitalia, or reproductive system.

4.  Queer- › An umbrella term to refer to all LGBTIQ people › A political statement, as well as a sexual orientation, which advocates breaking binary thinking and seeing both sexual orientation and gender identity as potentially fluid

5.  Gay and lesbian youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual young people.  As many as 1 in 3 gay and lesbian youth have attempted suicide.

6.  84% of LGBT students report being verbally harassed (name calling, threats, etc.) because of their sexual orientation.  91.5% of LGBT students report hearing homophobic remarks, such as “faggot,” “dyke” or the expression “that’s so gay” frequently or often.  Students who experience frequent verbal harassment because of their sexual orientation are less likely than other students to plan to attend college. 13.4% of LGBT students who report verbal harassment do not intend to go to college, twice the figure of those LGBT students who report only rare or less frequent verbal harassment (6.7%).

7.  50% of lesbian and gay youth report parental rejection because of their sexual orientation.  4 out of 5 students in school don’t know 1 supportive adult in their school environment.  In a study of depression and gay youth, researchers found depression strikes gay youth four to five times more severely than their non-gay peers.

8.  64.3% of LGBT students report feeling unsafe at their school because of their sexual orientation.  Students who describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered are five times more likely to miss school because of feeling unsafe. 28% are forced to drop out.  More than half of gay men will encounter an issue with chemical dependency or addiction over the course of their lifetimes.  LGBT teenagers are nearly 200 percent more likely than straight teens to use illicit substances such as drugs or alcohol, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study.

9.  Open your eyes and heart to you child, and make sure that they know that they can talk to you about anything.  Be aware- › Is you child being bullied? Dreading school? Acting depressed? Hiding things from you? Experimenting with substances? › Are you pushing gender stereotypes on your child?

10.  You WILL have LGBTIQ students who are at high risk for bullying, suicide, homelessness, depression, violence, family rejection, etc.  Adolescents are going through rapid and intense changes as well as attempting to form their identity- being LGBTIQ only makes this process more difficult and complex, therefore these students need as much support as possible.

11.  Do not tolerate any negative language or bullying.  If you are willing to talk about this issue, make sure your students know that.  Do not act like LGBTIQ people don’t exist- ignoring this issue does not make it go away.  Use my resource page, get informed, and open your mind- if you have a problem with LGBTIQ kids 1) CHANGE YOUR MAJOR 2) THEY WILL KNOW – kids are not dumb.  Start a GSA!

12.  http://www.glsen.org/ cgi- bin/iowa/all/educator /index.html http://www.glsen.org/ cgi- bin/iowa/all/educator /index.html  http://gsanetwork.org/ http://gsanetwork.org/  http://www.advocate sforyouth.org/index.ph p/glbtq-resources-for- professionals http://www.advocate sforyouth.org/index.ph p/glbtq-resources-for- professionals  http://www.siecus.org

13.  http://www.itgetsbet ter.org http://www.itgetsbet ter.org  http://www.healthyc hildren.org http://www.healthyc hildren.org  http://familyproject.s fsu.edu/files/English_ Final_Print_Version_L ast.pdf http://familyproject.s fsu.edu/files/English_ Final_Print_Version_L ast.pdf

14.  http://www.glsen.or g/cgi- bin/iowa/all/student/ index.html http://www.glsen.or g/cgi- bin/iowa/all/student/ index.html  http://gsanetwork.or g/ http://gsanetwork.or g/  http://www.itgetsbet ter.org http://www.itgetsbet ter.org  http://www.siecus.or g

15.  http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resourc es_definiton_of_terms http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resourc es_definiton_of_terms  http://www.noh8campaign.com/photo- galleries http://www.noh8campaign.com/photo- galleries  http://www.youthprideri.org/Resources/S tatistics/tabid/227/Default.aspx http://www.youthprideri.org/Resources/S tatistics/tabid/227/Default.aspx  http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/ 12/lgbt-bullying-statistics.html http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/ 12/lgbt-bullying-statistics.html  http://lgbtdrugrehab.com/addiction- treatment-statistics http://lgbtdrugrehab.com/addiction- treatment-statistics