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Social support in schools and related outcomes for LGBTQ youth: a scoping review

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• Published: 14 November 2022
• Volume 1 , article number  18 , ( 2022 )

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• Enoch Leung 1 ,
• Gabriela Kassel-Gomez 1 ,
• Samantha Sullivan 1 ,
• Flavio Murahara 1 &
• Tara Flanagan 1  

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Recent research has increasingly focused on positive factors and supports for LGBTQ youth. This scoping review explores existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools through the Ecological Systems Theory to respond to the following four objectives: (1) define social support systems in schools, (2) identify current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth, (3) identify barriers to support LGBTQ youth in schools, and (4) identify areas for future research for LGBTQ youth and social support in schools. A systematic search (Arksey and O’Malley in Int J Soc Res Methodol 8(1):19–32, 2005) between 2007 through 2021 resulted in 94 articles. This review gave rise to an organizational framework to consolidate various systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. Social support consisted of seven social support systems (family, curriculum, family, peers, school policies, GSAs and programs, and school climate) that are positively associated with the promotion of positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes for LGBTQ youth. Though the literature has been clear surrounding the risks associated with LGBTQ youth, this scoping review provides a positive outlook on LGBTQ youth’s school experiences and how these systems of social support allow for LGBTQ youth to act as active participants to foster a positive school climate and sense of safety.

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1 Introduction

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth spend most of their lives in schools, navigating through the difficult and threatening space [ 54 , 80 ]. Schools can be a threatening space for LGBTQ youth as they experience increased victimization and a lack of safety [ 59 ]. This fact is alarming since students spend most of their time in schools, approximately 175 to 220 days per year with an average of 5 to 8.5 h per school day [ 81 ]. Schools, then, can be thought of as youths’ second home, particularly concerning for LGBTQ youth due to the lack of safety in their school environment.

Many studies have indicated that LGBTQ youth experience numerous socioemotional, educational, and health risks at school due to LGBTQ-specific prejudice and victimization. This includes isolation from peers, low social support, low school engagement, low academic success, school dropout, stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and attempts [ 41 , 47 , 60 ]. However, rather than problematizing youth as at-risk, emerging research is shifting the focus onto the systems that create and carry the risks towards LGBTQ youth, subsequently exploring through a positive lens to begin unpacking LGBTQ needs in schools [ 54 ]. Recent research has increasingly focused on positive factors and supports for LGBTQ youth. For example, the presence of a supportive adult in a LGBTQ youth’s lives facilitated a smoother high school experience (i.e., decreased absenteeism, increased academic engagement, [ 76 ]). The goal of this study is to systematically explore the positive support systems available for LGBTQ youth, further exploring other potential social support systems, beyond supportive adults, that are present in schools to mitigate the risks for LGBTQ youth and promote positive outcomes. This study will begin by outlining Bronfenbrenner’s [ 15 ] Ecological Systems Theory as an approach to understanding social support for LGBTQ youth. A cursory review of the protective factors and stress experiences for LGBTQ youth in schools will be explored followed by the process of a scoping review and thematic analysis. Notably, the review seeks to pivot from a deficit lens of LGBTQ youth considered as at-risk toward systems that promote the positive outcomes of LGBTQ youth. Additionally, the acronym LGBTQ will be used primarily when discussing the LGBTQ+ population. However, when applicable, other acronyms will be used to denote specific subgroups. This can include LGB for studies that explore sexual minority individuals only.

1.1 Understanding social support for LGBTQ youth through Ecological Systems Theory

LGBTQ youth experiences have been increasingly explored in a variety of settings: family, community, and school settings. One approach to organize the LGBTQ youth literature is through a broader, systemic lens. Bronfenbrenner’s [ 14 , 15 , 16 ] Ecological Systems Theory can provide the systemic lens needed that allows a way of thinking for the study of interconnections among systems. The model views the individual’s development as a complex system of interactions and relationships across multiple systems surrounding the individual. The systems suggested by Bronfenbrenner [ 14 , 15 , 16 ] include: (1) microsystem, (2) mesosystem, (3) exosystem, (4) macrosystem, and (5) chronosystem. Briefly, the microsystem consists of the immediate stakeholders that are directly in contact with the individual (e.g., peers, family). The mesosystem includes the interactions between the individual’s microsystems (e.g., parents speaking with educators). The exosystem consists of stakeholders or environments which do not contain the individual and that indirectly influence the individual via their microsystems (e.g., family’s workplace). The macrosystem consists of the cultural components that influence an individual’s development (e.g., class, ethnicity). The chronosystem consists of normative and/or non-normative environmental changes that occur over the lifespan that can influence an individual’s development (e.g., elementary to high school transition, COVID-19 pandemic). An understanding of the various systems surrounding the individual allows for the exploration of the relationships between the systems (e.g., mesosystems). Previous empirical research on youth and LGBTQ studies have applied the Ecological Systems Theory to understand effective ways LGBTQ youth are accessing the necessary support to thrive in their environment. For example, Watson and others [ 119 ] interviewed gay-straight alliance (GSA) advisors addressing various topics including school climate-related issues (e.g., sexual and gender-based victimization) that influenced their ability to be advocates for their students. The authors found that sociocultural factors (e.g., public policies), school-based factors (e.g., administrators), and individual factors (e.g., knowledge of LGBTQ issues) were both barriers and facilitators of their ability to be advocates. From the advisors’ perspective, aligned with Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, they are required to navigate across systems to effectively support their LGBTQ youth. Results were corroborated from other studies that consider the necessity of school counselors to navigate across ecological systems to support the LGBTQ youth in their schools [ 7 ]. Other studies focusing more on the community surrounding LGBTQ youth revealed similar navigations across systemic barriers (or facilitators) in their identity exploration. Katz-Wise and others [ 57 ] interviewed TGNB (transgender and non-binary folks) youths’ experience in their gender identity exploration, specifically in family and community settings. Eight themes were developed from this study that aligned with the ecological systems: individual factors (e.g., emotions, coping), family factors (e.g., family support), community factors (e.g., general and LGBTQ community experiences), and societal factors (e.g., external forces). Broadly, the Ecological Systems Theory shifts the research focus to a more relational, developmental systems view, acknowledging the interconnectedness of the systems and its associations to the individual (e.g., [ 15 , 16 ]).

Taken together, this scoping review attempts to explore existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools through the Ecological Systems Theory. An ecological systems approach in understanding the existing literature on social support for LGBTQ youth can provide an organizational framework necessary to consolidate the comprehensive literature of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. As the scoping review attempts an initial exploration and organization of existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools, a deeper exploration on the relationship between the systems will be explored in a separate review.

1.2 School-based protective systems for LGBTQ youth

American Psychological Association [ 1 ] published an informational guide summarizing the various school-based protective systems present for LGBTQ youth. Although not comprehensive, the guide listed several support systems available in schools: (1) educators, (2) school policies, (3) gay-straight alliances, (4) inclusive curriculum, and (5) school climate. Briefly, the guide implicated the importance of educators to help create a safe school climate for LGBTQ youth, the need to create and enforce anti-harassment policies, the creation of gay-straight alliances, and the development of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. Each system (educators, policies, GSAs, inclusive curriculum) were found to be critical to an establishment of a LGBTQ-affirming school climate, which in turn was shown to help minimize victimization rates and increase sense of safety for LGBTQ youth [ 54 , 122 ]. Other research similarly suggests the importance of LGBTQ-affirming school climate as a support system to help minimize victimization rates and increase sense of safety for LGBTQ youth [ 28 ].

As literature in this field typically examine systems of social support in isolation (e.g., curriculum, teachers, school policies separately), this scoping review aims to provide a more comprehensive search strategy in consolidating the research on the available social support systems for LGBTQ youth in schools. This scoping review attempts to bring together the literature across multiple systems of social support for LGBTQ youth to develop a systemic definition of social support for LGBTQ youth, identify current research across all systems of social support, identify barriers and difficulties experienced by LGBTQ youth in schools, and identify areas for future research in understanding the social support systems for LGBTQ youth.

1.3 Schools as a key site of stress for LGBTQ youth

Results from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) indicate that over 60% of LGB youth experienced prolonged feelings of hopelessness compared to only 25% of heterosexual youth. In a national survey of LGBTQ youth [ 59 ], 67% heard homophobic comments in schools, 58% perceived a lack of safety as a result of their sexual orientation identity, and 43% perceived a lack of safety as a result of their gender identity and expression. Although there was a high percentage of LGBTQ-specific concerns, only 12% of LGBTQ youth reported teacher intervention. In Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN)’s national survey [ 59 ], 92.6% of LGBTQ youth mentioned health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety) as the main reason for not graduating high school, followed by academic (e.g., poor grades, absences), and safety concerns (e.g., hostile school climate, harassment, unsupportive peers and staff). Therefore, a further detailed systematic breakdown of existing social support systems in educational settings is required to better understand what can be done to offset negative experiences and risks. This analysis will also clarify the barriers schools face in providing support and inform future inquiry for schools to move towards improved support for LGBTQ youth.

Present data highlights that LGBTQ youth are at a heightened risk for numerous health and educational concerns. Such concerns can be attributed to a lack of connection with their teachers and school staff [ 58 ], a lack of acceptance from their family members [ 57 , 74 ] and peers [ 122 ], a lack of school curricula and policies that value LGBTQ diversity [ 105 ], and the existence of overall hostile and exclusionary school climates [ 59 ]. The level of warmth and positivity in a school environment can positively impact LGBTQ students’ experiences and their subsequent health and educational outcomes. For example, teacher-student relationships are positively associated with increased academic engagement, performance, and social-emotional wellbeing for LGBTQ youth [ 66 ]. This review seeks to pull together literature on how LGBTQ youth are supported in schools and examine the ways that different types of social support can affect outcomes to provide an organized framework to effectively support LGBTQ youth.

1.4 Research question and aims of the current study

While efforts have been made to support LGBTQ youth in schools, literature is diffuse and show mixed results [ 54 , 109 ]. Subsequently, a systematic surveying of the literature on all existing support systems that provide the necessary social support for LGBTQ youth is necessary. Social support includes numerous school professionals and community members such as school psychologists, educators, counsellors, and principals to act as critical individuals holding the power to support and advocate for LGBTQ youth. The scoping review aims to synthesize current research on social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. Recurring literature on social supports for LGBTQ youth include gay-straight alliances (GSAs), school policies, curriculum, and parent and peer support [ 54 ]. The review seeks to direct future research by providing clarity and illuminating gaps in literature to foster more nuanced research and interventions that ameliorate significant health and educational disparities for LGBTQ youth. As research is robust, indicating the disproportionate stress that LGBTQ youth experience [ 122 ], this review is imperative to systematically explore the systems of social support for LGBTQ youth.

This study seeks to respond to the following question:

How does social support in elementary and secondary education relate to outcomes for LGBTQ youth?

with the following objectives:

Define what it means to have social support in schools,

Identify and describe the current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth given the implementation of these social support systems,

Identify barriers and difficulties to support LGBTQ youth in an educational setting, and

Identify areas for future research for LGBTQ youth and social support in schools.

2.1 Search strategy

This study follows the methodologically rigorous scoping review approach designed by Arksey and O’Malley [ 5 ] and conducted a systemic search across the disciplines of education and psychology. Though the keywords and categories used to conduct the systemic search was all-encompassing and should capture relevant stakeholders in schools, specific domains of studies outside of the field of education and psychology was not explicitly considered due to the interdisciplinary nature of education. Therefore, the search strategy may not have a wide reach for paraprofessionals that work with LGBTQ youth in schools (e.g., social workers). However, based on the broad nature of the keywords, paraprofessionals working in schools to support LGBTQ youth should be included. A scoping review was chosen to allow for the inclusion of multiple study designs and to allow for post-hoc analysis of inclusion and exclusion criteria [ 86 ]. In particular, as a systematic review approach required study appraisals, a scoping review was more appropriate due to the inclusion criteria of both empirical and non-empirical studies.

2.2 Eligibility criteria

A set of inclusion and exclusion criteria were established a priori to provide guidance for the systematic search strategy. Inclusion criteria included: (a) empirical articles that were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2007 and 2021; (b) non-empirical literature including books, book chapters, case reports, reviews between 2007 and 2021; (c) written in the English language; (d) LGBTQ individuals; (e) school environment-specific (ranging from elementary through high school, including technical schools); (f) all geographical locations; and (g) social support outcomes for students. Exclusion criteria included: (a) non-LGBTQ specific; (b) unrelated to school environment; (c) social support outcomes not for students (i.e., teachers, parents).

2.3 Information sources

The search used the following databases: PsycINFO, ERIC, Genderwatch, ProQuest Dissertation and Thesis, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Campbell Systematic Review. A description of keywords can be seen in Supplementary Table 1 and a visual for the search and data collection process in Supplementary Figure 1.

A social science librarian was consulted to ensure the scoping review was conducted in a systematic procedure. The five databases were cross-checked with an expert in the field of LGBTQ studies to ensure a comprehensive collection of databases. After databases were confirmed, key concepts were brainstormed and cross-checked with the second and third author, the expert in the field of LGBTQ research (April 2017), and the librarian (May 2017). Keywords were broken down into three sections. The first column consists of LGBTQ terms (e.g., homosexuality, bisexuality, gender identity, transgender or [attitudes towards]). The second column consists of school terms (e.g., high school students). The last column consists of social support terms (e.g., peers). Refer to Supplementary Table 1 for a full list of search terms. All keywords in each column were combined. After a collaborative process between the authors, librarians, and expert, all keywords and related terms were included in each database.

2.5 Data collection process

Data were collected during June 2017 and revised in February 2021 to ensure consistency between the searches. Throughout the collection process, the authors engaged in an iterative process to discuss obstacles that arose during the screening phase. As depicted in the flow chart (Supplementary Figure 1), the initial data collection yielded 565 articles ( n 2017  = 364; n 2021  = 199). After deduplications were removed, 533 articles remained ( n 2017  = 335; n 2021  = 198).

2.6 Phase one: title and abstract screening (2017)

Phase one consisted of an initial screening of the relevant literature. During this phase, the first, second, and third authors conducted independent title and abstract screening of the 335 articles, resulting in an interrater agreement of 71.94%. Any disagreements across the authors were discussed until a consensus was reached based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Following the screening, 128 articles remained.

2.7 Phase two: full text screening

An independent screening by the first, second, and third authors of the 128 articles identified in phase one resulted in 54 articles being retained in the review. Interrater agreement was 80.47%. Consensus was achieved through iterative discussion among the authors to determine the final literature count.

2.8 Phase three: data extraction

Once the final sample of studies were selected, a table was created to depict important information from each study: (1) study characteristics (e.g., study design, school setting, research question), (2) group demographics (e.g., LGBTQ acronym, sample size, grade level, age range), (3) social support factors, and (4) key findings.

The resulting 54 articles from the full-text screening were broken into three blocks of 18. Each author independently read two of the three blocks of articles and extracted relevant data (such that the first author independently read blocks A and B; the second author independently read blocks A and C; and the third author independently read blocks B and C). After independent data extraction, the two reviewers for each corresponding block resolved any differences.

2.9 Phase four: Revised data collection (2021)

A revised data collection was addended since the 2007 through 2017 phase. Another round of data collection, abstract, and full-text screening was conducted from 2017 through 2021. The update in data collection was done in 2021 to account for the many changes happening in society related to LGBTQ populations (e.g., anti-LGBTQ bills; [ 95 ]) as the manuscript was in the process of writing and revisions, along with the delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional 198 articles were collected for initial screening (totalling 533 articles, see Supplementary Figure 1). Following the same procedures of phase one title and abstract screening, independent screening was conducted by the first and fourth author, resulting in 56 articles retained with an inter-rater reliability of 84.34% ( N 2017+2021  = 184). Replicating phase two, the first and fourth author conducted independent full-text screening on the 56 articles, resulting in 40 articles with an inter-rater reliability (IRR) of 75.00% ( N 2017+2021  = 94). Following phase three, the resulting 40 articles from the full-text screening were broken into two blocks of 20. Each author independently read one block of articles and extracted relevant data. After independent data extraction, the two authors checked and resolved any differences in the other block.

2.10 Synthesis of results

After data abstraction, quantitative data was collected on the following categories (see Supplementary Table 2): (1) research design, (2) participant sample size range, (3) LGBTQ acronym, (4) school setting, (5) number of schools, (6) number of students, and (7) the types of social support. Initial IRR of 94 articles was 76.60% and discrepancies were discussed and resolved through an iterative process between the first through fourth authors.

Subsequent thematic analysis [ 3 , 13 , 25 , 36 , 117 ] was conducted. This method of analysis is justified as a descriptive, qualitative method to identify common themes found in the key findings of the 94 articles. Initial IRR was 78.72%, above the acceptable level of reproducibility, and discrepancies were discussed and resolved among the first four authors.

Data analysis involved both quantitative (e.g., frequency analysis) and qualitative (e.g., thematic analysis) methods, resulting in a multi-layered synthesis process that allowed for the identification of existing gaps in the literature and revealed potential topics for conducting future systematic or novel reviews.

3.1 Study characteristics

Refer to Supplementary Table 2 for a tabulation of characteristics across the 94 articles.

3.2 Research design

Out of the 94 articles, there were 48 (51.06%) quantitative studies, 43 (45.74%) qualitative studies, and three (3.19%) mixed-methods studies.

3.3 LGBTQ acronym

As each article used several LGBTQ acronyms interchangeably, there are a total of 102 acronym frequencies across 94 articles. Acronyms include LGBTQ/GLBTQ ( n  = 40; 39.22%), LGBT/GLBT ( n  = 15; 14.71%), sexual minority/SMY ( n  = 10; 9.80%), LGBQ ( n  = 7; 6.86%), LGB/GLB ( n  = 6; 5.88%), transgender/trans* ( n  = 4; 3.92%), SSA ( n  = 3, 294%), GSM/GSD ( n  = 3; 2.94%), LGBTQQ ( n  = 2; 1.96%), gender-variant ( n  = 2; 1.96%), GM ( n  = 2; 1.96%), LGBTQ2S ( n  = 2; 1.96%), LGBTQ+ ( n  = 2; 1.96%), queer ( n  = 1, 0.98%), MSMY ( n  = 1; 0.98%), bisexual/pansexual ( n  = 1; 0.98%), TGD ( n  = 1; 0.98%).

3.4 Participant sample range

Across 94 articles, 42 studies provided specific age or grade ranges of the participants. Participants ranged from students in grades nine through 13 ( n  = 20; 21.28%), grades seven through 12 ( n  = 10; 10.64%), grades eight through 12 ( n  = 6; 6.38%), grades 10 through 12 ( n  = 4; 4.26%), and grades six through 12 ( n  = 2; 2.13%). 40 studies did not provide specific age or grade range of students and only included the educational institution broadly: high school ( n  = 16; 17.02%), middle and high school ( n  = 7; 7.45%), high school and college ( n  = 5; 5.32%), middle school ( n  = 4; 4.26%), elementary school ( n  = 4; 4.26%), college ( n  = 3; 3.19%), elementary and high school ( n  = 1; 1.06%). The remaining 12 studies included adult staff or parent participants ( n  = 5; 5.32%) or did not specify ( n  = 7; 7.45%).

3.5 School setting

As each study recruited school settings that were different in type (i.e., catholic, private, democratic) and in developmental age (i.e., elementary, middle, high school), there was a total of 108 counts of school settings across the 94 articles. School settings included high school ( n  = 46; 42.59%), middle and high school ( n  = 28; 25.93%), private schools ( n  = 5; 4.63%), elementary through high school ( n  = 4; 3.70%), elementary school ( n  = 4; 3.70%), catholic schools ( n  = 4; 3.70%), middle school ( n  = 3; 2.78%), college ( n  = 3; 2.78%), alternative schools ( n  = 2; 1.85%), community center ( n  = 1; 0.93%), democratic school ( n  = 1; 0.93%), and independent school ( n  = 1; 0.93%). Six studies (5.56%) did not specify the type of school setting.

3.6 Types of social support

Each study reported more than one type of social support related to LGBTQ students, resulting in a total of 188 counts of social support types. Social support was organized into four categories: school support ( n  = 139; 73.94%), peer support ( n  = 24; 12.77%), parental support ( n  = 16; 8.51%), and community support ( n  = 9; 4.79%). School support was further broken to include gay-straight alliances ( n  = 42; 22.34%), supportive non-teaching staff ( n  = 34; 18.09%), supportive teachers ( n  = 24; 12.77%), positive school climate ( n  = 12; 6.38%), programs and policies ( n  = 11; 5.85%), school-wide approaches ( n  = 9; 4.79%), and curriculum ( n  = 7; 3.72%).

3.7 Synthesis of results

Based on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, the constructed themes that was developed across the 94 articles were organized into support systems that directly impact LGBTQ youth outcomes (see Supplementary Table 3). As geographical information was not extracted, findings are generalized and may not accurately represent specific geographically contextualized policies and environments.

3.8 The role of family (caregiver) systems and social support

Three distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) high actual or perceived family/caregiver support buffered many negative socioemotional or educational outcomes ( n articles  = 12), (2) family/caregiver support was not consistently adequate to buffer the negative emotional, behavioral, and educational outcomes ( n articles  = 3), and sex differences within family experiences highlighted complexities of family/caregiver support ( n articles  = 3).

3.8.1 High caregiver support buffering negative outcomes

When family (or caregiver) support was low, LGBTQ youths’ level of emotional and behavioural distress was high [ 4 , 8 , 18 , 24 , 40 , 55 , 85 , 90 , 124 ]. A lack of social support in the family system (e.g., family harassment, low caregiver support, low communication and closeness) was positively associated with adverse social (e.g., disengaging from peers, running away from home [ 40 , 55 , 85 , 124 ]), emotional (e.g., depression, psychological distress, substance abuse, suicidal ideation [ 4 , 8 , 18 , 55 , 85 ]), and educational outcomes (e.g., school dropout [ 8 ]), for LGBTQ youth. However, studies have shown that family acceptance was a type of social support that fostered LGBTQ youths’ critical thinking and advocacy for safe spaces in schools to support marginalized students [ 40 , 124 ]. Family support was particularly associated with better school performance for LGBTQ racialized youth. For both White and racialized LGBTQ youth, perceptions of being close with parents and direct involvement with parents in activities moderated experiences of victimization at school, and reduced substance use and suicidality, educational risks, and increased school belonging [ 18 , 85 , 90 ]. Moreover, LGBTQ-affirming resources aimed at developing family support (e.g., parent advocacy, allyship, communication, trust) fostered LGBTQ youth academic well-being, physical and emotional safety, and ability to be authentic in classrooms [ 23 , 38 , 82 ].

3.8.2 Caregiver support inconsistent in buffering negative outcomes

Studies showed that family (or caregiver) support did not consistently buffer the negative outcomes that happens at school [ 17 , 90 ]. Though family support may be protective against victimization and self-harm among youth, effects were less robust for gender minority youth [ 96 ].

3.8.3 Sex differences within family experiences

Three unique studies found differences present for (1) boys and girls and (2) mothers and fathers. Pearson and Wilkinson [ 85 ] found that only sexual minority girls were less distressed when they reported a sense of strong family relationships. However, there was no association found between caregiver support and peer victimization for sexual minority girls [ 55 ]. Bos and others [ 11 ] found less distress among all LGBTQ youth who established a strong relationship with their fathers (e.g., more disclosure and communication but not their mothers). A strong relationship with fathers resulted in increased positive social (e.g., more peer acceptance), emotional (e.g., increased self-esteem, decreased depression), and educational outcomes (e.g., increased school belonging, [ 11 ]).

3.9 Supporting LGBTQ youth through the curricular education system

Four distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum was most often taught in social sciences, humanities, and health classes, fostering authenticity with students and creating an inclusive classroom ( n articles  = 6), (2) LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum led to decreased victimization and negative socioemotional outcomes and increased sense of safety ( n articles  = 5), (3) a hidden, heteronormative curriculum exists behind the official academic curriculum that impedes LGBTQ youth support and engagement ( n articles  = 4), and (4) a need for teachers to feel supported to teach LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum effectively ( n articles  = 4).

3.9.1 LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum fostering authenticity with students and creating an inclusive classroom

LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum appeared to be taught only in specific classes, specifically in social sciences, humanities, and health classes [ 10 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 124 ]. Making connections with LGBTQ-inclusive material allowed students to make authentic connections between their lives and the class content [ 73 ] which contributed to an increased psychological wellbeing and disrupted homophobia and other forms of oppression [ 10 , 103 , 118 , 124 ]. Teachers who incorporated LGBTQ material into their curriculum allowed youth to identify teachers as possible safe adults to discuss sensitive concerns (e.g., LGBTQ-related concerns, coming out). Teachers also agreed on the importance of weaving social justice topics in the curriculum to model critical literacy and to create an inclusive curriculum, benefitting all students [ 84 ].

3.9.2 LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum decreased negative outcomes and increased sense of safety

LGBTQ-inclusive curricula had supportive elements at the individual and school level (i.e., increased feelings of safety at school, decreased feelings of isolation and depression, and more awareness of victimization at school; [ 70 , 105 ]). Incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum and having access to LGBTQ-related information in schools was positively associated with perceptions of a safer school environment and negatively associated with perceptions of victimization [ 105 , 110 ]. Therefore, developing a curriculum that centers LGBTQ issues can disrupt homophobia, injustice, and other forms of oppression, which can provide safety and acceptance, and validate LGBTQ youths’ experiences at school [ 102 , 118 ].

3.9.3 Hidden, heteronormative curriculum impedes LGBTQ youth support and engagement

This theme expands on the hidden, heteronormative curriculum that exists behind the official academic curriculum. Castro and Sujak [ 19 ] mentioned the need for LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum to expand outside of academics, such as the social (e.g., relationships and communication) and campus curriculum (e.g., inclusive group space). LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is most effective when it can be generalized beyond formal learning spaces. Gay-straight alliances (GSAs), a supportive network outside of the classroom, is one space that can supplement LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum outside formal education. Informal spaces of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can foster student engagement and provide further opportunities for students to engage in social advocacy and promote a positive school climate [ 64 , 73 , 123 ].

3.9.4 Teachers need to feel supported to teach effective LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum

Though LGBTQ-inclusive curricula can be a pillar of social support for LGBTQ youth, teachers often miss teachable moments conducive to inclusive curriculum [ 70 , 103 ]. Teachers mentioned difficulty fostering an inclusive curriculum due to rigid curriculum, high stakes testing, and parental resistance [ 84 ], requiring the administration to provide the support needed for teachers to change the curriculum [ 69 ]. Note that the barriers may be contextual as high-stakes testing does not occur in all school contexts and curricula may be externally constructed in relation to the geographical context of the school environment.

3.10 Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) and other school programs

Six distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) gay-straight alliances (GSAs) fostered a space for empowerment and change, creating a safe space and climate for LGBTQ youth ( n articles  = 24), (2) GSAs created opportunities for connection for LGBTQ youth in their community ( n articles  = 13), (3) GSAs allowed for engagement and youth involvement in schools ( n articles  = 11), (4) GSAs had varying functions ( n articles  = 7), (5) GSAs encountered challenges in delivering positive outcomes ( n articles  = 15), and (6) school-based interventions (non-GSAs) were effective in supporting LGBTQ youth ( n articles  = 6). Note that most of the articles referred to GSAs as gay-straight alliances. One article referred to them as gender-sexuality alliances.

3.10.1 GSAs foster a space for empowerment and change, creating a safe space and climate for LGBTQ youth

GSAs help students provide a space to act together to create cultural and institutional change [ 31 , 98 , 123 ] and can be transformative for school culture. These spaces provide a positive and safe physical and intellectual space where students can engage in knowledge transfer and discuss LGBTQ issues otherwise silenced in the larger school community [ 31 , 40 , 63 , 64 , 69 , 71 , 72 , 77 , 78 , 98 , 106 , 107 , 123 ]. GSAs give LGBTQ youth a safe place to go where they can be accepted [ 69 ]. GSAs can be a space where mental health promotion programs can be incorporated to provide students with coping skills and resources [ 44 ]. The presence and membership in GSAs were positively associated with school belongingness, school engagement, school safety, academic success, wellbeing, and negatively associated with substance use, psychological distress, and victimization incidents [ 6 , 45 , 46 , 53 , 67 , 93 , 111 , 112 ]. Entering GSA classrooms offered visibility, positive symbols of acceptance, respect, and affirmation, providing LGBTQ youth with a sense of safety [ 6 , 87 ].

3.10.2 GSAs create opportunities for connection for LGBTQ students in their community

GSAs provide accountability, support, community, increased academic success, and decreased feelings of isolation by connecting youth with other LGBTQ community members, events, and resources. Subsequently, the connections lead to increased validation and normalization of identity, sense of hope, acceptance, greater self-esteem, greater appreciation for self and other peers, adaptive social relationship skills, and a sense of safety and empowerment for LGBTQ youth [ 31 , 40 , 46 , 69 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 75 , 98 , 106 , 111 ]. GSAs allowed for connections to community organizations, providing a gateway to the wider LGBTQ community, supportive adults, community resources, fostering activism opportunities and increasing LGBTQ visibility [ 6 , 87 ].

3.10.3 GSAs allow for engagement and youth involvement in schools

Participation in GSAs were positively associated with perceptions of a safer space for LGBTQ youth to engage in self-expression and identity validation [ 62 ]. Their involvement in GSA-related activities and events increased their self-efficacy [ 20 ], academic success, school engagement, school belongingness [ 43 , 111 , 112 ], sense of hope, and advocacy and awareness-raising efforts [ 88 , 91 ]. Engaging with GSAs enabled students to form their own identities grounded in empowerment rather than as victims [ 31 , 98 ]. LGBTQ youth, teachers, and school administrators have reported that having and engaging in their GSA gave students space for emotional safety [ 71 , 72 ].

3.10.4 GSAs vary in their function (e.g., advocacy, educational, socialization)

GSAs had distinct purposes in assisting different aspects of LGBTQ youth: (1) advocacy, education, and social support; (2) literature to reflect on the lives and experiences of LGBTQ youth; and (3) developing skillsets to assist students in fostering inclusion and acceptance [ 114 ]. Advisors believed the primary role of GSAs is to bring awareness and act in schools, whereas students believed the purpose was to foster a sense of community and belongingness [ 63 , 71 , 94 ]. The varying functions of GSAs depended on the internal provisions of support, from visibility raising to collective social change [ 71 , 92 , 123 ]. Students who were more involved in accessing information and advocacy efforts discussed more health-related topics, prepared more awareness-raising campaigns, and had increased school engagement [ 89 ]. On the other hand, GSAs with a stronger focus on socialization efforts focused less on mental health discussions [ 89 ].

3.10.5 GSAs encounter challenges in delivering positive outcomes

Although GSAs were found to be effective in supporting LGBTQ youth in schools, only 19.1% of youth reported an existence of a GSA in their high school [ 8 ]. Program implementations within GSAs also encountered common problems. Problems included a lack of staff training and safe staff, a lack of student understanding towards LGBTQ issues, a lack of sensitivity towards LGBTQ topics, and challenges in facilitating a discussion on sexual or gender-related topics [ 50 , 69 ]. GSAs struggled to subvert the heteronormative school climate in schools where the greater community was unsafe, particularly in rural environments [ 28 , 63 , 71 ]. For example, high schools had concerns and restricted policies on GSA student behaviours, limiting activities allowed by students [ 31 , 35 ]. In communities that were indifferent or hostile towards LGBTQ populations, GSA advisors were required to negotiate with school administrators to provide LGBTQ youth a safe space in schools [ 6 ]. In schools with high levels of victimization, the benefits of GSA-related social justice involvement and presence dissipated [ 111 , 112 ]. In some schools, the presence or participation in GSA activities did not predict student school engagement and was not associated with mental health outcomes or sense of safety [ 21 , 28 , 93 , 99 , 100 ]. Rather, the presence of a GSA led to emotional vulnerabilities to the wider school community [ 6 ]. As such, the impact of GSAs on LGBTQ youth safety and school climate may vary widely across schools and geographic context.

3.10.6 School-based interventions (non-GSAs) were effective to support LGBTQ youth

There is a need to employ a pragmatic approach and focus on student safety to gain administrative support to conduct interventions [ 65 , 69 , 94 ]. Classroom intervention focused on accepting individual differences through open discussion and participation of emotional and sensitive issues were effective in framing uniqueness as a strength and fostered change towards an accepting classroom climate [ 70 , 94 ]. Youth-led theater and dialogue-based interventions were effective to address heterosexism and genderism in schools, with increased reports of willingness and intention to advocate for social justice and equality for LGBTQ people [ 121 ]. Hall and others [ 42 ] showed how a student-led community art gallery was effective to create a space for discussion on gender issues and act towards supporting LGBTQ youth.

3.11 The role of peer systems in supporting LGBTQ youth

Two distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) peer support and acceptance were related to lower levels of emotional and behavioural distress and fostered positive outcomes ( n articles  = 13), and (2) inconsistencies in the effectiveness of peer support for diverse LGBTQ youth ( n articles  = 4).

3.11.1 Fostering peer support and acceptance relates to lower levels of emotional distress and fosters positive social and educational outcomes

LGBTQ youth who had higher levels of peer acceptance and lower levels of strained peer relationships experienced lower levels of depression and suicidal behaviour, higher levels of self-esteem, increased academic success [ 11 , 51 , 56 ], particularly for youth from rejecting families [ 23 ]. On the other hand, lower peer acceptance or connection predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of self-esteem and belongingness to the school [ 11 ]. Uniquely, peer acceptance from straight allies played an important role to address anti-gay stereotypes [ 64 ]. Engaging in peer education and interventions led to increased levels of safety for LGBTQ youth [ 28 , 33 , 102 ]. Older youth were found to have less homophobic attitudes and were more willing to remain friends with GL youth [ 110 ]. Schools where GLB youth had opportunities to socialize reported increased belonging in their school and in their larger community [ 79 ]. Being out (i.e., disclosure of gender or sexuality) to more peers at school was generally associated with higher grades and less school harassment [ 120 ]. Similarly, seeing peers who were out was positively associated with a sense of safety in schools [ 83 ]. Having thick friendships were shown to help encourage LGBTQ youth to question their sexuality [ 37 ]. The culmination of research on peer support reiterates the importance of peer support in schools for an increasingly safe and positive school environment.

3.11.2 Inconsistencies in the effectiveness of peer support for diverse LGBTQ youth

Though peer support was effective in fostering positive socioemotional outcomes and minimizing emotional distress, inconsistencies were found within the LGBTQ community. Sub-group identities had different conclusions regarding the effectiveness of peer support. Craig and Smith [ 24 ] found that racialized LGBTQ youth did not have a relationship between peer support and educational outcomes. Studies show that having supportive peers to discuss problems increased the risks of suicidal ideation and attempts for LGBTQ youth, particularly for LGBQ youth who have had been victimized and gender minority youth [ 17 , 96 ]. Generally, social support did not buffer effects of victimization on self-esteem for LGBTQ students [ 108 ], questioning the nuances in the efficacy of peer support as a social support system.

3.12 School professionals and teachers as a system of support for LGBTQ youth

Four distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) high level of within-school adult support resulted in positive benefits ( n articles  = 19), (2) high level of within-school adult support reduced negative outcomes ( n articles  = 10), (3) teachers and school staff were ineffective and inconsistent in supporting LGBTQ students ( n articles  = 7), and (4) school staff perceived external support as key to ensure coordination of inclusivity for LGBTQ students ( n articles  = 4).

3.12.1 High level of within-school adult support results in positive benefits

LGBTQ youth perceived more support in schools when they perceived that their school staff, administrators, and teachers showed more than verbal support (i.e., lip service). LGBTQ youth mentioned the need to observe school staff acting and having a presence explicitly taking a stance against bigotry, emphasizing the importance of behavioural management to establish a safe classroom space [ 10 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 84 ]. LGBTQ youth who had natural mentors (e.g., teachers, staff members, school administrators) were three times as likely to graduate from high school, had increased intentions to seek help for suicidal thoughts [ 21 ], and had positively impacted their engagement and connectedness to their school [ 23 ] compared to youth who did not have such mentors [ 30 ]. When the number of “safe adults” increased at school, LGBTQ youth would become more engaged with their school and community through opportunities and access to resources from supportive staff members [ 69 , 72 , 99 , 100 ]. Supportive teachers had the power to foster a safe classroom climate and environment, set clear expectations, open inclusive dialogue with students, implement LGBTQ-inclusive school and classroom procedures that positively impacted LGBTQ youths’ safety and acceptance in schools [ 28 , 102 ], educational achievement [ 34 ], and wellbeing [ 116 ]. Teachers having power to foster a safe classroom climate was similarly voiced by TGNC youth, subsequently supporting their transition [ 38 ]. Likewise, teachers and school staff understood the importance of developing skill sets (e.g., use of inclusive language) to foster an inclusive and supportive classroom environment for LGBTQ youth [ 113 , 114 ]. Therefore, supportive school staff are key stakeholders to foster a safer classroom environment and to create opportunities to foster awareness of LGBTQ issues in their school environment (i.e., creating a community art gallery, [ 42 ]).

3.12.2 High level of within-school adult support reduces negative outcomes

LGBTQ youth perceptions of greater adult support (i.e., principals, social work professionals, teachers, school administrators) at school was linked to lower levels of victimization, school avoidance, substance use, suicidal behaviour, and other mental health risks (depressive symptoms; [ 21 , 23 , 26 , 51 , 101 ]). The identification of an adult ally predicted a decrease in fear-based truancy [ 72 , 99 , 100 ]. Principals agreed that there is a need to increase efforts to reduce discrimination towards LGBTQ youth by setting a safe and positive climate in schools [ 12 ]. An avenue that was effective in creating an inclusive and affirmative environment and reduce health risks among LGBTQ youth are school-based health centers [ 125 ].

3.12.3 Teaching and non-teaching school staff were ineffective in supporting LGBTQ students

Though there are benefits in having a supportive school staff, there was a lack of communication between LGBTQ youth and school staff. 80.9% of LGBTQ youth reported never talking to a teacher about LGBTQ topics, 70.8% of youth never talked to a school health counselor, and 86.5% of youth never talked to a school administrator about LGBTQ issues in school [ 8 ]. The lack of action or silence teachers and school administrators take towards LGBTQ topics or incidents is a reason for the lack of communication. Students reported that teachers are inconsistent in their intervention against victimization incidents, often focused on stopping the harassment and providing reasoning for why such incidents can cause harm [ 48 ]. There was a common perception of school administration silence surrounding LGBTQ topic as normative in school environments [ 71 ]. Teachers reported feeling unprepared to support LGBTQ youth and required more information, for example, through collaboration with GSAs to improve pedagogy [ 70 , 72 ]. Coulter and others [ 22 ] found that within-school adult support was ineffective in protecting LGBTQ youth against suicidality compared to outside-school adult support. Therefore, teachers and school staff need to increase their responsibility to support LGBTQ youth [ 38 ].

3.12.4 School staff perceived external support as necessary to foster staff support for LGBTQ students

School staff mentioned the importance of having a coordinator external to the school to provide support for curricular efforts and activities to students and staff, and adapting to school needs, reducing harassment for LGBTQ youth [ 50 , 69 , 70 ]. Schools with an external source of support (i.e., external staff) showed significant improvements towards supporting LGBTQ youth, as reported by student observations [ 50 ]. Sexuality education workshops were another form of external support that led to significant positive effects on teachers’ beliefs and behaviours to support their LGBTQ youth [ 61 ].

3.13 The role of school policies and safer school spaces for LGBTQ youth

Three distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) socio-political values of the wider community beyond the school impacted school policies and staff attitudes ( n articles  = 7), (2) implementation of inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies were effective in fostering a safer school space for LGBTQ students ( n articles  = 5), and (3) school policy and community support showed challenges in fostering positive outcomes ( n articles  = 4).

3.13.1 Socio-political values of wider community impacting school policies and attitudes

Policies from the broader context can provide the support needed for schools to have inclusive school policies. Supportive government and school board policies allowed for organizations (i.e., GSAs) to be accepted, subsequently fostering community connection and support for LGBTQ youth [ 69 , 106 ]. However, schools located in communities with more non-progressive attitudes and beliefs about LGBTQ individuals due to political or religious conservatism generated hesitation to support LGBTQ students by school administrators [ 65 , 71 , 124 ]. Hesitations to support LGBTQ youth include the ban of GSA creation, sending a message regarding LGBTQ invisibility in school environments [ 65 ]. School staff were cautious and focused on minimizing external resistance and pressure from the larger community. As a result, this led to restrictions in GSA activities and spaces [ 65 , 71 ]. Snapp and others [ 104 ] found that school policies were inequitably enforced as LGBTQ youth were punished for public displays of affection and violation of dress code compared to heterosexual peers, indicative of a lack of inclusive school policies.

Reframing the support for LGBTQ youth as systematic inclusion to meet the needs of all students may be a method to circumvent the restrictions and pressures from the larger community environment. Reframing support for LGBTQ youth to general support for all students can reduce the hesitance school staff have to support LGBTQ youth [ 65 , 71 , 106 ]. Most notably, a school-wide approach and communal investment is required to change and move towards inclusive school policies, promoting the social, psychological, and physical safety for all students [ 33 ].

3.13.2 The implementation of inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies to foster safe school spaces

Schools with higher reported implementation of inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies had lower levels of discrimination against LGBTQ youth [ 12 ], fostering a safer school space. Effective bills such as Bill 13 (i.e., Accepting Schools Act, Ontario, Canada) allowed LGBTQ youth to create a space to transform their lives and offer opportunities of activism [ 52 ]. Inclusive policies allowed for inclusive events (i.e., Pride Prom, Day of Silence) that provided a safer environment for LGBTQ youth [ 107 ]. Therefore, inclusive policies are important to set up a safe environment for students and challenge the hetero/cisnormative dynamic present in policy documents and classroom environment [ 113 ]. Introducing inclusive policies require collaboration across professionals to support legislation that acknowledges LGBTQ issues in schools [ 61 ].

3.13.3 Inconsistencies in fostering positive outcomes from inclusive school policies and wider community support

Bullying policies did not consistently predict LGBTQ safety and victimization [ 12 , 28 ]. Rather, higher proportions of students who reported inclusive school policies predicted lower perceptions of safety based on gender nonconformity [ 110 ]. Lastly, community support was not related to decreased rates of harm for LGBTQ youth [ 96 ].

3.14 The role of a positive school climate on LGBTQ youth outcomes in school

Three distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) a positive school climate reduced negative emotional-behavioural outcomes ( n articles  = 4), (2) a positive school climate fostered positive psychosocial and educational outcomes ( n articles  = 11), and (3) a whole school effort is required to foster a positive school climate ( n articles  = 10).

3.14.1 Positive school climate reducing negative emotional-behavioural outcomes

For both LGBTQ and heterosexual youth, a positive school climate, strong school connectedness, and involvement in school-based activities predicted fewer physical victimization, fewer depressive symptoms, less suicidal ideation and attempts, substance use, and truancy [ 9 , 21 , 29 , 32 ]. Similarly, teachers reported perceiving fewer depressive symptoms among their male sexual minority youth in positive and supportive school environments [ 29 ].

3.14.2 Positive school climate fostering positive psychosocial and educational outcomes

A positive and safe school climate (e.g., GSA activities; LGBTQ-affirming school-wide campaigns) can promote tolerance, respect and inclusion for LGBTQ youth [ 69 , 72 , 121 ]. LGBTQ youth who were in less heteronormative schools, had inclusive classroom environments, and LGBTQ affirming school climates allowed them to be more inclusive, have increased opportunities to understand diversity and differences [ 102 ], fostered increased psychological wellbeing [ 116 ], and had more positive perceptions of safety in their schools [ 28 ]. A positive school climate has also benefitted teachers by helping them feel comfortable to advocate for their LGBTQ youth [ 70 , 72 ]. Students, parents, and school staff mentioned the importance of having a safe space as a deciding factor to attend school for students to be recognized, accepted, and to participate in their school [ 49 ]. Subsequently, those who were more involved in school activities and had stronger school connectedness felt safer in schools and had increased achievement [ 32 , 34 , 100 ].

3.14.3 Whole school effort is required to foster a positive school climate

Creating and maintaining a positive and safe school climate for LGBTQ youth can foster positive outcomes for all students. This effort requires constant vigilance from all relevant stakeholders: students, teachers, administration, and community members [ 94 ]. Effective interventions (LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, GSAs, supportive school staff, staff development and training, awareness events, appropriate mental health services, inclusive policies, inclusive language, school-home-community connections, and community partners) are all necessary to foster a positive school climate. This, in turn, provides support for LGBTQ youth and fosters wellbeing, and educational and social success [ 39 , 50 , 56 , 83 , 94 , 121 , 123 , 124 ]. A concerted effort provides LGBTQ youth with access to resources and create more opportunities to carry out programs and training that can maximize the potential for LGBTQ youth to feel supported in their wellbeing and safety. Additionally, a whole-school approach can support teachers and school administrators by providing them with more resources and external support, all instrumental to attain a whole-school system that is positive and inclusive [ 69 ]. GSAs may be an avenue whereby students can act to address anti-LGBTQ bias, to provide education, and address the silences on LGBTQ issues through whole school efforts [ 69 , 121 , 123 ]. Most importantly, having a supportive principal can facilitate a positive whole-school approach to promote LGBTQ inclusivity in schools [ 70 ].

4 Discussion

4.1 a systemic definition of social support for lgbtq youth.

The first objective of this review is to define what social support in schools mean for LGBTQ youth. Prior to understanding how social support in elementary and high school education relate to outcomes for LGBTQ youth, the scope of social support needs to be defined to create a systemic framework that can map how different social support systems are associated with LGBTQ youth outcomes in school.

Organized through the Ecological Systems Theory, social support can be defined as support that is provided across various systems related to LGBTQ youth. This scoping review brought forth how social support in schools for LGBTQ youth can span across systems: (1) family, (2) curriculum, (3) GSAs (and other school programs), (4) peers, (5) school administrators and teachers, (6) school policies, and (7) school climate.

The seven systems that were constructed from the review indicated that they impact LGBTQ youth and their experiences in school. The parental system was constructed from the review as a form of social support that is associated with LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools. Parents or caregivers who supported their LGBTQ youth through advocacy, open communication, trust, closeness, and acceptance minimized many negative educational outcomes (i.e., depressive symptoms, substance use, victimization) and promoted wellbeing, academic success, physical and emotional safety among other outcomes. The curricular system was constructed to show how influential LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can be for LGBTQ youth. LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum provided LGBTQ youth the opportunity to explore their LGBTQ identity, make authentic connections, challenge oppression, and acquire knowledge inclusive of LGBTQ people and issues. When a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is introduced in classrooms, LGBTQ youth reported feeling safer, more accepted in their classroom, and lower victimization incidents. GSAs and other school-based programs were social support systems that were constructed based on the robust data related to how GSAs can provide space for empowerment and change, creating a safe space and climate for LGBTQ youth. This, in turn, can promote many positive outcomes in schools (i.e., school engagement, safety, acceptance, wellbeing) and decrease substance use, victimization, and psychological distress among other risks. Supportive and accepting peers were a system of social support that fostered higher levels of school belongingness, school engagement, academic success, sense of safety, and minimized levels of depression and school victimization for LGBTQ youth. School administrators and teachers were another system of support for LGBTQ youth. The higher the number of safe adults that were identified at school, the greater the school engagement for LGBTQ youth. Supportive adults at school, through the knowledge, resources, and connections they have about LGBTQ issues, acted against bigotry and victimization incidents at school, and fostered a positive student–teacher relationship for LGBTQ youth. Subsequently, they perceived a safer and accepting classroom environment, increased sense of school belonging, academic success, and wellbeing. School policies were constructed as a system influential to LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools. Schools with LGBTQ-inclusive policies reported lower levels of victimization, and increased sense of safety and opportunities for LGBTQ youth to act towards an empowering climate. School climate arose as an overarching system where the other systems (i.e., GSAs, school policies, curriculum, school administrators and teachers, peers) interacted to foster a safer and accepting climate for LGBTQ youth, promoting tolerance, respect, academic success, wellbeing, and school connectedness.

Based on the seven systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools, social support in schools can be defined as an understanding of systemic interactions amongst the seven systems (i.e., family, peers, curriculum, GSAs, school administrators and teachers, school policies, and school climate) and how each system, uniquely and in overlap, can both positively promote academic, socioemotional, and behavioural outcomes, and moderate the health and psychological risks typically associated with LGBTQ youth in schools. Studies that did not align through the lens of ecological systems focused on specific definitions of social support. For example, Day and others [ 27 ] conceptualized social support as LGBTQ youths’ perception of teachers as caring, fostering supportive classroom environments, and friendly and attentive classmates encouraging inclusivity in activities. McDonald [ 76 ] mentioned the difficulty in defining social support due to the multiple interpretations present in the literature. In their review, social support was defined as social, school, and family connectedness, support from peers, adults, advisors, and support groups [ 76 ]. Therefore, grounded in the ecological systems approach, social support cannot simply be understood in a single dimension but across multiple dimensions. This study further enhances the importance of defining, evaluating, and measuring social support for LGBTQ youth through multiple dimensions.

4.2 Changing the narrative of social support: from passive recipients of support to opportunities and spaces for activism, skill learning, and engagement

The second objective of this review was to identify current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth given the implementation of the social support systems. Identifying current research shed light to understand how social support provided across the social support systems are associated with LGBTQ youth outcomes. The current research on social support outcomes for LGBTQ youth sheds light on the multifaceted nature of social support systems shown to influence LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools.

The current research on family systems focuses on fostering positive connections between parents and LGBTQ youth. More specifically, current research expands beyond family acceptance and closeness as family support. Family support also entails the active support through advocacy, allyship, and communication. This finding was replicated in other social support systems where providing social support for LGBTQ youth entails the act of standing up, advocating, and challenging the LGBTQ-related issues present in schools and community.

Current research on curriculum support highlights variance in the implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum was most often incorporated in social sciences, humanities, and health classes where students were able to make authentic connections between their lives and LGBTQ-relevant social events (i.e., Stonewall, DADT legislation). Moving towards a systematic implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum that expands beyond social sciences, humanities, and health classes is an important step to provide safety for LGBTQ youth in schools. A heteronormative curriculum excludes LGBTQ youth from making authentic connections with their own lives, subsequently influencing their interest and engagement in classrooms. Increasingly incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in education can move towards the vision for LGBTQ youth to foster authentic connections between their identity and their curriculum. This can result in improvements in their learning, wellbeing, identity exploration, and foster a supportive school and classroom climate. Like the family system, pushing for a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum moves the system to actively challenge and disrupt the homophobia and injustice that is present in schools. Based on the findings from both systems, it appears that activism, advocacy, and this shift towards criticality against an injustice educational system is common in the literature reviewed from 2017 through 2021.

Current research on GSAs and other school programs were effective in creating a safe space for empowerment and change for LGBTQ youth. Though GSAs had different functions based on the schools’ needs and context, two of GSAs’ functions were to act as a space for advocacy and education, and acquire coping skills and resources to support their mental health. Similar to the previous systems, GSAs are moving towards providing LGBTQ youth the skills and opportunities necessary to be active participants in fostering a LGBTQ-inclusive school environment and make connections to the wider community for support.

Current research on peer support similarly highlights the importance of peers as active participants in schools to foster a sense of safety and positive classroom environment for LGBTQ youth. Beyond peers as allies, the act of peer education and intervention where peers take an active role to support their LGBTQ peers in schools led to increased sense of safety and positive classroom experiences for LGBTQ youth. Positive friendships, also known as ‘thick’ friendships, pushed LGBTQ youth to question their sexualities, reflect, and consider how their LGBTQ identity emerges in their lives. This form of close relationship with friends helped LGBTQ youth take an active role in self-reflection of their LGBTQ identity and disruption against existing oppression in schools.

Current research on school administrators and teachers focused on school staffs’ LGBTQ-inclusive knowledge, relationships with students, and opportunities for students to open the space for discussion on inclusion and diversity. School administrators and teachers have the power to create opportunities for students to foster awareness of LGBTQ issues in their schools through community events (i.e., community art gallery). This shows the importance for school administrators and teachers to have the knowledge and skills to create opportunities for students to be active participants in critical dialogue and reflection, subsequently promoting safety and acceptance in the classroom.

Like the interaction between GSAs and the community system surrounding the school, school policies were also impacted by the socio-political values of the wider community. Inclusive school policies allowed students to have opportunities to create change in schools, such as the creation of LGBTQ-inclusive events like Pride Prom and the Day of Silence to acknowledge and promote awareness of LGBTQ issues and inclusivity. Recent research further emphasized the importance of a school-wide approach to effect change in schools and incorporate inclusive policies. The research on school policies as a social support system emphasizes social support as an interaction of systems where the larger context and values can impact both the inclusivity of school policies for LGBTQ youth and the level of supportiveness from school administrators and teachers, family, and peers.

School climate, the last social support system, highlights the interrelatedness between all systems. Many articles indicated the robustness of a positive school climate and the academic, socio-emotional, and behavioural benefits for LGBTQ youth. To achieve a positive school climate, each social support system is relevant to provide social support for LGBTQ youth. Each social support system can influence each other in their effectiveness to provide the necessary space and opportunity for LGBTQ youth to act and challenge their school environment.

In sum, the current research on social support for LGBTQ youth has moved beyond understanding LGBTQ youth as passive recipients of education to recognizing LGBTQ youth as active co-creators of supportive spaces and opportunities that promote inclusive school climates that foster a sense of belongingness and safety. Other reviews exploring the impact of positive school climate on LGBTQ youth similarly emphasized the importance of a positive school climate for LGBTQ youth. Ancheta and others [ 2 ] found that a positive LGBTQ-specific school climate, as defined by supportive staff, teachers, and nurses, decreased suicidality among LGBTQ youth, promoting student empowerment and visibility through GSAs, inclusive curricula, and inclusive policies. Like previous reviews, this review highlights the importance of social support for LGBTQ youths’ experiences in schools. However, this research expands on the change in narrative that may be an indication that social support is more than providing support to LGBTQ youth. Rather, social support is changing the narrative from passive LGBTQ youth towards active LGBTQ youth, taking initiative to create change and develop skillsets to be successful in their school (i.e., both academic and social outcomes), aligned with more self-determined behaviours.

4.3 School administration and larger community environment as barriers to supporting LGBTQ youth in educational settings

The third objective of this review was to identify barriers and inconsistencies to support LGBTQ youth in schools. Though seven social support systems were identified to foster positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes, barriers, and inconsistencies to support LGBTQ youth were identified in each system.

Family support did not consistently buffer negative emotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes. Rather, general parental support was associated with peer victimization, self-harm, and poorer academic success [ 17 , 90 , 96 ]. Button [ 17 ] found that victimized LGBQ youth performed worse academically when they reported general parental support, indicating nuances between the buffer from parental support on LGBTQ youth outcomes. Inconsistencies may be explained by the functionality of family support as LGBTQ youth may perceive that their family support is ineffective to resolve harassment experienced at school.

Several studies indicated the barriers of incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in an effective manner in schools. One aspect includes the need to understand the hidden curriculum that exists beyond the formal, academic curriculum. The social relationships and school spaces can convey heteronormativity, adversely affecting LGBTQ youth and their sense of safety and engagement in schools. Additionally, there is a need for administration to provide support for teachers to effectively incorporate LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. Oftentimes, teachers miss teachable moments that is conducive to inclusive curriculum due to the rigid curriculum of high stakes testing and fear of parental backlash. There is indication where GSAs can be spaces used to insert LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in an informal space to compensate the barriers that exist in classrooms (e.g., rigid curriculum). Therefore, school administrators act as key members to ensure a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can be incorporated effectively in classrooms.

GSAs also demonstrated barriers and difficulties in delivering positive outcomes for LGBTQ youth. Schools restricted GSA activities and presence because of sociopolitical reasons (i.e., parental and community backlash, surrounding political environment), limiting activism for LGBTQ youth. There is a need to negotiate between GSA advisors and administration for LGBTQ spaces in schools. Beyond macro-level barriers, GSAs also encountered difficulties in program implementation because of a lack of staff training to discuss sensitive topics (e.g., sexuality) in schools. There were inconsistent results in the benefits of having a GSA in schools. Possible barriers may be due to the larger school and geographic context as being involved in GSAs in more hostile or unsafe environments that place LGBTQ youth at risk. In schools and geographical areas that is more hostile, the presence and involvement of GSA-related activities is associated with increased risks of safety and decreased positive outcomes.

Peers were inconsistent in their support for LGBTQ youth. Victimized LGBTQ youth who had peers to confide to and discuss problems performed worse academically, had lower self-esteem, and had increased suicidal ideation. For racialized LGBTQ youth, peer support did not moderate perceived discrimination in schools and had no association with school performance. In addition, the lack of association for racialized LGBTQ youth suggests how peer support may be overshadowed by other (non)-LGBTQ concerns (e.g., victimization based on ethnicity, lack of family acceptance due to cultural norms and stigma towards LGBTQ identities).

School administrators and teachers were met with barriers to effectively support their LGBTQ youth in schools. Many LGBTQ youth reported not reaching out to school adults for support. The barrier appears to lie on the onus of LGBTQ youth to reach out to school staff for support. This can be due to a lack of trust or belief that teachers or administrators can effectively help them. LGBTQ youth reported teachers not knowing how to intervene in situations of harassment or teachers not feeling prepared to teach inclusive content and answer LGBTQ-related questions. LGBTQ students reported the need for teachers to increase their responsibility in teaching and conveying LGBTQ-inclusive material as the burden lies on students to provide education to their peers. From the perspective of school staff, they perceived the need for external support to coordinate support for teachers for curricular efforts, activities, and actions to reduce harassment towards LGBTQ youth and foster a greater sense of safety. Having an external coordinator as the point person to organize efforts to push the school for LGBTQ inclusion can increase LGBTQ acceptance in schools.

The wider sociopolitical context that surrounds the school has an influence on the availability of LGBTQ-inclusive school policies. The sociopolitical context act as barriers limiting the schools’ abilities to have GSAs and school staff to show support for their LGBTQ youth. However, there has been mixed evidence showing an inverse relationship between an increase of inclusive school policies and a decrease in perceptions of safety. Though there may be inclusive policies put in place in schools, such policies may not be consistently enforced by school staff, lending to the ineffectiveness of inclusive policies. Consistent implementation of inclusive school policies will require dedicated school staff to monitor the progress of policy implementation. In this review, school administrators and teachers have mentioned the need to have an external staff coordinator to monitor consistent implementation of inclusive school policies due to the lack of time and energy. School principals also played a major role in the implementation of inclusive school policies as top-down administrative support is needed to send a message to school staff that they are supported by administration should they receive family or community backlash. Compared to the findings in this review, Russell and others [ 97 ] similarly found that inclusive policies have been associated with improved school climates for LGBTQ and all youth, with LGBT students reporting feeling safer at school, hearing less verbal harassment, and experiencing less gender and sexual-specific victimization. The review emphasized that mixed results were rather due to the lack of appropriate communication of policy implementation. The findings in this review provided added evidence that it is insufficient just to simply have inclusive school policies. Rather, the implementation of inclusive school policies throughout the environment and ensuring that the policy is communicated across all relevant stakeholders is key to providing effective support for LGBTQ youth.

4.4 A whole school approach to support LGBTQ youth with particular focus to subpopulations within the LGBTQ acronym

The fourth objective of this review was to identify areas for future research for the seven social support systems and their associations with LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools. The barriers and inconsistencies found to support LGBTQ youth across each system merits further research to explore the nuances in each system and their relationships to LGBTQ youth outcomes in school.

Within family support, there is a nuance that lie between fathers and mothers, and LGBTQ boys and girls, indicating a need to understand the complex nature of family relationships and reasons why certain family members may provide more effective social support towards LGBTQ boys or girls. For GSAs, there needs to be further exploration to understand effective methods to overcome problems in discussing gender and sexuality in school settings due in part to the lack of school staff training and student sensitivity towards LGBTQ issues. Different aspects of a GSA (i.e., presence, membership, engagement) have shown different social support outcomes for LGBTQ youth. In schools that are hostile and unsafe, positive outcomes from GSA presence and engagement dissipate, highlighting the interaction between the school climate and GSAs’ ability to be considered as an effective social support system. Mixed findings demonstrated an inverse relationship between GSA presence and lower sense of safety by LGBTQ youth. Lastly, though GSAs were primarily conceptualized as gay-straight alliances, an exploration of gender-sexuality alliances can provide insight in the nuances between experiences of students from diverse sexualities and diverse genders.

For peer systems, it is necessary to further explore reasons why peer support is either positively associated with more behavioural and emotional risks or have a lack of association. This can be due to the nature of peer support. As peer rumination can lead to further issues in schools rather than problem-solving discussions, the nature in how peers support LGBTQ peers in schools can shed light why there may be such an association. Another avenue of future research is the intersection of ethnicity among LGBTQ youth. The lack of association between peer support and positive social outcomes for racialized LGBTQ youth may be a result of the interplay of other identities that require other forms of support. For example, LGBTQ Asian youth may have an increased emphasis on the importance of family and familial piety, the need for racialized youth to bring pride to their family and minimize shame [ 68 ]. Perhaps for racialized LGBTQ youth, the lack of association between peer support and positive outcomes may be a result that lean towards family systems as increasingly important for such racialized youth.

An area of future research involves an exploration of methods to circumvent the larger sociopolitical context that limits the provision of LGBTQ support via inclusive policies. One possible avenue to provide LGBTQ support can be under the guise of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This framework suggests the need to support all students, focusing LGBTQ support under the need to support diverse students. Another avenue of research involves exploring an explanation for inclusive policies predicting lower perceptions of safety. This may be due to the inclusive policies setting up motion to create change towards an inclusive school environment. Creating change, however, can still lead to decreased sense of safety and increased harassment issues for LGBTQ youth.

One of the specific populations highlighted to be a key support system for LGBTQ youths were educators. One constructed theme involved the inconsistency in showing support through their actions. Several of the themes highlighted how students perceived their school staff members (teachers, counselors, school psychologists, administration, principals) as being hesitant to discuss LGBTQ issues. By being hesitant and uncomfortable to teach LGBTQ issues, a norm of LGBTQ silence exists in the school environment. Attitudes and beliefs where educators believed that homosexuality and other LGBTQ topics should not be discussed in school can lead to students perceiving their school staff as uncaring and exclusive towards LGBTQ youth. Therefore, educators and other school staff members need to be comfortable and foster an inclusive attitude and belief that they are supportive of all students, as shown through their actions. Effective actions students have mentioned include consistent intervention against LGBTQ-specific harassment, and opening dialogue on the importance of inclusion and acceptance (i.e., through a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum). When students heard LGBTQ-inclusive topics in their classes, they felt an increased sense of safety. It is therefore important to have teachers be comfortable and open to teach LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum to increase LGBTQ youths’ sense of safety.

The findings of this scoping review indicate three primary implications for future research and application. First, a whole school approach was emphasized by the themes as one of the most effective ways to provide social support for LGBTQ youths. Studies that focused on specific domains of support such as peer support or family support have similarly shown their effectiveness in supporting LGBTQ youth. However, having all relevant stakeholders involved in the process of supporting LGBTQ youth, such as a whole school approach, was evidently the most effective. Notwithstanding, a collaborative, whole school approach may be overly idealistic and an unrealistic approach for schools embedded in a larger, more conservative environment. A middle ground between realism and idealism could be attained by auctioning the GSA as a physical, supportive space where students can feel safe (within the club). This would be contrasted to having GSAs be a space for education and activism towards an increasingly LGBTQ-inclusive environment. In some cases, the inclusion of GSA spaces within schools may mean that, generally, the larger school spaces are unsafe for LGBTQ youth, influencing the concrete actions that educational stakeholders can take to provide support and opportunities for their students.

Second, there were differences in perceived support and outcomes depending on the subpopulation of LGBTQ youth, highlighting the issues of generalizing the LGBTQ youth population as a homogenous population. For example, there were different perceptions of safety and struggles between sexual orientation minority youth and gender identity minority youth. For example, there were unique issues of gender nonconformity for youth who did not conform to their assigned gender at birth, whereas LGBQ youth were faced with victimization due to their sexual orientation. Of note, there have been a recent trend for studies reviewed between 2017 through 2021 to include trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth as the focus, beyond the LGBTQ general identities. As several key findings foregrounded sexual identities over gender identities, future inquiries of LGBTQ youth should take into consideration the specific LGBTQ subgroups to be studied by researchers. Particularly, intersectionality should be taken into consideration as issues of gender, class, and ability may influence how specific LGBTQ students experience school supports. By doing so, researchers can be aware of the various intersecting sexual orientation and gender identities that LGBTQ youth manage and to be inclusive of programs, interventions, and strategies that are intended to support LGBTQ youth as a whole. Though the seven social support systems have been shown to effectively support LGBTQ youth, the inconsistencies that some articles brought up shed light with the interaction of these social support systems and their intersectional identities.

Third, there were differences in perceived support and outcomes depending on the ethnicity and race of the youths. For example, LGBTQ Eurocentric youths experienced increasing emotional and behavioral distress due to LGBTQ-specific victimization, whereas LGBTQ racial and ethnic minority youths experienced less distress. A hypothesis explaining the difference may be linked to the coping skills and resilience that the racial and ethnic minority LGBTQ youths have already learned to cope in the face of racial and ethnic-specific victimization. This results in more frequent use of their coping skills and a higher resilience and grit in the face of LGBTQ-specific victimization and being in a school environment that is perceived to be less safe. Therefore, future inquiry should consider the multiple, intersecting minority identities LGBTQ youths may have had to juggle and its effect on their perceived safety and support in their school environment. Particularly, critically thinking through race and its impacts on the experience of school supports for LGBTQ youth should be a priority for future research. Based on their intersectional identities and experiences in schools, the seven social support systems found in this review may vary in effectiveness based on their other identities.

5 Limitations

This scoping review attempts to consolidate material from 2007 through early 2021, organize, and respond to the four research questions of defining social support, identifying the current social support outcomes for LGBTQ youth, the barriers and inconsistencies encountered by the social support systems, and the areas for further research because of the barriers and inconsistencies found in the literature. Due to the scope of the review, the literature search strategy was broad and resulted in a larger volume of articles. Though the search strategy was comprehensive, consulting various experts to ensure rigidity and confidence of the search strategy, a scoping review search strategy utilizes a less defined search compared to a full systematic review. Additionally, difficulty in consolidating a comprehensive search term strategy can lead to an increasingly narrow understanding of LGBTQ individuals. For example, no articles explored nonbinary parents or children. The search strategy did not account for an intersectional understanding of LGBTQ+ identities, particularly Two-spirit (2S) identities. As the initial search strategy was executed in 2017, Two-spirit identities were uncommon and, subsequently, not taken into consideration. Future reviews should include the search strategy to account for an intersectional approach to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Further, search strategies for LGBTQ+ terms are difficult to standardize and capture comprehensively. Even though various experts were consulted to ensure confidence in the search strategy, the rigidity of keywords and subheadings in article search engines can be barriers in capturing the nuances inherent to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Particularly, transgender and non-binary (TGNC) terms were limited. Moving forward, it would be important to implement the University of Minnesota’s search hedges (tested and standardized search strategies to retrieve articles on specific concepts) for TGNC terms [ 115 ]. As well, this scoping review did not follow the required critical appraisals and risk of bias assessment found in systematic literature reviews. However, based on the purpose of this study, a scoping review methodology was the best approach due to the wide body of literature that has not been comprehensively reviewed. Additionally, scoping reviews are best used when the purpose is to clarify working definitions (i.e., social support) and conceptual boundaries of this topic (i.e., social support systems for LGBTQ youth in schools), and identify gaps in existing literature. Therefore, though a scoping review utilizes a less defined, broader search strategy, resulting in a broader literature less systematic and confident compared to a full systematic review, the purposes of this study and research questions align with the scoping review design.

6 Conclusion

There have been many studies replicating the risks that LGBTQ youth experience in schools: socioemotional (e.g., depression), behavioural (e.g., substance use), and educational (e.g., truancy, decreased school engagement). However, literature exploring the positive or protective factors for LGBTQ youth has been steadily increasing in the field of youth and LGBTQ studies. As it is still an emerging perspective to explore the protective factors for LGBTQ youth through positive youth development lens, this review consolidated literature and gave rise to an organizational framework to consolidate the various systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. From the review, social support consists of seven social support systems (family, curriculum, school professionals and teachers, peers, school policies, GSAs and programs, and school climate) that, both uniquely and in overlap, are positively associated with the promotion of positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes, as well as the moderation of the risks typically associated with LGBTQ youth in schools. Though the literature consistently revealed the benefits of ensuring that these seven systems are present to positively support LGBTQ youth’s development, inconsistencies and barriers in providing positive outcomes for LGBTQ youth was a result of (1) a lack of training and support for school administrators and teachers to enforce LGBTQ-inclusive policies and curriculum, (2) a larger sociopolitical context impeding or preventing LGBTQ activism and support in schools, and (3) unique differences within the subgroups of LGBTQ youth including ethnicity, sex, and gender identity and expression. Future research should explore the gaps present in this review to address the barriers and inconsistencies found to effectively provide social support for LGBTQ youth across these seven systems. This review highlights a positive outlook towards the available systems of social support to promote positive development for LGBTQ youth. Though the literature has been clear surrounding the risks associated with LGBTQ youth, this scoping review endeavored to provide a positive outlook on LGBTQ youth’s school experiences by highlighting how these systems of social support allow LGBTQ youth to act as active participants in the promotion of a positive and safe school climate.

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Leung, E., Kassel-Gomez, G., Sullivan, S. et al. Social support in schools and related outcomes for LGBTQ youth: a scoping review. Discov Educ 1 , 18 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-022-00016-9

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• As norms around sexual and gender identity shift, there has been an increase in the number of adolescents coming out as LGBT. A relatively new phenomenon, the study of LGBT-identified youth has largely been centered around risk and harm experienced by these vulnerable young people. Yet much of the research is focused on the experiences of LGBT-identified people whose identities are already understood as a given. Therefore, this dissertation aims to understand how a person becomes LGBT-identified and examines how sexual and gender identities are social and historical formations, not biological facts. By exploring how adolescents in particular come to understand themselves as sexual and gendered beings, this work contributes to a larger understanding of the sociology of sexuality. Using a feminist ethnographic approach, I conducted participant observation at an LGBT youth drop-in center and 34 life-history interviews with LGBT-identified youths. By applying a queer theoretical framework to sociological concepts of identity formation, this research contributes to a more complex understanding of how compulsory heterosexuality and heteronormativity are powerful forms of social control in society. Themes include understanding the role gender atypicality plays in the formation of a gay identity, how processes of gender attribution shore up a binary gender order, how sexual minority youths pursue sexuality education that is representative of their experience via alternative forms of media, and how the queering of the family may result in positive coming out experiences for youth. Ultimately this research acknowledges the formation of boundaries between normal and queer and how these boundaries contribute to the sexual development of particular young people.
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A Design Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fullfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Architecture, Major: Architecture, Under the Supervision of Dr. Peter Olshavsky. Lincoln, Nebraska: May 2021

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This thesis explores the concept of queer space in architecture to understand its relationship between queer social narratives and their impact on spatial conditions. LGBTQ culture is a complex mix of avant-garde character aesthetics contrasted with hidden, invisible identity traits. By exploring queer figures and spaces through the lens of "camp," we can begin to see sexuality and gender’s impacts on objects and space. I argue that queer space is critical in shaping LGBTQ individuals’ narratives by bringing their struggles, celebrations, and what it is to be queer to the forefront of the urban landscape.

This is approached is by studying Chicago’s built environment and its LGBTQ community. We can see queer space as an atmosphere defined by the stories enmeshed within these spaces. Through the avant-garde lens of “camp,” my design exploration sprinkles queer spaces throughout the urban landscape to create vibrant moments, evoking glimmers of connection to emotional stories of LGBTQ figures and events that have often been overlooked. As you flip through this anthology of seven projects, each one offers a new form of queerness in space, representation, or narrative. Each design exploration comes from sampling quotes, interviews, social media, and other contemporary sources to extract LGBTQ narratives. The stories are then abstracted into architectural forms in varying degrees of scale, program, and representation. Like glitter, these projects are sprinkled throughout the urban landscape and activate the sites they occupy. They serve to draw people to them, stand in silent solidarity with them, or actively disrupt them.

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Social support in schools and related outcomes for LGBTQ youth: a scoping review

Enoch leung.

Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Faculty of Education, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Gabriela Kassel-Gomez

Samantha sullivan, flavio murahara, tara flanagan, associated data.

Recent research has increasingly focused on positive factors and supports for LGBTQ youth. This scoping review explores existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools through the Ecological Systems Theory to respond to the following four objectives: (1) define social support systems in schools, (2) identify current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth, (3) identify barriers to support LGBTQ youth in schools, and (4) identify areas for future research for LGBTQ youth and social support in schools. A systematic search (Arksey and O’Malley in Int J Soc Res Methodol 8(1):19–32, 2005) between 2007 through 2021 resulted in 94 articles. This review gave rise to an organizational framework to consolidate various systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. Social support consisted of seven social support systems (family, curriculum, family, peers, school policies, GSAs and programs, and school climate) that are positively associated with the promotion of positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes for LGBTQ youth. Though the literature has been clear surrounding the risks associated with LGBTQ youth, this scoping review provides a positive outlook on LGBTQ youth’s school experiences and how these systems of social support allow for LGBTQ youth to act as active participants to foster a positive school climate and sense of safety.

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Introduction

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth spend most of their lives in schools, navigating through the difficult and threatening space [ 54 , 80 ]. Schools can be a threatening space for LGBTQ youth as they experience increased victimization and a lack of safety [ 59 ]. This fact is alarming since students spend most of their time in schools, approximately 175 to 220 days per year with an average of 5 to 8.5 h per school day [ 81 ]. Schools, then, can be thought of as youths’ second home, particularly concerning for LGBTQ youth due to the lack of safety in their school environment.

Many studies have indicated that LGBTQ youth experience numerous socioemotional, educational, and health risks at school due to LGBTQ-specific prejudice and victimization. This includes isolation from peers, low social support, low school engagement, low academic success, school dropout, stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and attempts [ 41 , 47 , 60 ]. However, rather than problematizing youth as at-risk, emerging research is shifting the focus onto the systems that create and carry the risks towards LGBTQ youth, subsequently exploring through a positive lens to begin unpacking LGBTQ needs in schools [ 54 ]. Recent research has increasingly focused on positive factors and supports for LGBTQ youth. For example, the presence of a supportive adult in a LGBTQ youth’s lives facilitated a smoother high school experience (i.e., decreased absenteeism, increased academic engagement, [ 76 ]). The goal of this study is to systematically explore the positive support systems available for LGBTQ youth, further exploring other potential social support systems, beyond supportive adults, that are present in schools to mitigate the risks for LGBTQ youth and promote positive outcomes. This study will begin by outlining Bronfenbrenner’s [ 15 ] Ecological Systems Theory as an approach to understanding social support for LGBTQ youth. A cursory review of the protective factors and stress experiences for LGBTQ youth in schools will be explored followed by the process of a scoping review and thematic analysis. Notably, the review seeks to pivot from a deficit lens of LGBTQ youth considered as at-risk toward systems that promote the positive outcomes of LGBTQ youth. Additionally, the acronym LGBTQ will be used primarily when discussing the LGBTQ+ population. However, when applicable, other acronyms will be used to denote specific subgroups. This can include LGB for studies that explore sexual minority individuals only.

Understanding social support for LGBTQ youth through Ecological Systems Theory

LGBTQ youth experiences have been increasingly explored in a variety of settings: family, community, and school settings. One approach to organize the LGBTQ youth literature is through a broader, systemic lens. Bronfenbrenner’s [ 14 – 16 ] Ecological Systems Theory can provide the systemic lens needed that allows a way of thinking for the study of interconnections among systems. The model views the individual’s development as a complex system of interactions and relationships across multiple systems surrounding the individual. The systems suggested by Bronfenbrenner [ 14 – 16 ] include: (1) microsystem, (2) mesosystem, (3) exosystem, (4) macrosystem, and (5) chronosystem. Briefly, the microsystem consists of the immediate stakeholders that are directly in contact with the individual (e.g., peers, family). The mesosystem includes the interactions between the individual’s microsystems (e.g., parents speaking with educators). The exosystem consists of stakeholders or environments which do not contain the individual and that indirectly influence the individual via their microsystems (e.g., family’s workplace). The macrosystem consists of the cultural components that influence an individual’s development (e.g., class, ethnicity). The chronosystem consists of normative and/or non-normative environmental changes that occur over the lifespan that can influence an individual’s development (e.g., elementary to high school transition, COVID-19 pandemic). An understanding of the various systems surrounding the individual allows for the exploration of the relationships between the systems (e.g., mesosystems). Previous empirical research on youth and LGBTQ studies have applied the Ecological Systems Theory to understand effective ways LGBTQ youth are accessing the necessary support to thrive in their environment. For example, Watson and others [ 119 ] interviewed gay-straight alliance (GSA) advisors addressing various topics including school climate-related issues (e.g., sexual and gender-based victimization) that influenced their ability to be advocates for their students. The authors found that sociocultural factors (e.g., public policies), school-based factors (e.g., administrators), and individual factors (e.g., knowledge of LGBTQ issues) were both barriers and facilitators of their ability to be advocates. From the advisors’ perspective, aligned with Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, they are required to navigate across systems to effectively support their LGBTQ youth. Results were corroborated from other studies that consider the necessity of school counselors to navigate across ecological systems to support the LGBTQ youth in their schools [ 7 ]. Other studies focusing more on the community surrounding LGBTQ youth revealed similar navigations across systemic barriers (or facilitators) in their identity exploration. Katz-Wise and others [ 57 ] interviewed TGNB (transgender and non-binary folks) youths’ experience in their gender identity exploration, specifically in family and community settings. Eight themes were developed from this study that aligned with the ecological systems: individual factors (e.g., emotions, coping), family factors (e.g., family support), community factors (e.g., general and LGBTQ community experiences), and societal factors (e.g., external forces). Broadly, the Ecological Systems Theory shifts the research focus to a more relational, developmental systems view, acknowledging the interconnectedness of the systems and its associations to the individual (e.g., [ 15 , 16 ]).

Taken together, this scoping review attempts to explore existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools through the Ecological Systems Theory. An ecological systems approach in understanding the existing literature on social support for LGBTQ youth can provide an organizational framework necessary to consolidate the comprehensive literature of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. As the scoping review attempts an initial exploration and organization of existing social support for LGBTQ youth in schools, a deeper exploration on the relationship between the systems will be explored in a separate review.

School-based protective systems for LGBTQ youth

American Psychological Association [ 1 ] published an informational guide summarizing the various school-based protective systems present for LGBTQ youth. Although not comprehensive, the guide listed several support systems available in schools: (1) educators, (2) school policies, (3) gay-straight alliances, (4) inclusive curriculum, and (5) school climate. Briefly, the guide implicated the importance of educators to help create a safe school climate for LGBTQ youth, the need to create and enforce anti-harassment policies, the creation of gay-straight alliances, and the development of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. Each system (educators, policies, GSAs, inclusive curriculum) were found to be critical to an establishment of a LGBTQ-affirming school climate, which in turn was shown to help minimize victimization rates and increase sense of safety for LGBTQ youth [ 54 , 122 ]. Other research similarly suggests the importance of LGBTQ-affirming school climate as a support system to help minimize victimization rates and increase sense of safety for LGBTQ youth [ 28 ].

As literature in this field typically examine systems of social support in isolation (e.g., curriculum, teachers, school policies separately), this scoping review aims to provide a more comprehensive search strategy in consolidating the research on the available social support systems for LGBTQ youth in schools. This scoping review attempts to bring together the literature across multiple systems of social support for LGBTQ youth to develop a systemic definition of social support for LGBTQ youth, identify current research across all systems of social support, identify barriers and difficulties experienced by LGBTQ youth in schools, and identify areas for future research in understanding the social support systems for LGBTQ youth.

Schools as a key site of stress for LGBTQ youth

Results from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) indicate that over 60% of LGB youth experienced prolonged feelings of hopelessness compared to only 25% of heterosexual youth. In a national survey of LGBTQ youth [ 59 ], 67% heard homophobic comments in schools, 58% perceived a lack of safety as a result of their sexual orientation identity, and 43% perceived a lack of safety as a result of their gender identity and expression. Although there was a high percentage of LGBTQ-specific concerns, only 12% of LGBTQ youth reported teacher intervention. In Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN)’s national survey [ 59 ], 92.6% of LGBTQ youth mentioned health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety) as the main reason for not graduating high school, followed by academic (e.g., poor grades, absences), and safety concerns (e.g., hostile school climate, harassment, unsupportive peers and staff). Therefore, a further detailed systematic breakdown of existing social support systems in educational settings is required to better understand what can be done to offset negative experiences and risks. This analysis will also clarify the barriers schools face in providing support and inform future inquiry for schools to move towards improved support for LGBTQ youth.

Present data highlights that LGBTQ youth are at a heightened risk for numerous health and educational concerns. Such concerns can be attributed to a lack of connection with their teachers and school staff [ 58 ], a lack of acceptance from their family members [ 57 , 74 ] and peers [ 122 ], a lack of school curricula and policies that value LGBTQ diversity [ 105 ], and the existence of overall hostile and exclusionary school climates [ 59 ]. The level of warmth and positivity in a school environment can positively impact LGBTQ students’ experiences and their subsequent health and educational outcomes. For example, teacher-student relationships are positively associated with increased academic engagement, performance, and social-emotional wellbeing for LGBTQ youth [ 66 ]. This review seeks to pull together literature on how LGBTQ youth are supported in schools and examine the ways that different types of social support can affect outcomes to provide an organized framework to effectively support LGBTQ youth.

Research question and aims of the current study

While efforts have been made to support LGBTQ youth in schools, literature is diffuse and show mixed results [ 54 , 109 ]. Subsequently, a systematic surveying of the literature on all existing support systems that provide the necessary social support for LGBTQ youth is necessary. Social support includes numerous school professionals and community members such as school psychologists, educators, counsellors, and principals to act as critical individuals holding the power to support and advocate for LGBTQ youth. The scoping review aims to synthesize current research on social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. Recurring literature on social supports for LGBTQ youth include gay-straight alliances (GSAs), school policies, curriculum, and parent and peer support [ 54 ]. The review seeks to direct future research by providing clarity and illuminating gaps in literature to foster more nuanced research and interventions that ameliorate significant health and educational disparities for LGBTQ youth. As research is robust, indicating the disproportionate stress that LGBTQ youth experience [ 122 ], this review is imperative to systematically explore the systems of social support for LGBTQ youth.

This study seeks to respond to the following question:

How does social support in elementary and secondary education relate to outcomes for LGBTQ youth?

with the following objectives:

• Define what it means to have social support in schools,
• Identify and describe the current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth given the implementation of these social support systems,
• Identify barriers and difficulties to support LGBTQ youth in an educational setting, and
• Identify areas for future research for LGBTQ youth and social support in schools.

Search strategy

This study follows the methodologically rigorous scoping review approach designed by Arksey and O’Malley [ 5 ] and conducted a systemic search across the disciplines of education and psychology. Though the keywords and categories used to conduct the systemic search was all-encompassing and should capture relevant stakeholders in schools, specific domains of studies outside of the field of education and psychology was not explicitly considered due to the interdisciplinary nature of education. Therefore, the search strategy may not have a wide reach for paraprofessionals that work with LGBTQ youth in schools (e.g., social workers). However, based on the broad nature of the keywords, paraprofessionals working in schools to support LGBTQ youth should be included. A scoping review was chosen to allow for the inclusion of multiple study designs and to allow for post-hoc analysis of inclusion and exclusion criteria [ 86 ]. In particular, as a systematic review approach required study appraisals, a scoping review was more appropriate due to the inclusion criteria of both empirical and non-empirical studies.

Eligibility criteria

A set of inclusion and exclusion criteria were established a priori to provide guidance for the systematic search strategy. Inclusion criteria included: (a) empirical articles that were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2007 and 2021; (b) non-empirical literature including books, book chapters, case reports, reviews between 2007 and 2021; (c) written in the English language; (d) LGBTQ individuals; (e) school environment-specific (ranging from elementary through high school, including technical schools); (f) all geographical locations; and (g) social support outcomes for students. Exclusion criteria included: (a) non-LGBTQ specific; (b) unrelated to school environment; (c) social support outcomes not for students (i.e., teachers, parents).

Information sources

The search used the following databases: PsycINFO, ERIC, Genderwatch, ProQuest Dissertation and Thesis, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Campbell Systematic Review. A description of keywords can be seen in Supplementary Table 1 and a visual for the search and data collection process in Supplementary Figure 1.

A social science librarian was consulted to ensure the scoping review was conducted in a systematic procedure. The five databases were cross-checked with an expert in the field of LGBTQ studies to ensure a comprehensive collection of databases. After databases were confirmed, key concepts were brainstormed and cross-checked with the second and third author, the expert in the field of LGBTQ research (April 2017), and the librarian (May 2017). Keywords were broken down into three sections. The first column consists of LGBTQ terms (e.g., homosexuality, bisexuality, gender identity, transgender or [attitudes towards]). The second column consists of school terms (e.g., high school students). The last column consists of social support terms (e.g., peers). Refer to Supplementary Table 1 for a full list of search terms. All keywords in each column were combined. After a collaborative process between the authors, librarians, and expert, all keywords and related terms were included in each database.

Data collection process

Data were collected during June 2017 and revised in February 2021 to ensure consistency between the searches. Throughout the collection process, the authors engaged in an iterative process to discuss obstacles that arose during the screening phase. As depicted in the flow chart (Supplementary Figure 1), the initial data collection yielded 565 articles ( n 2017  = 364; n 2021  = 199). After deduplications were removed, 533 articles remained ( n 2017  = 335; n 2021  = 198).

Phase one: title and abstract screening (2017)

Phase one consisted of an initial screening of the relevant literature. During this phase, the first, second, and third authors conducted independent title and abstract screening of the 335 articles, resulting in an interrater agreement of 71.94%. Any disagreements across the authors were discussed until a consensus was reached based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Following the screening, 128 articles remained.

Phase two: full text screening

An independent screening by the first, second, and third authors of the 128 articles identified in phase one resulted in 54 articles being retained in the review. Interrater agreement was 80.47%. Consensus was achieved through iterative discussion among the authors to determine the final literature count.

Phase three: data extraction

Once the final sample of studies were selected, a table was created to depict important information from each study: (1) study characteristics (e.g., study design, school setting, research question), (2) group demographics (e.g., LGBTQ acronym, sample size, grade level, age range), (3) social support factors, and (4) key findings.

The resulting 54 articles from the full-text screening were broken into three blocks of 18. Each author independently read two of the three blocks of articles and extracted relevant data (such that the first author independently read blocks A and B; the second author independently read blocks A and C; and the third author independently read blocks B and C). After independent data extraction, the two reviewers for each corresponding block resolved any differences.

Phase four: Revised data collection (2021)

A revised data collection was addended since the 2007 through 2017 phase. Another round of data collection, abstract, and full-text screening was conducted from 2017 through 2021. The update in data collection was done in 2021 to account for the many changes happening in society related to LGBTQ populations (e.g., anti-LGBTQ bills; [ 95 ]) as the manuscript was in the process of writing and revisions, along with the delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional 198 articles were collected for initial screening (totalling 533 articles, see Supplementary Figure 1). Following the same procedures of phase one title and abstract screening, independent screening was conducted by the first and fourth author, resulting in 56 articles retained with an inter-rater reliability of 84.34% ( N 2017+2021  = 184). Replicating phase two, the first and fourth author conducted independent full-text screening on the 56 articles, resulting in 40 articles with an inter-rater reliability (IRR) of 75.00% ( N 2017+2021  = 94). Following phase three, the resulting 40 articles from the full-text screening were broken into two blocks of 20. Each author independently read one block of articles and extracted relevant data. After independent data extraction, the two authors checked and resolved any differences in the other block.

Synthesis of results

After data abstraction, quantitative data was collected on the following categories (see Supplementary Table 2): (1) research design, (2) participant sample size range, (3) LGBTQ acronym, (4) school setting, (5) number of schools, (6) number of students, and (7) the types of social support. Initial IRR of 94 articles was 76.60% and discrepancies were discussed and resolved through an iterative process between the first through fourth authors.

Subsequent thematic analysis [ 3 , 13 , 25 , 36 , 117 ] was conducted. This method of analysis is justified as a descriptive, qualitative method to identify common themes found in the key findings of the 94 articles. Initial IRR was 78.72%, above the acceptable level of reproducibility, and discrepancies were discussed and resolved among the first four authors.

Data analysis involved both quantitative (e.g., frequency analysis) and qualitative (e.g., thematic analysis) methods, resulting in a multi-layered synthesis process that allowed for the identification of existing gaps in the literature and revealed potential topics for conducting future systematic or novel reviews.

Study characteristics

Refer to Supplementary Table 2 for a tabulation of characteristics across the 94 articles.

Research design

Out of the 94 articles, there were 48 (51.06%) quantitative studies, 43 (45.74%) qualitative studies, and three (3.19%) mixed-methods studies.

LGBTQ acronym

As each article used several LGBTQ acronyms interchangeably, there are a total of 102 acronym frequencies across 94 articles. Acronyms include LGBTQ/GLBTQ ( n  = 40; 39.22%), LGBT/GLBT ( n  = 15; 14.71%), sexual minority/SMY ( n  = 10; 9.80%), LGBQ ( n  = 7; 6.86%), LGB/GLB ( n  = 6; 5.88%), transgender/trans* ( n  = 4; 3.92%), SSA ( n  = 3, 294%), GSM/GSD ( n  = 3; 2.94%), LGBTQQ ( n  = 2; 1.96%), gender-variant ( n  = 2; 1.96%), GM ( n  = 2; 1.96%), LGBTQ2S ( n  = 2; 1.96%), LGBTQ+ ( n  = 2; 1.96%), queer ( n  = 1, 0.98%), MSMY ( n  = 1; 0.98%), bisexual/pansexual ( n  = 1; 0.98%), TGD ( n  = 1; 0.98%).

Participant sample range

Across 94 articles, 42 studies provided specific age or grade ranges of the participants. Participants ranged from students in grades nine through 13 ( n  = 20; 21.28%), grades seven through 12 ( n  = 10; 10.64%), grades eight through 12 ( n  = 6; 6.38%), grades 10 through 12 ( n  = 4; 4.26%), and grades six through 12 ( n  = 2; 2.13%). 40 studies did not provide specific age or grade range of students and only included the educational institution broadly: high school ( n  = 16; 17.02%), middle and high school ( n  = 7; 7.45%), high school and college ( n  = 5; 5.32%), middle school ( n  = 4; 4.26%), elementary school ( n  = 4; 4.26%), college ( n  = 3; 3.19%), elementary and high school ( n  = 1; 1.06%). The remaining 12 studies included adult staff or parent participants ( n  = 5; 5.32%) or did not specify ( n  = 7; 7.45%).

School setting

As each study recruited school settings that were different in type (i.e., catholic, private, democratic) and in developmental age (i.e., elementary, middle, high school), there was a total of 108 counts of school settings across the 94 articles. School settings included high school ( n  = 46; 42.59%), middle and high school ( n  = 28; 25.93%), private schools ( n  = 5; 4.63%), elementary through high school ( n  = 4; 3.70%), elementary school ( n  = 4; 3.70%), catholic schools ( n  = 4; 3.70%), middle school ( n  = 3; 2.78%), college ( n  = 3; 2.78%), alternative schools ( n  = 2; 1.85%), community center ( n  = 1; 0.93%), democratic school ( n  = 1; 0.93%), and independent school ( n  = 1; 0.93%). Six studies (5.56%) did not specify the type of school setting.

Types of social support

Each study reported more than one type of social support related to LGBTQ students, resulting in a total of 188 counts of social support types. Social support was organized into four categories: school support ( n  = 139; 73.94%), peer support ( n  = 24; 12.77%), parental support ( n  = 16; 8.51%), and community support ( n  = 9; 4.79%). School support was further broken to include gay-straight alliances ( n  = 42; 22.34%), supportive non-teaching staff ( n  = 34; 18.09%), supportive teachers ( n  = 24; 12.77%), positive school climate ( n  = 12; 6.38%), programs and policies ( n  = 11; 5.85%), school-wide approaches ( n  = 9; 4.79%), and curriculum ( n  = 7; 3.72%).

Based on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, the constructed themes that was developed across the 94 articles were organized into support systems that directly impact LGBTQ youth outcomes (see Supplementary Table 3). As geographical information was not extracted, findings are generalized and may not accurately represent specific geographically contextualized policies and environments.

The role of family (caregiver) systems and social support

Three distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) high actual or perceived family/caregiver support buffered many negative socioemotional or educational outcomes ( n articles  = 12), (2) family/caregiver support was not consistently adequate to buffer the negative emotional, behavioral, and educational outcomes ( n articles  = 3), and sex differences within family experiences highlighted complexities of family/caregiver support ( n articles  = 3).

High caregiver support buffering negative outcomes

When family (or caregiver) support was low, LGBTQ youths’ level of emotional and behavioural distress was high [ 4 , 8 , 18 , 24 , 40 , 55 , 85 , 90 , 124 ]. A lack of social support in the family system (e.g., family harassment, low caregiver support, low communication and closeness) was positively associated with adverse social (e.g., disengaging from peers, running away from home [ 40 , 55 , 85 , 124 ]), emotional (e.g., depression, psychological distress, substance abuse, suicidal ideation [ 4 , 8 , 18 , 55 , 85 ]), and educational outcomes (e.g., school dropout [ 8 ]), for LGBTQ youth. However, studies have shown that family acceptance was a type of social support that fostered LGBTQ youths’ critical thinking and advocacy for safe spaces in schools to support marginalized students [ 40 , 124 ]. Family support was particularly associated with better school performance for LGBTQ racialized youth. For both White and racialized LGBTQ youth, perceptions of being close with parents and direct involvement with parents in activities moderated experiences of victimization at school, and reduced substance use and suicidality, educational risks, and increased school belonging [ 18 , 85 , 90 ]. Moreover, LGBTQ-affirming resources aimed at developing family support (e.g., parent advocacy, allyship, communication, trust) fostered LGBTQ youth academic well-being, physical and emotional safety, and ability to be authentic in classrooms [ 23 , 38 , 82 ].

Caregiver support inconsistent in buffering negative outcomes

Studies showed that family (or caregiver) support did not consistently buffer the negative outcomes that happens at school [ 17 , 90 ]. Though family support may be protective against victimization and self-harm among youth, effects were less robust for gender minority youth [ 96 ].

Sex differences within family experiences

Three unique studies found differences present for (1) boys and girls and (2) mothers and fathers. Pearson and Wilkinson [ 85 ] found that only sexual minority girls were less distressed when they reported a sense of strong family relationships. However, there was no association found between caregiver support and peer victimization for sexual minority girls [ 55 ]. Bos and others [ 11 ] found less distress among all LGBTQ youth who established a strong relationship with their fathers (e.g., more disclosure and communication but not their mothers). A strong relationship with fathers resulted in increased positive social (e.g., more peer acceptance), emotional (e.g., increased self-esteem, decreased depression), and educational outcomes (e.g., increased school belonging, [ 11 ]).

Supporting LGBTQ youth through the curricular education system

Four distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum was most often taught in social sciences, humanities, and health classes, fostering authenticity with students and creating an inclusive classroom ( n articles  = 6), (2) LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum led to decreased victimization and negative socioemotional outcomes and increased sense of safety ( n articles  = 5), (3) a hidden, heteronormative curriculum exists behind the official academic curriculum that impedes LGBTQ youth support and engagement ( n articles  = 4), and (4) a need for teachers to feel supported to teach LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum effectively ( n articles  = 4).

LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum fostering authenticity with students and creating an inclusive classroom

LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum appeared to be taught only in specific classes, specifically in social sciences, humanities, and health classes [ 10 , 103 – 105 , 124 ]. Making connections with LGBTQ-inclusive material allowed students to make authentic connections between their lives and the class content [ 73 ] which contributed to an increased psychological wellbeing and disrupted homophobia and other forms of oppression [ 10 , 103 , 118 , 124 ]. Teachers who incorporated LGBTQ material into their curriculum allowed youth to identify teachers as possible safe adults to discuss sensitive concerns (e.g., LGBTQ-related concerns, coming out). Teachers also agreed on the importance of weaving social justice topics in the curriculum to model critical literacy and to create an inclusive curriculum, benefitting all students [ 84 ].

LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum decreased negative outcomes and increased sense of safety

LGBTQ-inclusive curricula had supportive elements at the individual and school level (i.e., increased feelings of safety at school, decreased feelings of isolation and depression, and more awareness of victimization at school; [ 70 , 105 ]). Incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum and having access to LGBTQ-related information in schools was positively associated with perceptions of a safer school environment and negatively associated with perceptions of victimization [ 105 , 110 ]. Therefore, developing a curriculum that centers LGBTQ issues can disrupt homophobia, injustice, and other forms of oppression, which can provide safety and acceptance, and validate LGBTQ youths’ experiences at school [ 102 , 118 ].

Hidden, heteronormative curriculum impedes LGBTQ youth support and engagement

This theme expands on the hidden, heteronormative curriculum that exists behind the official academic curriculum. Castro and Sujak [ 19 ] mentioned the need for LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum to expand outside of academics, such as the social (e.g., relationships and communication) and campus curriculum (e.g., inclusive group space). LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is most effective when it can be generalized beyond formal learning spaces. Gay-straight alliances (GSAs), a supportive network outside of the classroom, is one space that can supplement LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum outside formal education. Informal spaces of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can foster student engagement and provide further opportunities for students to engage in social advocacy and promote a positive school climate [ 64 , 73 , 123 ].

Teachers need to feel supported to teach effective LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum

Though LGBTQ-inclusive curricula can be a pillar of social support for LGBTQ youth, teachers often miss teachable moments conducive to inclusive curriculum [ 70 , 103 ]. Teachers mentioned difficulty fostering an inclusive curriculum due to rigid curriculum, high stakes testing, and parental resistance [ 84 ], requiring the administration to provide the support needed for teachers to change the curriculum [ 69 ]. Note that the barriers may be contextual as high-stakes testing does not occur in all school contexts and curricula may be externally constructed in relation to the geographical context of the school environment.

Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) and other school programs

Six distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) gay-straight alliances (GSAs) fostered a space for empowerment and change, creating a safe space and climate for LGBTQ youth ( n articles  = 24), (2) GSAs created opportunities for connection for LGBTQ youth in their community ( n articles  = 13), (3) GSAs allowed for engagement and youth involvement in schools ( n articles  = 11), (4) GSAs had varying functions ( n articles  = 7), (5) GSAs encountered challenges in delivering positive outcomes ( n articles  = 15), and (6) school-based interventions (non-GSAs) were effective in supporting LGBTQ youth ( n articles  = 6). Note that most of the articles referred to GSAs as gay-straight alliances. One article referred to them as gender-sexuality alliances.

GSAs foster a space for empowerment and change, creating a safe space and climate for LGBTQ youth

GSAs help students provide a space to act together to create cultural and institutional change [ 31 , 98 , 123 ] and can be transformative for school culture. These spaces provide a positive and safe physical and intellectual space where students can engage in knowledge transfer and discuss LGBTQ issues otherwise silenced in the larger school community [ 31 , 40 , 63 , 64 , 69 , 71 , 72 , 77 , 78 , 98 , 106 , 107 , 123 ]. GSAs give LGBTQ youth a safe place to go where they can be accepted [ 69 ]. GSAs can be a space where mental health promotion programs can be incorporated to provide students with coping skills and resources [ 44 ]. The presence and membership in GSAs were positively associated with school belongingness, school engagement, school safety, academic success, wellbeing, and negatively associated with substance use, psychological distress, and victimization incidents [ 6 , 45 , 46 , 53 , 67 , 93 , 111 , 112 ]. Entering GSA classrooms offered visibility, positive symbols of acceptance, respect, and affirmation, providing LGBTQ youth with a sense of safety [ 6 , 87 ].

GSAs create opportunities for connection for LGBTQ students in their community

GSAs provide accountability, support, community, increased academic success, and decreased feelings of isolation by connecting youth with other LGBTQ community members, events, and resources. Subsequently, the connections lead to increased validation and normalization of identity, sense of hope, acceptance, greater self-esteem, greater appreciation for self and other peers, adaptive social relationship skills, and a sense of safety and empowerment for LGBTQ youth [ 31 , 40 , 46 , 69 , 71 – 73 , 75 , 98 , 106 , 111 ]. GSAs allowed for connections to community organizations, providing a gateway to the wider LGBTQ community, supportive adults, community resources, fostering activism opportunities and increasing LGBTQ visibility [ 6 , 87 ].

GSAs allow for engagement and youth involvement in schools

Participation in GSAs were positively associated with perceptions of a safer space for LGBTQ youth to engage in self-expression and identity validation [ 62 ]. Their involvement in GSA-related activities and events increased their self-efficacy [ 20 ], academic success, school engagement, school belongingness [ 43 , 111 , 112 ], sense of hope, and advocacy and awareness-raising efforts [ 88 , 91 ]. Engaging with GSAs enabled students to form their own identities grounded in empowerment rather than as victims [ 31 , 98 ]. LGBTQ youth, teachers, and school administrators have reported that having and engaging in their GSA gave students space for emotional safety [ 71 , 72 ].

GSAs vary in their function (e.g., advocacy, educational, socialization)

GSAs had distinct purposes in assisting different aspects of LGBTQ youth: (1) advocacy, education, and social support; (2) literature to reflect on the lives and experiences of LGBTQ youth; and (3) developing skillsets to assist students in fostering inclusion and acceptance [ 114 ]. Advisors believed the primary role of GSAs is to bring awareness and act in schools, whereas students believed the purpose was to foster a sense of community and belongingness [ 63 , 71 , 94 ]. The varying functions of GSAs depended on the internal provisions of support, from visibility raising to collective social change [ 71 , 92 , 123 ]. Students who were more involved in accessing information and advocacy efforts discussed more health-related topics, prepared more awareness-raising campaigns, and had increased school engagement [ 89 ]. On the other hand, GSAs with a stronger focus on socialization efforts focused less on mental health discussions [ 89 ].

GSAs encounter challenges in delivering positive outcomes

Although GSAs were found to be effective in supporting LGBTQ youth in schools, only 19.1% of youth reported an existence of a GSA in their high school [ 8 ]. Program implementations within GSAs also encountered common problems. Problems included a lack of staff training and safe staff, a lack of student understanding towards LGBTQ issues, a lack of sensitivity towards LGBTQ topics, and challenges in facilitating a discussion on sexual or gender-related topics [ 50 , 69 ]. GSAs struggled to subvert the heteronormative school climate in schools where the greater community was unsafe, particularly in rural environments [ 28 , 63 , 71 ]. For example, high schools had concerns and restricted policies on GSA student behaviours, limiting activities allowed by students [ 31 , 35 ]. In communities that were indifferent or hostile towards LGBTQ populations, GSA advisors were required to negotiate with school administrators to provide LGBTQ youth a safe space in schools [ 6 ]. In schools with high levels of victimization, the benefits of GSA-related social justice involvement and presence dissipated [ 111 , 112 ]. In some schools, the presence or participation in GSA activities did not predict student school engagement and was not associated with mental health outcomes or sense of safety [ 21 , 28 , 93 , 99 , 100 ]. Rather, the presence of a GSA led to emotional vulnerabilities to the wider school community [ 6 ]. As such, the impact of GSAs on LGBTQ youth safety and school climate may vary widely across schools and geographic context.

School-based interventions (non-GSAs) were effective to support LGBTQ youth

There is a need to employ a pragmatic approach and focus on student safety to gain administrative support to conduct interventions [ 65 , 69 , 94 ]. Classroom intervention focused on accepting individual differences through open discussion and participation of emotional and sensitive issues were effective in framing uniqueness as a strength and fostered change towards an accepting classroom climate [ 70 , 94 ]. Youth-led theater and dialogue-based interventions were effective to address heterosexism and genderism in schools, with increased reports of willingness and intention to advocate for social justice and equality for LGBTQ people [ 121 ]. Hall and others [ 42 ] showed how a student-led community art gallery was effective to create a space for discussion on gender issues and act towards supporting LGBTQ youth.

The role of peer systems in supporting LGBTQ youth

Two distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) peer support and acceptance were related to lower levels of emotional and behavioural distress and fostered positive outcomes ( n articles  = 13), and (2) inconsistencies in the effectiveness of peer support for diverse LGBTQ youth ( n articles  = 4).

Fostering peer support and acceptance relates to lower levels of emotional distress and fosters positive social and educational outcomes

LGBTQ youth who had higher levels of peer acceptance and lower levels of strained peer relationships experienced lower levels of depression and suicidal behaviour, higher levels of self-esteem, increased academic success [ 11 , 51 , 56 ], particularly for youth from rejecting families [ 23 ]. On the other hand, lower peer acceptance or connection predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of self-esteem and belongingness to the school [ 11 ]. Uniquely, peer acceptance from straight allies played an important role to address anti-gay stereotypes [ 64 ]. Engaging in peer education and interventions led to increased levels of safety for LGBTQ youth [ 28 , 33 , 102 ]. Older youth were found to have less homophobic attitudes and were more willing to remain friends with GL youth [ 110 ]. Schools where GLB youth had opportunities to socialize reported increased belonging in their school and in their larger community [ 79 ]. Being out (i.e., disclosure of gender or sexuality) to more peers at school was generally associated with higher grades and less school harassment [ 120 ]. Similarly, seeing peers who were out was positively associated with a sense of safety in schools [ 83 ]. Having thick friendships were shown to help encourage LGBTQ youth to question their sexuality [ 37 ]. The culmination of research on peer support reiterates the importance of peer support in schools for an increasingly safe and positive school environment.

Inconsistencies in the effectiveness of peer support for diverse LGBTQ youth

Though peer support was effective in fostering positive socioemotional outcomes and minimizing emotional distress, inconsistencies were found within the LGBTQ community. Sub-group identities had different conclusions regarding the effectiveness of peer support. Craig and Smith [ 24 ] found that racialized LGBTQ youth did not have a relationship between peer support and educational outcomes. Studies show that having supportive peers to discuss problems increased the risks of suicidal ideation and attempts for LGBTQ youth, particularly for LGBQ youth who have had been victimized and gender minority youth [ 17 , 96 ]. Generally, social support did not buffer effects of victimization on self-esteem for LGBTQ students [ 108 ], questioning the nuances in the efficacy of peer support as a social support system.

School professionals and teachers as a system of support for LGBTQ youth

Four distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) high level of within-school adult support resulted in positive benefits ( n articles  = 19), (2) high level of within-school adult support reduced negative outcomes ( n articles  = 10), (3) teachers and school staff were ineffective and inconsistent in supporting LGBTQ students ( n articles  = 7), and (4) school staff perceived external support as key to ensure coordination of inclusivity for LGBTQ students ( n articles  = 4).

High level of within-school adult support results in positive benefits

LGBTQ youth perceived more support in schools when they perceived that their school staff, administrators, and teachers showed more than verbal support (i.e., lip service). LGBTQ youth mentioned the need to observe school staff acting and having a presence explicitly taking a stance against bigotry, emphasizing the importance of behavioural management to establish a safe classroom space [ 10 , 69 – 71 , 84 ]. LGBTQ youth who had natural mentors (e.g., teachers, staff members, school administrators) were three times as likely to graduate from high school, had increased intentions to seek help for suicidal thoughts [ 21 ], and had positively impacted their engagement and connectedness to their school [ 23 ] compared to youth who did not have such mentors [ 30 ]. When the number of “safe adults” increased at school, LGBTQ youth would become more engaged with their school and community through opportunities and access to resources from supportive staff members [ 69 , 72 , 99 , 100 ]. Supportive teachers had the power to foster a safe classroom climate and environment, set clear expectations, open inclusive dialogue with students, implement LGBTQ-inclusive school and classroom procedures that positively impacted LGBTQ youths’ safety and acceptance in schools [ 28 , 102 ], educational achievement [ 34 ], and wellbeing [ 116 ]. Teachers having power to foster a safe classroom climate was similarly voiced by TGNC youth, subsequently supporting their transition [ 38 ]. Likewise, teachers and school staff understood the importance of developing skill sets (e.g., use of inclusive language) to foster an inclusive and supportive classroom environment for LGBTQ youth [ 113 , 114 ]. Therefore, supportive school staff are key stakeholders to foster a safer classroom environment and to create opportunities to foster awareness of LGBTQ issues in their school environment (i.e., creating a community art gallery, [ 42 ]).

High level of within-school adult support reduces negative outcomes

LGBTQ youth perceptions of greater adult support (i.e., principals, social work professionals, teachers, school administrators) at school was linked to lower levels of victimization, school avoidance, substance use, suicidal behaviour, and other mental health risks (depressive symptoms; [ 21 , 23 , 26 , 51 , 101 ]). The identification of an adult ally predicted a decrease in fear-based truancy [ 72 , 99 , 100 ]. Principals agreed that there is a need to increase efforts to reduce discrimination towards LGBTQ youth by setting a safe and positive climate in schools [ 12 ]. An avenue that was effective in creating an inclusive and affirmative environment and reduce health risks among LGBTQ youth are school-based health centers [ 125 ].

Teaching and non-teaching school staff were ineffective in supporting LGBTQ students

Though there are benefits in having a supportive school staff, there was a lack of communication between LGBTQ youth and school staff. 80.9% of LGBTQ youth reported never talking to a teacher about LGBTQ topics, 70.8% of youth never talked to a school health counselor, and 86.5% of youth never talked to a school administrator about LGBTQ issues in school [ 8 ]. The lack of action or silence teachers and school administrators take towards LGBTQ topics or incidents is a reason for the lack of communication. Students reported that teachers are inconsistent in their intervention against victimization incidents, often focused on stopping the harassment and providing reasoning for why such incidents can cause harm [ 48 ]. There was a common perception of school administration silence surrounding LGBTQ topic as normative in school environments [ 71 ]. Teachers reported feeling unprepared to support LGBTQ youth and required more information, for example, through collaboration with GSAs to improve pedagogy [ 70 , 72 ]. Coulter and others [ 22 ] found that within-school adult support was ineffective in protecting LGBTQ youth against suicidality compared to outside-school adult support. Therefore, teachers and school staff need to increase their responsibility to support LGBTQ youth [ 38 ].

School staff perceived external support as necessary to foster staff support for LGBTQ students

School staff mentioned the importance of having a coordinator external to the school to provide support for curricular efforts and activities to students and staff, and adapting to school needs, reducing harassment for LGBTQ youth [ 50 , 69 , 70 ]. Schools with an external source of support (i.e., external staff) showed significant improvements towards supporting LGBTQ youth, as reported by student observations [ 50 ]. Sexuality education workshops were another form of external support that led to significant positive effects on teachers’ beliefs and behaviours to support their LGBTQ youth [ 61 ].

The role of school policies and safer school spaces for LGBTQ youth

Three distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) socio-political values of the wider community beyond the school impacted school policies and staff attitudes ( n articles  = 7), (2) implementation of inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies were effective in fostering a safer school space for LGBTQ students ( n articles  = 5), and (3) school policy and community support showed challenges in fostering positive outcomes ( n articles  = 4).

Socio-political values of wider community impacting school policies and attitudes

Policies from the broader context can provide the support needed for schools to have inclusive school policies. Supportive government and school board policies allowed for organizations (i.e., GSAs) to be accepted, subsequently fostering community connection and support for LGBTQ youth [ 69 , 106 ]. However, schools located in communities with more non-progressive attitudes and beliefs about LGBTQ individuals due to political or religious conservatism generated hesitation to support LGBTQ students by school administrators [ 65 , 71 , 124 ]. Hesitations to support LGBTQ youth include the ban of GSA creation, sending a message regarding LGBTQ invisibility in school environments [ 65 ]. School staff were cautious and focused on minimizing external resistance and pressure from the larger community. As a result, this led to restrictions in GSA activities and spaces [ 65 , 71 ]. Snapp and others [ 104 ] found that school policies were inequitably enforced as LGBTQ youth were punished for public displays of affection and violation of dress code compared to heterosexual peers, indicative of a lack of inclusive school policies.

Reframing the support for LGBTQ youth as systematic inclusion to meet the needs of all students may be a method to circumvent the restrictions and pressures from the larger community environment. Reframing support for LGBTQ youth to general support for all students can reduce the hesitance school staff have to support LGBTQ youth [ 65 , 71 , 106 ]. Most notably, a school-wide approach and communal investment is required to change and move towards inclusive school policies, promoting the social, psychological, and physical safety for all students [ 33 ].

The implementation of inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies to foster safe school spaces

Schools with higher reported implementation of inclusive and anti-discriminatory policies had lower levels of discrimination against LGBTQ youth [ 12 ], fostering a safer school space. Effective bills such as Bill 13 (i.e., Accepting Schools Act, Ontario, Canada) allowed LGBTQ youth to create a space to transform their lives and offer opportunities of activism [ 52 ]. Inclusive policies allowed for inclusive events (i.e., Pride Prom, Day of Silence) that provided a safer environment for LGBTQ youth [ 107 ]. Therefore, inclusive policies are important to set up a safe environment for students and challenge the hetero/cisnormative dynamic present in policy documents and classroom environment [ 113 ]. Introducing inclusive policies require collaboration across professionals to support legislation that acknowledges LGBTQ issues in schools [ 61 ].

Inconsistencies in fostering positive outcomes from inclusive school policies and wider community support

Bullying policies did not consistently predict LGBTQ safety and victimization [ 12 , 28 ]. Rather, higher proportions of students who reported inclusive school policies predicted lower perceptions of safety based on gender nonconformity [ 110 ]. Lastly, community support was not related to decreased rates of harm for LGBTQ youth [ 96 ].

The role of a positive school climate on LGBTQ youth outcomes in school

Three distinct themes were constructed from the literature: (1) a positive school climate reduced negative emotional-behavioural outcomes ( n articles  = 4), (2) a positive school climate fostered positive psychosocial and educational outcomes ( n articles  = 11), and (3) a whole school effort is required to foster a positive school climate ( n articles  = 10).

Positive school climate reducing negative emotional-behavioural outcomes

For both LGBTQ and heterosexual youth, a positive school climate, strong school connectedness, and involvement in school-based activities predicted fewer physical victimization, fewer depressive symptoms, less suicidal ideation and attempts, substance use, and truancy [ 9 , 21 , 29 , 32 ]. Similarly, teachers reported perceiving fewer depressive symptoms among their male sexual minority youth in positive and supportive school environments [ 29 ].

Positive school climate fostering positive psychosocial and educational outcomes

A positive and safe school climate (e.g., GSA activities; LGBTQ-affirming school-wide campaigns) can promote tolerance, respect and inclusion for LGBTQ youth [ 69 , 72 , 121 ]. LGBTQ youth who were in less heteronormative schools, had inclusive classroom environments, and LGBTQ affirming school climates allowed them to be more inclusive, have increased opportunities to understand diversity and differences [ 102 ], fostered increased psychological wellbeing [ 116 ], and had more positive perceptions of safety in their schools [ 28 ]. A positive school climate has also benefitted teachers by helping them feel comfortable to advocate for their LGBTQ youth [ 70 , 72 ]. Students, parents, and school staff mentioned the importance of having a safe space as a deciding factor to attend school for students to be recognized, accepted, and to participate in their school [ 49 ]. Subsequently, those who were more involved in school activities and had stronger school connectedness felt safer in schools and had increased achievement [ 32 , 34 , 100 ].

Whole school effort is required to foster a positive school climate

Creating and maintaining a positive and safe school climate for LGBTQ youth can foster positive outcomes for all students. This effort requires constant vigilance from all relevant stakeholders: students, teachers, administration, and community members [ 94 ]. Effective interventions (LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, GSAs, supportive school staff, staff development and training, awareness events, appropriate mental health services, inclusive policies, inclusive language, school-home-community connections, and community partners) are all necessary to foster a positive school climate. This, in turn, provides support for LGBTQ youth and fosters wellbeing, and educational and social success [ 39 , 50 , 56 , 83 , 94 , 121 , 123 , 124 ]. A concerted effort provides LGBTQ youth with access to resources and create more opportunities to carry out programs and training that can maximize the potential for LGBTQ youth to feel supported in their wellbeing and safety. Additionally, a whole-school approach can support teachers and school administrators by providing them with more resources and external support, all instrumental to attain a whole-school system that is positive and inclusive [ 69 ]. GSAs may be an avenue whereby students can act to address anti-LGBTQ bias, to provide education, and address the silences on LGBTQ issues through whole school efforts [ 69 , 121 , 123 ]. Most importantly, having a supportive principal can facilitate a positive whole-school approach to promote LGBTQ inclusivity in schools [ 70 ].

A systemic definition of social support for LGBTQ youth

The first objective of this review is to define what social support in schools mean for LGBTQ youth. Prior to understanding how social support in elementary and high school education relate to outcomes for LGBTQ youth, the scope of social support needs to be defined to create a systemic framework that can map how different social support systems are associated with LGBTQ youth outcomes in school.

Organized through the Ecological Systems Theory, social support can be defined as support that is provided across various systems related to LGBTQ youth. This scoping review brought forth how social support in schools for LGBTQ youth can span across systems: (1) family, (2) curriculum, (3) GSAs (and other school programs), (4) peers, (5) school administrators and teachers, (6) school policies, and (7) school climate.

The seven systems that were constructed from the review indicated that they impact LGBTQ youth and their experiences in school. The parental system was constructed from the review as a form of social support that is associated with LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools. Parents or caregivers who supported their LGBTQ youth through advocacy, open communication, trust, closeness, and acceptance minimized many negative educational outcomes (i.e., depressive symptoms, substance use, victimization) and promoted wellbeing, academic success, physical and emotional safety among other outcomes. The curricular system was constructed to show how influential LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can be for LGBTQ youth. LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum provided LGBTQ youth the opportunity to explore their LGBTQ identity, make authentic connections, challenge oppression, and acquire knowledge inclusive of LGBTQ people and issues. When a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is introduced in classrooms, LGBTQ youth reported feeling safer, more accepted in their classroom, and lower victimization incidents. GSAs and other school-based programs were social support systems that were constructed based on the robust data related to how GSAs can provide space for empowerment and change, creating a safe space and climate for LGBTQ youth. This, in turn, can promote many positive outcomes in schools (i.e., school engagement, safety, acceptance, wellbeing) and decrease substance use, victimization, and psychological distress among other risks. Supportive and accepting peers were a system of social support that fostered higher levels of school belongingness, school engagement, academic success, sense of safety, and minimized levels of depression and school victimization for LGBTQ youth. School administrators and teachers were another system of support for LGBTQ youth. The higher the number of safe adults that were identified at school, the greater the school engagement for LGBTQ youth. Supportive adults at school, through the knowledge, resources, and connections they have about LGBTQ issues, acted against bigotry and victimization incidents at school, and fostered a positive student–teacher relationship for LGBTQ youth. Subsequently, they perceived a safer and accepting classroom environment, increased sense of school belonging, academic success, and wellbeing. School policies were constructed as a system influential to LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools. Schools with LGBTQ-inclusive policies reported lower levels of victimization, and increased sense of safety and opportunities for LGBTQ youth to act towards an empowering climate. School climate arose as an overarching system where the other systems (i.e., GSAs, school policies, curriculum, school administrators and teachers, peers) interacted to foster a safer and accepting climate for LGBTQ youth, promoting tolerance, respect, academic success, wellbeing, and school connectedness.

Based on the seven systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools, social support in schools can be defined as an understanding of systemic interactions amongst the seven systems (i.e., family, peers, curriculum, GSAs, school administrators and teachers, school policies, and school climate) and how each system, uniquely and in overlap, can both positively promote academic, socioemotional, and behavioural outcomes, and moderate the health and psychological risks typically associated with LGBTQ youth in schools. Studies that did not align through the lens of ecological systems focused on specific definitions of social support. For example, Day and others [ 27 ] conceptualized social support as LGBTQ youths’ perception of teachers as caring, fostering supportive classroom environments, and friendly and attentive classmates encouraging inclusivity in activities. McDonald [ 76 ] mentioned the difficulty in defining social support due to the multiple interpretations present in the literature. In their review, social support was defined as social, school, and family connectedness, support from peers, adults, advisors, and support groups [ 76 ]. Therefore, grounded in the ecological systems approach, social support cannot simply be understood in a single dimension but across multiple dimensions. This study further enhances the importance of defining, evaluating, and measuring social support for LGBTQ youth through multiple dimensions.

Changing the narrative of social support: from passive recipients of support to opportunities and spaces for activism, skill learning, and engagement

The second objective of this review was to identify current research on outcomes for LGBTQ youth given the implementation of the social support systems. Identifying current research shed light to understand how social support provided across the social support systems are associated with LGBTQ youth outcomes. The current research on social support outcomes for LGBTQ youth sheds light on the multifaceted nature of social support systems shown to influence LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools.

The current research on family systems focuses on fostering positive connections between parents and LGBTQ youth. More specifically, current research expands beyond family acceptance and closeness as family support. Family support also entails the active support through advocacy, allyship, and communication. This finding was replicated in other social support systems where providing social support for LGBTQ youth entails the act of standing up, advocating, and challenging the LGBTQ-related issues present in schools and community.

Current research on curriculum support highlights variance in the implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum was most often incorporated in social sciences, humanities, and health classes where students were able to make authentic connections between their lives and LGBTQ-relevant social events (i.e., Stonewall, DADT legislation). Moving towards a systematic implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum that expands beyond social sciences, humanities, and health classes is an important step to provide safety for LGBTQ youth in schools. A heteronormative curriculum excludes LGBTQ youth from making authentic connections with their own lives, subsequently influencing their interest and engagement in classrooms. Increasingly incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in education can move towards the vision for LGBTQ youth to foster authentic connections between their identity and their curriculum. This can result in improvements in their learning, wellbeing, identity exploration, and foster a supportive school and classroom climate. Like the family system, pushing for a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum moves the system to actively challenge and disrupt the homophobia and injustice that is present in schools. Based on the findings from both systems, it appears that activism, advocacy, and this shift towards criticality against an injustice educational system is common in the literature reviewed from 2017 through 2021.

Current research on GSAs and other school programs were effective in creating a safe space for empowerment and change for LGBTQ youth. Though GSAs had different functions based on the schools’ needs and context, two of GSAs’ functions were to act as a space for advocacy and education, and acquire coping skills and resources to support their mental health. Similar to the previous systems, GSAs are moving towards providing LGBTQ youth the skills and opportunities necessary to be active participants in fostering a LGBTQ-inclusive school environment and make connections to the wider community for support.

Current research on peer support similarly highlights the importance of peers as active participants in schools to foster a sense of safety and positive classroom environment for LGBTQ youth. Beyond peers as allies, the act of peer education and intervention where peers take an active role to support their LGBTQ peers in schools led to increased sense of safety and positive classroom experiences for LGBTQ youth. Positive friendships, also known as ‘thick’ friendships, pushed LGBTQ youth to question their sexualities, reflect, and consider how their LGBTQ identity emerges in their lives. This form of close relationship with friends helped LGBTQ youth take an active role in self-reflection of their LGBTQ identity and disruption against existing oppression in schools.

Current research on school administrators and teachers focused on school staffs’ LGBTQ-inclusive knowledge, relationships with students, and opportunities for students to open the space for discussion on inclusion and diversity. School administrators and teachers have the power to create opportunities for students to foster awareness of LGBTQ issues in their schools through community events (i.e., community art gallery). This shows the importance for school administrators and teachers to have the knowledge and skills to create opportunities for students to be active participants in critical dialogue and reflection, subsequently promoting safety and acceptance in the classroom.

Like the interaction between GSAs and the community system surrounding the school, school policies were also impacted by the socio-political values of the wider community. Inclusive school policies allowed students to have opportunities to create change in schools, such as the creation of LGBTQ-inclusive events like Pride Prom and the Day of Silence to acknowledge and promote awareness of LGBTQ issues and inclusivity. Recent research further emphasized the importance of a school-wide approach to effect change in schools and incorporate inclusive policies. The research on school policies as a social support system emphasizes social support as an interaction of systems where the larger context and values can impact both the inclusivity of school policies for LGBTQ youth and the level of supportiveness from school administrators and teachers, family, and peers.

School climate, the last social support system, highlights the interrelatedness between all systems. Many articles indicated the robustness of a positive school climate and the academic, socio-emotional, and behavioural benefits for LGBTQ youth. To achieve a positive school climate, each social support system is relevant to provide social support for LGBTQ youth. Each social support system can influence each other in their effectiveness to provide the necessary space and opportunity for LGBTQ youth to act and challenge their school environment.

In sum, the current research on social support for LGBTQ youth has moved beyond understanding LGBTQ youth as passive recipients of education to recognizing LGBTQ youth as active co-creators of supportive spaces and opportunities that promote inclusive school climates that foster a sense of belongingness and safety. Other reviews exploring the impact of positive school climate on LGBTQ youth similarly emphasized the importance of a positive school climate for LGBTQ youth. Ancheta and others [ 2 ] found that a positive LGBTQ-specific school climate, as defined by supportive staff, teachers, and nurses, decreased suicidality among LGBTQ youth, promoting student empowerment and visibility through GSAs, inclusive curricula, and inclusive policies. Like previous reviews, this review highlights the importance of social support for LGBTQ youths’ experiences in schools. However, this research expands on the change in narrative that may be an indication that social support is more than providing support to LGBTQ youth. Rather, social support is changing the narrative from passive LGBTQ youth towards active LGBTQ youth, taking initiative to create change and develop skillsets to be successful in their school (i.e., both academic and social outcomes), aligned with more self-determined behaviours.

School administration and larger community environment as barriers to supporting LGBTQ youth in educational settings

The third objective of this review was to identify barriers and inconsistencies to support LGBTQ youth in schools. Though seven social support systems were identified to foster positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes, barriers, and inconsistencies to support LGBTQ youth were identified in each system.

Family support did not consistently buffer negative emotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes. Rather, general parental support was associated with peer victimization, self-harm, and poorer academic success [ 17 , 90 , 96 ]. Button [ 17 ] found that victimized LGBQ youth performed worse academically when they reported general parental support, indicating nuances between the buffer from parental support on LGBTQ youth outcomes. Inconsistencies may be explained by the functionality of family support as LGBTQ youth may perceive that their family support is ineffective to resolve harassment experienced at school.

Several studies indicated the barriers of incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in an effective manner in schools. One aspect includes the need to understand the hidden curriculum that exists beyond the formal, academic curriculum. The social relationships and school spaces can convey heteronormativity, adversely affecting LGBTQ youth and their sense of safety and engagement in schools. Additionally, there is a need for administration to provide support for teachers to effectively incorporate LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. Oftentimes, teachers miss teachable moments that is conducive to inclusive curriculum due to the rigid curriculum of high stakes testing and fear of parental backlash. There is indication where GSAs can be spaces used to insert LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in an informal space to compensate the barriers that exist in classrooms (e.g., rigid curriculum). Therefore, school administrators act as key members to ensure a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum can be incorporated effectively in classrooms.

GSAs also demonstrated barriers and difficulties in delivering positive outcomes for LGBTQ youth. Schools restricted GSA activities and presence because of sociopolitical reasons (i.e., parental and community backlash, surrounding political environment), limiting activism for LGBTQ youth. There is a need to negotiate between GSA advisors and administration for LGBTQ spaces in schools. Beyond macro-level barriers, GSAs also encountered difficulties in program implementation because of a lack of staff training to discuss sensitive topics (e.g., sexuality) in schools. There were inconsistent results in the benefits of having a GSA in schools. Possible barriers may be due to the larger school and geographic context as being involved in GSAs in more hostile or unsafe environments that place LGBTQ youth at risk. In schools and geographical areas that is more hostile, the presence and involvement of GSA-related activities is associated with increased risks of safety and decreased positive outcomes.

Peers were inconsistent in their support for LGBTQ youth. Victimized LGBTQ youth who had peers to confide to and discuss problems performed worse academically, had lower self-esteem, and had increased suicidal ideation. For racialized LGBTQ youth, peer support did not moderate perceived discrimination in schools and had no association with school performance. In addition, the lack of association for racialized LGBTQ youth suggests how peer support may be overshadowed by other (non)-LGBTQ concerns (e.g., victimization based on ethnicity, lack of family acceptance due to cultural norms and stigma towards LGBTQ identities).

School administrators and teachers were met with barriers to effectively support their LGBTQ youth in schools. Many LGBTQ youth reported not reaching out to school adults for support. The barrier appears to lie on the onus of LGBTQ youth to reach out to school staff for support. This can be due to a lack of trust or belief that teachers or administrators can effectively help them. LGBTQ youth reported teachers not knowing how to intervene in situations of harassment or teachers not feeling prepared to teach inclusive content and answer LGBTQ-related questions. LGBTQ students reported the need for teachers to increase their responsibility in teaching and conveying LGBTQ-inclusive material as the burden lies on students to provide education to their peers. From the perspective of school staff, they perceived the need for external support to coordinate support for teachers for curricular efforts, activities, and actions to reduce harassment towards LGBTQ youth and foster a greater sense of safety. Having an external coordinator as the point person to organize efforts to push the school for LGBTQ inclusion can increase LGBTQ acceptance in schools.

The wider sociopolitical context that surrounds the school has an influence on the availability of LGBTQ-inclusive school policies. The sociopolitical context act as barriers limiting the schools’ abilities to have GSAs and school staff to show support for their LGBTQ youth. However, there has been mixed evidence showing an inverse relationship between an increase of inclusive school policies and a decrease in perceptions of safety. Though there may be inclusive policies put in place in schools, such policies may not be consistently enforced by school staff, lending to the ineffectiveness of inclusive policies. Consistent implementation of inclusive school policies will require dedicated school staff to monitor the progress of policy implementation. In this review, school administrators and teachers have mentioned the need to have an external staff coordinator to monitor consistent implementation of inclusive school policies due to the lack of time and energy. School principals also played a major role in the implementation of inclusive school policies as top-down administrative support is needed to send a message to school staff that they are supported by administration should they receive family or community backlash. Compared to the findings in this review, Russell and others [ 97 ] similarly found that inclusive policies have been associated with improved school climates for LGBTQ and all youth, with LGBT students reporting feeling safer at school, hearing less verbal harassment, and experiencing less gender and sexual-specific victimization. The review emphasized that mixed results were rather due to the lack of appropriate communication of policy implementation. The findings in this review provided added evidence that it is insufficient just to simply have inclusive school policies. Rather, the implementation of inclusive school policies throughout the environment and ensuring that the policy is communicated across all relevant stakeholders is key to providing effective support for LGBTQ youth.

A whole school approach to support LGBTQ youth with particular focus to subpopulations within the LGBTQ acronym

The fourth objective of this review was to identify areas for future research for the seven social support systems and their associations with LGBTQ youth outcomes in schools. The barriers and inconsistencies found to support LGBTQ youth across each system merits further research to explore the nuances in each system and their relationships to LGBTQ youth outcomes in school.

Within family support, there is a nuance that lie between fathers and mothers, and LGBTQ boys and girls, indicating a need to understand the complex nature of family relationships and reasons why certain family members may provide more effective social support towards LGBTQ boys or girls. For GSAs, there needs to be further exploration to understand effective methods to overcome problems in discussing gender and sexuality in school settings due in part to the lack of school staff training and student sensitivity towards LGBTQ issues. Different aspects of a GSA (i.e., presence, membership, engagement) have shown different social support outcomes for LGBTQ youth. In schools that are hostile and unsafe, positive outcomes from GSA presence and engagement dissipate, highlighting the interaction between the school climate and GSAs’ ability to be considered as an effective social support system. Mixed findings demonstrated an inverse relationship between GSA presence and lower sense of safety by LGBTQ youth. Lastly, though GSAs were primarily conceptualized as gay-straight alliances, an exploration of gender-sexuality alliances can provide insight in the nuances between experiences of students from diverse sexualities and diverse genders.

For peer systems, it is necessary to further explore reasons why peer support is either positively associated with more behavioural and emotional risks or have a lack of association. This can be due to the nature of peer support. As peer rumination can lead to further issues in schools rather than problem-solving discussions, the nature in how peers support LGBTQ peers in schools can shed light why there may be such an association. Another avenue of future research is the intersection of ethnicity among LGBTQ youth. The lack of association between peer support and positive social outcomes for racialized LGBTQ youth may be a result of the interplay of other identities that require other forms of support. For example, LGBTQ Asian youth may have an increased emphasis on the importance of family and familial piety, the need for racialized youth to bring pride to their family and minimize shame [ 68 ]. Perhaps for racialized LGBTQ youth, the lack of association between peer support and positive outcomes may be a result that lean towards family systems as increasingly important for such racialized youth.

An area of future research involves an exploration of methods to circumvent the larger sociopolitical context that limits the provision of LGBTQ support via inclusive policies. One possible avenue to provide LGBTQ support can be under the guise of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This framework suggests the need to support all students, focusing LGBTQ support under the need to support diverse students. Another avenue of research involves exploring an explanation for inclusive policies predicting lower perceptions of safety. This may be due to the inclusive policies setting up motion to create change towards an inclusive school environment. Creating change, however, can still lead to decreased sense of safety and increased harassment issues for LGBTQ youth.

One of the specific populations highlighted to be a key support system for LGBTQ youths were educators. One constructed theme involved the inconsistency in showing support through their actions. Several of the themes highlighted how students perceived their school staff members (teachers, counselors, school psychologists, administration, principals) as being hesitant to discuss LGBTQ issues. By being hesitant and uncomfortable to teach LGBTQ issues, a norm of LGBTQ silence exists in the school environment. Attitudes and beliefs where educators believed that homosexuality and other LGBTQ topics should not be discussed in school can lead to students perceiving their school staff as uncaring and exclusive towards LGBTQ youth. Therefore, educators and other school staff members need to be comfortable and foster an inclusive attitude and belief that they are supportive of all students, as shown through their actions. Effective actions students have mentioned include consistent intervention against LGBTQ-specific harassment, and opening dialogue on the importance of inclusion and acceptance (i.e., through a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum). When students heard LGBTQ-inclusive topics in their classes, they felt an increased sense of safety. It is therefore important to have teachers be comfortable and open to teach LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum to increase LGBTQ youths’ sense of safety.

The findings of this scoping review indicate three primary implications for future research and application. First, a whole school approach was emphasized by the themes as one of the most effective ways to provide social support for LGBTQ youths. Studies that focused on specific domains of support such as peer support or family support have similarly shown their effectiveness in supporting LGBTQ youth. However, having all relevant stakeholders involved in the process of supporting LGBTQ youth, such as a whole school approach, was evidently the most effective. Notwithstanding, a collaborative, whole school approach may be overly idealistic and an unrealistic approach for schools embedded in a larger, more conservative environment. A middle ground between realism and idealism could be attained by auctioning the GSA as a physical, supportive space where students can feel safe (within the club). This would be contrasted to having GSAs be a space for education and activism towards an increasingly LGBTQ-inclusive environment. In some cases, the inclusion of GSA spaces within schools may mean that, generally, the larger school spaces are unsafe for LGBTQ youth, influencing the concrete actions that educational stakeholders can take to provide support and opportunities for their students.

Second, there were differences in perceived support and outcomes depending on the subpopulation of LGBTQ youth, highlighting the issues of generalizing the LGBTQ youth population as a homogenous population. For example, there were different perceptions of safety and struggles between sexual orientation minority youth and gender identity minority youth. For example, there were unique issues of gender nonconformity for youth who did not conform to their assigned gender at birth, whereas LGBQ youth were faced with victimization due to their sexual orientation. Of note, there have been a recent trend for studies reviewed between 2017 through 2021 to include trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth as the focus, beyond the LGBTQ general identities. As several key findings foregrounded sexual identities over gender identities, future inquiries of LGBTQ youth should take into consideration the specific LGBTQ subgroups to be studied by researchers. Particularly, intersectionality should be taken into consideration as issues of gender, class, and ability may influence how specific LGBTQ students experience school supports. By doing so, researchers can be aware of the various intersecting sexual orientation and gender identities that LGBTQ youth manage and to be inclusive of programs, interventions, and strategies that are intended to support LGBTQ youth as a whole. Though the seven social support systems have been shown to effectively support LGBTQ youth, the inconsistencies that some articles brought up shed light with the interaction of these social support systems and their intersectional identities.

Third, there were differences in perceived support and outcomes depending on the ethnicity and race of the youths. For example, LGBTQ Eurocentric youths experienced increasing emotional and behavioral distress due to LGBTQ-specific victimization, whereas LGBTQ racial and ethnic minority youths experienced less distress. A hypothesis explaining the difference may be linked to the coping skills and resilience that the racial and ethnic minority LGBTQ youths have already learned to cope in the face of racial and ethnic-specific victimization. This results in more frequent use of their coping skills and a higher resilience and grit in the face of LGBTQ-specific victimization and being in a school environment that is perceived to be less safe. Therefore, future inquiry should consider the multiple, intersecting minority identities LGBTQ youths may have had to juggle and its effect on their perceived safety and support in their school environment. Particularly, critically thinking through race and its impacts on the experience of school supports for LGBTQ youth should be a priority for future research. Based on their intersectional identities and experiences in schools, the seven social support systems found in this review may vary in effectiveness based on their other identities.

Limitations

This scoping review attempts to consolidate material from 2007 through early 2021, organize, and respond to the four research questions of defining social support, identifying the current social support outcomes for LGBTQ youth, the barriers and inconsistencies encountered by the social support systems, and the areas for further research because of the barriers and inconsistencies found in the literature. Due to the scope of the review, the literature search strategy was broad and resulted in a larger volume of articles. Though the search strategy was comprehensive, consulting various experts to ensure rigidity and confidence of the search strategy, a scoping review search strategy utilizes a less defined search compared to a full systematic review. Additionally, difficulty in consolidating a comprehensive search term strategy can lead to an increasingly narrow understanding of LGBTQ individuals. For example, no articles explored nonbinary parents or children. The search strategy did not account for an intersectional understanding of LGBTQ+ identities, particularly Two-spirit (2S) identities. As the initial search strategy was executed in 2017, Two-spirit identities were uncommon and, subsequently, not taken into consideration. Future reviews should include the search strategy to account for an intersectional approach to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Further, search strategies for LGBTQ+ terms are difficult to standardize and capture comprehensively. Even though various experts were consulted to ensure confidence in the search strategy, the rigidity of keywords and subheadings in article search engines can be barriers in capturing the nuances inherent to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Particularly, transgender and non-binary (TGNC) terms were limited. Moving forward, it would be important to implement the University of Minnesota’s search hedges (tested and standardized search strategies to retrieve articles on specific concepts) for TGNC terms [ 115 ]. As well, this scoping review did not follow the required critical appraisals and risk of bias assessment found in systematic literature reviews. However, based on the purpose of this study, a scoping review methodology was the best approach due to the wide body of literature that has not been comprehensively reviewed. Additionally, scoping reviews are best used when the purpose is to clarify working definitions (i.e., social support) and conceptual boundaries of this topic (i.e., social support systems for LGBTQ youth in schools), and identify gaps in existing literature. Therefore, though a scoping review utilizes a less defined, broader search strategy, resulting in a broader literature less systematic and confident compared to a full systematic review, the purposes of this study and research questions align with the scoping review design.

There have been many studies replicating the risks that LGBTQ youth experience in schools: socioemotional (e.g., depression), behavioural (e.g., substance use), and educational (e.g., truancy, decreased school engagement). However, literature exploring the positive or protective factors for LGBTQ youth has been steadily increasing in the field of youth and LGBTQ studies. As it is still an emerging perspective to explore the protective factors for LGBTQ youth through positive youth development lens, this review consolidated literature and gave rise to an organizational framework to consolidate the various systems of social support for LGBTQ youth in schools. From the review, social support consists of seven social support systems (family, curriculum, school professionals and teachers, peers, school policies, GSAs and programs, and school climate) that, both uniquely and in overlap, are positively associated with the promotion of positive socioemotional, behavioural, and educational outcomes, as well as the moderation of the risks typically associated with LGBTQ youth in schools. Though the literature consistently revealed the benefits of ensuring that these seven systems are present to positively support LGBTQ youth’s development, inconsistencies and barriers in providing positive outcomes for LGBTQ youth was a result of (1) a lack of training and support for school administrators and teachers to enforce LGBTQ-inclusive policies and curriculum, (2) a larger sociopolitical context impeding or preventing LGBTQ activism and support in schools, and (3) unique differences within the subgroups of LGBTQ youth including ethnicity, sex, and gender identity and expression. Future research should explore the gaps present in this review to address the barriers and inconsistencies found to effectively provide social support for LGBTQ youth across these seven systems. This review highlights a positive outlook towards the available systems of social support to promote positive development for LGBTQ youth. Though the literature has been clear surrounding the risks associated with LGBTQ youth, this scoping review endeavored to provide a positive outlook on LGBTQ youth’s school experiences by highlighting how these systems of social support allow LGBTQ youth to act as active participants in the promotion of a positive and safe school climate.

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Author contributions

EL wrote the main manuscript text. GKG and SS participated in the whole study design and contributed in the results and discussion section. FM updated the results and discussion with the current studies. TF provided feedback throughout the process. All authors reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Declarations

For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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LGBTQIA Dissertation Topics

Published by Grace Graffin at January 4th, 2023 , Revised On August 15, 2023

In this article, we provide some LGBTQIA dissertation topics for you to get started with your project today.

This world is a place where every person, regardless of their colour, religion, race, and sexual orientation, has the right to live freely. But unfortunately, as Thomas Hobbes put it, in human’s natural state, moral ethics do not exist, and they keep fighting over things.

The disparity based on different things is prevalent in different regions of the world, and the isolation of certain communities based on their sexual orientation is observed worldwide. However, it is great that many countries are acknowledging these communities and giving them equal opportunities as others to live their life to the fullest.

LGBTQIA is an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity that stands for Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and Asexual. If you are supposed to write a dissertation on LGBTQIA but do not really know where to start, you can have a look at some of the most exciting and debatable LGBTQIA topics suggested by experts.

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2022 LGBTQIA Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: a detailed analysis on the impacts of discrimination on workplace culture - a study on discrimination against lgbt workers in the uk..

Research Aim: The aim of this study is to analyse how discrimination may affect workplace culture and the study tends to specifically focus on the discrimination against LGBT workers in the UK.

Objectives:

• To analyse how discrimination impacts workplace culture.
• To explain how LGBT workers face discrimination and work in poor work culture in the UK.
• To suggest effective ideas that may help the organisations in the UK to eliminate discrimination in the workplace against LGBT workers.

Topic 2: A study on the impact of lack of scope in education for LGBT communities on their employment opportunities in the UK.

Research Aim: The study aims to interpret how LGBT communities suffer from a lack of scope in education and it affects their employment opportunities in the UK.

• To shed light on the problem regarding the lack of scope in education for LGBT communities.
• To analyse how people from LGBT communities suffer from a lack of employment opportunities due to inadequate scope in education in the UK.
• To provide recommendations for increasing opportunities in education and employment for LGBT communities in the UK.

Topic 3: Investigating the adverse impact of gender dysphoria on employee productivity in the workplace in the UK.

Research Aim: The present research study aims to evaluate the impact of gender dysphoria on employee productivity in the workplace in the UK.

• To share concepts related to gender dysphoria and its usual impacts.
• To describe the impact of employees’ gender dysphoria on their productivity in the workplace in the UK.
• To suggest strategies to eradicate the problem of gender dysphoria to enhance employee productivity in the UK.

Topic 4: Critical analysis of the way mental health issues affecting the livelihood of marginalised communities – a case study of the LGBT communities in the UK.

Research Aim: This study has the aim to exemplify how the overall livelihood of marginalised communities is disrupted by mental health issues. The discussion will focus on the complications LGBT communities face in the UK.

• To evaluate the common impacts of mental health issues on people’s livelihood and the usual mental health problems of LGBT communities.
• To discuss how mental health issues of the LGBT communities result in distress in livelihood and complications of LGBT communities in the UK.
• To provide a set of recommendations to address the mental health issues of LGBT communities to ensure their better livelihood.

Topic 5: A study on the context of domestic violence and abuse against LGBT people in the UK.

Research Aim: The aim of this study is to shed light on the domestic violence and abuse faced by LGBT people in the UK.

• To share a detailed image of domestic violence and abuse in the UK against marginalised groups.
• To demonstrate how LGBT people in the UK face domestic violence and abuse.
• To share ideas that may help to mitigate the problem of domestic violence and abuse against LGBT people in the UK.

Topic. 1: Sexual orientation vs. Gender Identity

Research Aim:  As there is a basic difference between sex and gender, there is a huge difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, which are usually used interchangeably. 

The aim of the research is to study the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Topic. 2: Psychological challenges of LGBTQIA community

Research Aim:  No matter how much we say that the LGBTQIA community has gained its rights today, no one can deny that they are still one of the most oppressed communities in the world. LGBTQIA community has to go through different problems on a daily basis that surely have psychological consequences. The aim of the research is to study how the LGBTQIA community is affected mentally and psychologically. 

Topic. 3: Daily life challenges of LGBTQIA community

Research Aim:  The aim of the research is to find out and discuss the different social, physical, and economic challenges posed to the LGBTQIA community in their daily lives. The researcher can survey people of the community to understand and interpret their solutions. 

Topic. 4: Gender bullying and its outcomes

Research Aim:  Gender bullying is one of the prevalent problems that occur in the LGBTQIA community. It is somehow related to sexual harassment that has serious consequences. The aim of the research is to figure out and scale the outcomes of bullying against the LGBTQIA community. 

Topic. 5: Inclusiveness in the education system

Research Aim:  School is one of the most significant institutions that help children develop their ideologies and perspectives regarding different aspects of life. It is where they are fed with the morally corrupt perspectives that lead to a flawed society. It is highly important for teachers and instructors to treat children equally, give them equal opportunities so that children do not perceive some as superior over others, especially in terms of their sexual orientation. The aim of the research is to highlight the significance of employing the approach of inclusiveness and estimate how avoiding it leads to the development of hate sentiments against the LGBTQIA community.

Topic. 6: Employment opportunities for LGBTQIA

Research Aim:  The aim of the research is to find out whether or not the LGBTQIA community gets an equal opportunity to employment. It will highlight the gender inequality that prevents them from getting the jobs they deserve.  

Topic. 7: Legalising same-sex marriages

Research Aim:  There are many countries that have legalized same-sex marriages in the world. The aim of the research would be to study the policies they have made in line with the groundbreaking decision. It will study legalizing same-sex marriage from societal, political, and ethical perspectives. 

Topic. 8: Same-sex marriage and religion

Research Aim:  Most people build their opinions and perspectives about a certain thing on the basis of their religious teachings. It is therefore important to study what major religions like Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism teach about same-sex marriage. The research will study the perspective of same-sex marriage in different religions. 

Topic. 9: Societal pressure of living a same-sex marriage relationship

Research Aim:  While getting married can be easy for homosexuals, it can be difficult to get social acceptance to live together. The aim of the research is to identify and find out the social pressures that homosexual couples have to face to live their relationship. 

Topic. 10: Global rights awarded to LGBT community:

Research Aim:  The broad aim of the research is to study what the LGBT community has acquired over the period. The research will identify, analyze, and discuss the rights awarded to the LGBT community globally. It will also indicate the rights that are primly important and due to be awarded. 

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ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

Topic. 11: HIV infection in LGBTQIA community:

Research Aim:  The aim of the research is to study how the HIV epidemic impacts the LGBTQIA community. It will also study if the likeliness of the community to get infected with HIV is greater in them compared to other people. 

Topic. 12: Feminist point of view of the transsexual community

Research Aim:  The aim of the research is to study and analyze how the feminism sees  transsexual community and what are their key notions about them. Feminism focuses on offering social, political, economic opportunities to all sexes; it stresses giving equal opportunities to women to men. 

Topic. 13: Media and projection of LGBTQIA community

Research Aim:  According to framing theory, media plays a significant role in making an opinion by how it frames a certain matter and which angle it projects. The main aim of the research will be to study how media projects the LGBTQIA community and understand its role in creating a popular opinion about the community amongst the public. 

Topic. 14: Workplace discrimination of LGBTQIA community

Research Aim:  It is well-known that rarely does the LGBTQIA community get the opportunity to work, but when they do, they have to face many challenges coming from different aspects of work. The aim of the research is to figure out and understand the workplace discrimination that the LGBTQIA community has to face.  

Topic. 15: Influence of the internet on the LGBTQIA community

Research Aim:  It is the age of the internet, and it has substituted many traditional modes of communication and interaction. It has provided a voice to all, empowering everyone regardless of their race, culture, religion, and color. 

The aim of the research is to explore what significant impact the internet has had on the LGBTQIA community since its inception. 

Topic. 16: Discrimination of LGBTQIA in health care

Research Aim:  The aim of the research is to explore and identify the discrimination that  LGBTQIA  have to face in health care. It is reported that this community is usually neglected and given less attention as compared to other patients. The research will aim to find the truths and 

Topic. 17: Progress, the LGBTQIA community, has made in the last few years

Research Aim:  LGBTQIA community has made significant progress in the last few years. The least they have achieved is the recognition that they did not get ever since their existence. The aim of the research is to study. 

Topic. 18: Effects of a pandemic for LGBTQIA community

Research Aim:  The repercussions of the pandemic have considerably affected all humans and their lives. The aim of the research is to study how it impacted and may continue to impact the LGBTQIA community. The research will do a survey and inquire about the outcomes of the covid 19 pandemic that created difficulties for them.  

Topic. 19: Effects of lack of LGBTQIA centers

Research Aim:  In many countries, the LGBTQIA are homeless, and they have the right to get shelter, food, and live life. The aim of the research is to indicate the figures of homeless LGBTQIA and find the significance of LGBTQIA centers.

Topic. 20: LGBTQIA and domestic violence:

Research Aim:  The aim of the research is to study how if  LGBTQIA  experience domestic violence, especially due to their sexual orientation. 

Conducting research can be one of the most exciting things, but students become dreadful when it comes to writing. But do not worry, we have got your back. Whether you want a section of the dissertation to be written impeccably or the whole of it, we are here. Don’t wait; click here. 

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How to find dissertation topics about lgbtqia.

To find LGBTQIA dissertation topics:

• Study LGBTQIA literature and history.
• Analyze legal and societal changes.
• Explore health, psychology, or education issues.
• Investigate representation in media.
• Examine intersectionality with race, gender, etc.
• Seek gaps in research for potential topics.

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Authorizing your dissertation is a very challenging task. As determined by the supervisors and advisors, the subjects should be innovative and creative, cover both theoretical and practical aspects, and add something new to the field.

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131 Interesting LGBT Research Paper Topics

Are you looking for the best LGBTQ research topics? We have some of the best thesis, research, dissertation, and assignment topics for you. If you are not sure how to go about the research we can offer writing help. While in college or university you need to do your best to acquire top grades. Our prices are cheap without compromising the quality of the work.

There are many interesting topics that you can research about the LGBT community. Society, media, films, and other channels are slowly adopting this community. Laws and rights are also being enacted for the benefit of the community. We hope you will find a great topic that will help you get a deeper understanding of your course unit.

Latest LGBT Research Paper Topics

These are some of the latest LGBT research topics that you can use for your project. However, you will need to be fully dedicated to getting the best out of it.

• Sexual orientation among teenagers
• LGBT society recognition.
• LGBT stigmatization and bullying.
• Social rights enhanced on LGBT people.
• How to deal with LGBT discrimination.
• The best way to educate people on gay rights.
• The effects of stigmatization and discrimination of LGBT.
• Advantages and disadvantages of coming out of the closet as a gay individual.
• How homosexuality is highlighted in the Bible.
• Effects of LGBT rights in different religions.

Interesting LGBT Thesis Topics

Are you looking for an interesting thesis topic that you can use in your academics? Well, look no further. We have highlighted the best that will make your field research easy.

• Traditional culture colliding with LGBT rights
• Recent techniques developed in reproduction among gay couples
• Churches opinion in LGBT
• Children raised by gay couples
• A day in the life of a gay person
• Same-gender marriage in the church
• Discovery of gay marriages
• The impact of society on the mental health of LGBT people.
• The depression rates of LGBT people.
• High risks facing the LGBT community in society.

LGBT Discussion Questions For University Students

Do you want to discuss this with some of your course-mates? These are some discussion topics that you can start with. They are easy, simple, and straight to the point.

• What makes a teenager/adolescent not come out of the closet?
• How can bullying of LGBT people be stopped?
• What initiates LGBT people being stigmatized?
• Has the third gender gained full recognition worldwide?
• What are the challenges faced by gay parents?
• Why most LGBT teenagers end up do depressed?
• Is having gay parents good for a child?
• Who is a third-gender individual?
• Why are some countries not supporting LGBT?
• How does one discover his or her sexual orientation?

Easy LGBT Essay Topics

LGBT essay topics aren’t hard. The way you view them can either give you a positive or negative attitude towards them. Try out any of these topics and get a different view.

• Views on the third gender.
• Importance of recognizing and appreciating the third gender.
• Gay parenting is being embraced globally.
• Employment discrimination among gay people.
• Legalization of gay marriages.
• Protecting the LGBT society.
• Social media influence on LGBT.
• Myths and misconceptions about LGBT.
• Social movements related to LGBT.
• Discuss whether the gay and lesbian perception is a mental disorder?

Transgender Research Paper Topics

There are many transgenders around the world. However, it is hard to come out in a society full of judgemental people. Here are some of the best transgender research paper topics.

• Discrimination against transgender people
• Appreciating the transgender individuals in the community
• Pronouns used for transgender individuals and their meanings
• Sexual harassment among transgender individuals
• Reasons why one may want to change gender
• Challenges faced by transgender individuals in the society
• Being transgender as a self-identity.
• Diversity acceptance of transgender individuals.
• The treatment of transgender children and teenagers.
• Stigma against transgender individuals.

Easy LGBT Topics for Research Papers

Are you looking for an online expert to help you with your research paper? We have the best expertise to ensure you get nothing but the best.

• The gender non-conforming children in school.
• The basic legal rights for transgender people.
• How sexual orientation differs from gender identity.
• The impact of violence and bullying of the LGBTQIA people.
• The history of the LGBTQIA – was there a time it was morally accepted?
• At what time was bisexuality recognized as an identity?
• The new reproductive technologies for LGBTQIA people.
• The new modes of asexual visibility.
• The unique issues related to bisexuality in the modern world.
• The influence of cultural norms and attitudes on people hiding the same-sex attraction feelings.

LGBT Discussion Topics for Your Research Paper

Here are some of the best LGBT research topics. They are simple, easy, and straightforward. However, you need to discuss them thoroughly to get top grades.

• In lesbian and gay history, when was this sexual behavior seen as an identity?
• The impact LGBT parents have on their children.
• The injustices faced by LGBT youth in juvenile or prison.
• The best ways to reduce suicide cases in the LGBT community.
• The best forms to raise awareness for the LGBT community are in the various institutions.
• Discuss the LGBT community from a sociological perspective.
• The progress of LGBT awareness in mass media and communication channels.
• The importance of intersectionality when thinking about LGBT issues.
• The disparity in healthcare for the LGBT people.
• The legalization of gay marriages worldwide.

Interesting Gay Rights Research Paper Topics

Did you know that the LGBT community has designated rights, freedom, and laws? These LGBT project ideas can help you to get a deeper understanding of what gays can and cannot do.

• The gay marriage and the changing family unit.
• Television depictions of homosexuality.
• The gay and lesbian representation in Eastern Literature.
• The various laws that protect gays and lesbians.
• The history of the gay liberation front.
• The social problems faced by gay and lesbian homeless youth.
• The divorce statistics of same-sex marriages.
• How the law undermines the rights of gays and lesbians.
• The future of LGBT rights – will it be positive or negative?
• Adoption rights for LGBT couples.

Easy Transgender Research Questions

Do you want to write a quality paper, but don’t have enough time? You don’t need to look for professional research paper writers anymore. We will help you out. If these transgender research topics don’t favor you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

• Who is a transgender, non-conforming, genderqueer and non-binary person?
• Which is the best way to ask for someone’s gender identity?
• What are the hardships that Trans people face in society?
• Why does society give the LBGT community a hard time?
• Is being transgender a mental disorder?
• How does someone know that they are transgender?
• How prevalent are transgender people?
• What are the different types of transgender people?
• What are the major differences between sex and gender?
• How do transsexuals make a gender transition?

LGBT Writing Prompts for College Students

These are some of the best LGBT writing prompts that can help you do an interesting research paper. We have stated some of the best LGBT topics for research papers.

• Does a transgender woman retain the rights she had before transitioning?
• The barriers related to access to healthcare by transgender women.
• The effects of anti-homosexuality legislation in the community.
• Are children too young to know their gender?
• What does hormone therapy do?
• The LGBT community and urban change.
• How the church provides counseling for the LGBT community?
• How does the Church perceive gay rights?
• Sexual orientation and school discipline.
• Racial exclusion in the LGBT community.

Best Gay Topics for Your Course Work

These gay topics will ultimately make you get a better understanding of the LGBT community. They revolve around real-world situations and society’s perception of them.

• The domestic violence in the LGBT community
• The effect of poverty on the LGBT community.
• Discrimination against the LGBT community.
• Raising awareness of LGBT bullying.
• Exploring queer relationships
• The biological theories of homosexuality.
• Male perspectives on lesbians and gays.
• The LGBT themes as described in the Bible.
• The gender roles in the family and society
• How the LGBT community is being affected by sexual violence?

Controversial Human Sexuality Topics

Some issues are normally controversial and sensitive. These are some of the topics that fall under that category. Do enough research and you will get a deeper understanding of the phenomena.

• The race-gender subordination and education.
• The pressing issues for LGBTQ students.
• The various psychological dimensions of human sexuality
• The age children should be taught about sexuality.
• Elaborate on the consensual non-monogamy.
• The role of language in empowering the LGBT community
• Do you think homophobia exists within the LGBT community
• The association of the rainbow colors with the LGBT community.
• The best films are based on LGBT rights and activism.
• The challenges faced by the LGBT community.

LGBT Group Discussion Topics

If you want to pass in your academics, you need to write a professional paper. These are some of the best LGBT group discussion topics that you can start with.

• What is the impact of feminism on LGBT rights between the 1950s and 1970s?
• Should the LGBT community individuals hold a high position in various institutions?
• Should same-sex parents be allowed to adopt children?
• What do you think causes rampant drug addiction in the LGBT community?
• Should LGBT teachers be offered protection while working at school?
• The various special stories of commitment and love in the LGBT community.
• The changing psychological perspectives of homosexuality.
• Which are the social pressures of children of lesbians and gay parents?
• The perspective of homosexuality in the 21 st century.
• Why do you think there is a need for LGBT centers in schools, colleges, and workplaces?
• How has the LGBT community contributed to TV and film production?

Don’t Want To Write Your Thesis?

Finding an ideal research topic can take your time. However, once you find one, ensure it aligns with your course, is approved by your professor, and has relevant resources. You may choose a topic then it ends up being so hard to work on. Hence, be careful about your choice of a research topic. If in doubt or lacking enough time to do your research paper. You may consult us and we will help you do your research project.

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Home Essay Samples Sociology

Essay Samples on LGBTQ

Lgbtq rights: navigating equality and inclusivity.

LGBTQ rights have emerged as a significant social and legal issue, challenging societies worldwide to confront questions of equality, discrimination, and inclusivity. This essay delves into the multifaceted landscape of LGBTQ rights, examining the historical context, legal advancements, challenges, and the ongoing journey towards achieving...

• Human Rights

LGBTQ Rights: An Argumentative Landscape

The rights of the LGBTQ community have emerged as a crucial and contentious issue in today's society. This essay undertakes an in-depth analysis of the argumentative discourse surrounding LGBTQ rights, scrutinizing the diverse perspectives, presenting evidence, and providing critical commentary on this complex matter. By...

Persuading for Equality: Embracing LGBTQ Rights

LGBTQ rights have become a pivotal social issue, demanding our collective attention and action. This persuasive essay aims to advocate for the full acceptance and legal protection of LGBTQ individuals, emphasizing the importance of equality, the negative consequences of discrimination, and the societal benefits of...

The Complexity of LGBTQ Identities: A Personal Opinion

LGBTQ identities constitute a rich tapestry of human diversity that has gained significant visibility and recognition in recent times. This opinion essay aims to provide a personal perspective on the multifaceted nature of LGBTQ identities, acknowledging their significance, challenges, and the evolving societal attitudes that...

LGBTQ Discrimination: Overcoming Prejudice and Fostering Inclusion

LGBTQ discrimination has been a persistent issue, characterized by inequality, prejudice, and systemic biases. This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of LGBTQ discrimination, exploring its origins, manifestations, impact on individuals and society, as well as the efforts to combat it and foster a more...

• Discrimination

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The Argumentative Discourse Surrounding LGBTQ

The discourse surrounding LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) rights has been a prominent and contentious topic in contemporary society. This essay aims to delve into the argumentative nature of discussions about LGBTQ issues, examining the diverse perspectives and providing an analysis of the...

The Argument for LGBTQ Community Empowerment

The LGBTQ community has been at the forefront of a societal revolution, advocating for rights, recognition, and acceptance. This argumentative essay delves into the essential reasons behind supporting and empowering the LGBTQ community, exploring the quest for equality, the promotion of diversity, and the imperative...

Accepting the LGBTQ+ Community: Inclusivity and Equality

In today's global society, acceptance and understanding of diverse identities, particularly those of the LGBTQ+ community, are vital to fostering environments where every individual feels valued and safe. Historically, LGBTQ+ individuals have faced prejudice, discrimination, and significant challenges, but a shift towards inclusivity and equality...

Best topics on LGBTQ

1. LGBTQ Rights: Navigating Equality and Inclusivity

2. LGBTQ Rights: An Argumentative Landscape

3. Persuading for Equality: Embracing LGBTQ Rights

4. The Complexity of LGBTQ Identities: A Personal Opinion

5. LGBTQ Discrimination: Overcoming Prejudice and Fostering Inclusion

6. The Argumentative Discourse Surrounding LGBTQ

7. The Argument for LGBTQ Community Empowerment

8. Accepting the LGBTQ+ Community: Inclusivity and Equality

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LGBT Theses Samples For Students

4 samples of this type

If you're seeking a possible way to simplify writing a Thesis about LGBT, WowEssays.com paper writing service just might be able to help you out.

For starters, you should browse our extensive catalog of free samples that cover most diverse LGBT Thesis topics and showcase the best academic writing practices. Once you feel that you've figured out the major principles of content presentation and drawn actionable ideas from these expertly written Thesis samples, putting together your own academic work should go much smoother.

However, you might still find yourself in a circumstance when even using top-notch LGBT Theses doesn't let you get the job done on time. In that case, you can get in touch with our experts and ask them to craft a unique LGBT paper according to your individual specifications. Buy college research paper or essay now!

Good Example Of Queer Nation: The Forward Movement Of The Lgtbq Community Thesis

LGBTQ movements are social movements that aim at providing individuals with different sexual preferences the rights enjoyed by heterosexual people. LGBTQ stands for equality of humans and must be treated as an important affair Keywords: LGBT, homophiles, morals

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Good Example Of Distribution Of Apiaceae In Lafayette And ST. Martin Parishes Thesis

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285 LGBT Essay Topics & Examples

Whenever you need original LGBTQ essay topics, check this list! Our experts have collected good samples for you to consider and title ideas to choose from.

🏆 Best LGBT Essay Examples & Topics

👍 good lgbt essay topics, 📃 interesting lgbtq topics to write about, 🔍 great titles for lgbt essay & research paper, ⭐ simple & easy lgbt essay titles, ✍️ lgbt essay topics for college, ❓ lgbtq essay topics & questions.

• The Pros and Cons of Gay Marriage Counteracting the argument that prohibition of gay marriage appears similar to discrimination is the idea that marriage, in the traditional understanding of the word, is the union of necessarily different sexes, a man and a […]
• Homosexuality in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley However, at the same time, these breaks from the traditions incited a response reaction in favor of more traditional social roles in other areas, such as the refutation of male sexual relationships to the extent […]
• Why Gay Marriage Should Not Be Legal Therefore, because marriage is a consecrated unification of a male and a female, ready to sacrifice all that is at their disposal for the continuation of the human species and societal values, I believe all […]
• Kant`s View on Homosexuality Kant says that homosexuality is not merely an inclination, which a human feels towards another, but it is the preference for another person’s sexuality.
• Defining Characteristic of LGBTQ Community In addition to this, the LGBTQ is a community since it is made up of a relatively small segment of the society.
• “What Is a Homosexual?” by Andrew Sullivan According to Sullivan’s essay What is a Homosexual, homosexuality is the isolation from the rest of the society and a diversity of human sexuality; however, it is not a factor which people are guided by […]
• Argument for Gay Marriages Enacting laws that recognize gay marriages would be beneficial to the society in the sense that it promotes equal rights among members of the society.
• Homosexuals Should Not Be Allowed to Adopt Children Therefore, considering the significance of the traditional marriages in providing children with the necessary developmental support, it is important for societies to ban the concept of homosexuals adopting children.
• Philadelphia: Prejudice About Homosexuality Philadelphia is the movie that touches upon numerous themes, and one of them is the development of the relations between two men with absolutely different interests and principles: one of them is Andrew Beckett, who […]
• Homosexuality – Nature or Nurture? In a letter to The Wall Street Journal, members of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, a coalition of therapists who argue that they can cure homosexuality, stated that “many of the […]
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Subculture The pioneers of such campaigns disagree with the ideas and behaviors associated with the LGBT Subculture. These celebrations “have also made it easier for different members of the subculture to network and exchange their views”.
• LGBTQ Co-Culture: The Key Aspects While all people have sexual orientation and heterosexuality presuppose romantic and sexual attachment to people of the opposite sex, gay and lesbian individuals are attached to partners of the same sex.
• Women Reactions to Bisexual Husbands The paper will rely heavily on sociological perspectives of heterosexuality and bisexuality and the arguments that are likely to guide the women’s reaction to their husband’s bisexual nature.
• Relations Between Homosexuality and Indian Culture Lesbianism is a relatively silent practice in India as opposed to gay practice and even the organizations for women do not really advocate for or promote it.
• Aspects of Equality for Transgender Athletes The authors of the article claim that transgender athletes deserve equal representation and the right to participate in competitions in the divisions of the gender they identify themselves by referring to social structures and justice.
• Gay Beaty Contests Question Issue For gays, beauty contests are regarded as celebratory events or ‘happenings’ and are best expressive of what is for many, particularly younger gays, seen to be one of the defining characteristics of gay life, that […]
• Transgender Bathroom Policies in Schools The topic of why transgender pupils cannot simply utilize private rooms designated for such gender identification, given that individuals who identify as boys and girls have their washrooms, is at the heart of the discussion […]
• Homosexuality in Renaissance Italy As we begin to read the history of art in Italy one finds some examples of homosexuality among the notables of the time.
• Is Homosexuality a Psychological Condition? Romantic attractions as well as sexual acts are usually categorized as heterosexuals or homosexuals and depending on the biological sex of the individual; the person may classified as gay or lesbian.
• Mental Health Issues Among LGBTQ (Queer) Youth Studies point to multiple factors that play a role in the risk of suicide among LGBTQ youth, such as gender, socioeconomic status, bullying, and school experience. There is a need for further research and interventions […]
• LGBTQ+ (Queer) Military Discrimination in Healthcare Furthermore, the subject is relevant to the field of psychology as the current phenomenon examines discrimination in healthcare both from the psychological outcomes experienced by veterans as well as the perception of LGBTQ+ patients through […]
• Equality of Transgender and LGBTQ+ Populations The principles of the struggle for the transgender and LGBTQ+ populations should include respect for the choice and self-identification of a person.
• Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy The updated regulations place the decision to let transgender sportsmen take part in the competition in the hands of the national governing body or, in the absence of such, of a sport’s international federation.
• LGBT Discrimination Research Prospects: An Analysis The aim of this assignment is to summarize the research that has been done on LGBT discrimination, particularly in the workplace and during the recruiting process.
• Health Inequities in LGBT People By calculating and comparing the number of positive versus negative occurrences in the interactions between LGBT employees and the rest of the staff before and after the introduction of the relevant interventions, one will be […]
• Health and Culture of LGBT (Queer) Community I want to do health assessments, so my patients know that their orientation and gender will not be factors in the diagnosis.
• Addressing Mental Health Inequities: A Focus on LGBTQ Communities The main bioethical principles of organ transplantation that should be considered are beneficence – to act for the benefit of a patient, non-maleficence – not to harm, autonomy respect for a person’s choice, justice fairness, […]
• Transnationalism and Identity: Gomez’s High-Risk Homosexual Categorization is an actual problem of society, which is covered in modern literature and is interconnected with such concepts as transnationalism and identity. The only mature and responsible behavior is not to impose them on […]
• Migrant Streams and LGBTQIA (Queer) Experiences in Nursing The response of the staff to Milagro’s incomplete health records is characterized by frustration and the desire to strengthen their understanding of the situation.
• Individual and Structural Discrimination Toward LGBT (Queer) Military Personnel Consequently, LGBT military personnel are potentially even more vulnerable to mental health issues due to the combined stress of being LGBT and being in the military.
• Health Disparities in the Transgender Community The purpose of the research study is to improve health disparities in the transgender community by eliminating financial barriers, discrimination, lack of cultural competence of providers, and socioeconomic and health system barriers that will increase […]
• LGBT+ (Queer) Status and Employment Opportunities The social learning theory provides context for the study by linking any discriminatory practices in hiring, assessment, and perception of the professionalism of the LGTBQIA2S+ community to socially acquired or learned behaviors.
• The Gay Teen Suicide & Bullying The article explains that the ones who survive may have access to extensive facilities, support, and status beyond their world of bullies, which sounds reasonable for me.
• The Perception of the LGBT (Queer) Community This work contains the conclusion of the analysis of self-presentation by homosexuals using the film My State of Idaho and the book The City of Night.
• LGBTQ (Queer) Community’s Challenges in Healthcare For example, the absence of connectivity in healthcare and services for LGBTQ individuals is often isolated from sexual and reproductive health care owing to structural and financing barriers and damaging heteronormative attitudes.
• Mental Health Equity for Queer (LGBTQ) People My support for mental health equity in the LGBTQ community as a clinical mental health counselor will require my understanding of cultural competency and how to can use it in practice.
• Nurses’ Care of LGBTQ (Queer) Patients The involvement of the NPD practitioners will make sure that the students, more so the ones ready to head into the field, handle the patients at their best.
• The Transgender Teens Policy Issues Problem recognition involves recognizing that policies serving to protect the interests of transgender teens need proper enforcement or even proper formulation to ensure effectiveness in protecting and ensuring the best interests of the children.
• Nursing: HIV Among Queer (LGBT) Community A combinatory program is required to reduce the rates of HIV transmission, improve the prevention techniques against the virus and ensure the early-stage diagnosis procedures are as effective as possible.
• LGBTQ+ Families: Discrimination and Challenges The family model directly affects the social status of family members and the well-being of children. LGBTQ+ families’ wealth level is lower than that of families in the neighborhood due to labor discrimination.
• LGBTQ Members: Discrimination and Stigmatization What remains unclear from the reading is the notion that before the 1990s, people from the middle class expressed abiding and strong desires to be acknowledged as “the other sex”.
• An Interest Group: The Rights of the LGBT One of the urgent problems in the United States remains the decision on the rights of homosexuals and other representatives of the LGBT.
• Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Analysis Internal factors of the organization are cultural competencies, core values, and the effective management of the organization. They determine the goals and aims of the company in the field of healthcare services.
• The Issue of Transgender in Sporting Activities Transgender women’s increased body strength and mass make it unfair for them to compete with cisgender women in the same sporting categories. The IOC sets the recommended testosterone level for transgender women to participate in […]
• Transgender Women in Sports: Is the Threat Real? In this regard, it can be argued that the advantages of transgender women are a barrier to women’s sports. However, the topic of transgender people has received the most discussion in the last few years […]
• The Advantages of Transgender Women Are a Barrier to Women’s Sports The main counterargument of proponents of transpeople participation in women’s sports is that there is no proven link between biology and endurance.
• The Article “The Transgender Threat to Women’s Sports” by Abigail Shrier Abigail Shrier’s article The Transgender Threat to Women’s Sports provides a series of arguments and evidence that support the idea of excluding transgender people from women’s sports.
• Transgender Women Take Part in Sports Competitions The issues that support this statement are unequal muscular mass of men and women unchanged by transgender therapy; and unequal height and length of the body needed in game sports and jumping.
• Recognizing Homosexuality as a Personal Identity According to Freud, all human beings are inherently bisexual, and homosexuality results from a malfunction in the process of sexual development.
• Lesbian and Gay Parenthood: Gender and Language However, when people see a lesbian couple whose attitude towards their children is the same as the one in heterosexual couples, they may change their attitude towards lesbian motherhood.
• Transgender Participation in Sports Among the successes in resolving the subject of transgenderism in society, medicine, psychology and sports, scientists include the exclusion of transgender issues from the sections of psychiatric diseases, and their inclusion in the section of […]
• Transgender Teenagers and Obstacles They Face Transgender teens are one of the most vulnerable groups of people due to the enormous amount of discrimination and everyday challenges they face.
• Spirituality and Sexuality in Men Who Identify as Gay The main finding of the study was that gay men raised in Conservative and religious households were subject to discrimination and marginalization.
• Suicide Risk in the LGBTQ Community As a result, it is vital to conduct a thorough analysis of all the factors contributing to the health disparity and identify the possible solutions to the problem of suicide risk among LGBTQ individuals.
• Protecting Queer People (LGBTQ+) in San Antonio The law was written in such a way that sexual orientation and gender identity were added to the list of protected classes.
• Queer (LGBT) in Roman and Greek Civilizations Its visions of beauty, relations, and a sense of life created the basis of the current people’s mentality. In both these ancient states, same-sex relations were a part of their culture and resulted from the […]
• Homosexuality From a Christian Viewpoint However, the idea of “orientation” as a property inherent in a particular person is relatively new; it appears only towards the end of the 19th century, making it difficult to directly compare the phenomenon of […]
• LGBTQI+ People: Issues They Face and Advocating for Them This is evident in the division of labor between men and women, which demonstrates one of the expectations of society concerning gender-associated roles.
• Becoming an Ally of the Queer (LGBT) Population From my point of view, this state of affairs is not appropriate and should be addressed, meaning that I could act as an ally for social justice. This information reveals that allying with the LGBT […]
• Depression among Homosexual Males The literature used for the research on the paper aims to overview depression among homosexual males and describe the role of the nurse and practices based on the Recovery Model throughout the depression.
• Suicidal Thoughts Among LGBTQ Youth: Client’s Case Assessment The therapist must exercise special caution and delicacy while evaluating the factors related to the case and engaging the LGBTQ client in the process of treatment.
• Aspects of Identity: Transgender Status, Gender Identity In many countries in Europe and the rest of the world, the whites always obtain more benefits at the expense of the people of color and other races.
• Transgender Women Should Be Allowed to Compete in Olympic Sports It is all due to the higher level of testosterone in their bodies and that some of them can pretend to be transgender to compete against women.
• The Use of Psychoactive Substances by LGBT Youth The purpose of this survey is to identify how reliable the information is that LGBT community adolescents are more likely to use psychoactive substances than heterosexual youth.
• Homosexuality as Social Construction His research has focused on the evolution of homosexuality from the nineteenth century to the present day, the widespread public regulation of homosexuality in Britain, and the ways that allowed sexuality to become the object […]
• Walmart: Insufficient Support of LGBTQ LBGTQ presumably are the category of the population that still is facing one of the highest degrees of xenophobia, for which reason the need for inclusion initiatives remains considerable.
• Queer (LGBT) Teenage Bullying at School The importance of this source to the research is associated with the significant role that youth organizations have to play towards minimizing bullying among LGBT students.
• Should Gay Couples Have the Same Adoption Rights as Straight Couples? The authors of this article decide to focus on the children of gay men as compared to those of heterosexual parents in their study.
• Raising Queer (LGBTQ) Awareness Through Media Most of the violence perpetrated against the LGBTQ community is a result of systematic dehumanization on the basis of sexual orientation.
• A Peer Intervention Program to Reduce Smoking Rates Among LGBTQ Therefore, the presumed results of the project are its introduction into the health care system, which will promote a healthy lifestyle and diminish the level of smoking among LGBTQ people in the SESLHD.
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Families’ Issues In tendency for this, it is essential to analyze issues faced by such families in the community and thus provide recommendations on approaches to adopt during counseling sessions of LGBTQ families.
• Considering Social Acceptability of Transgender and Transracial Identities This essay will examine two articles providing different views on transgender and transracial identities and argue that considerations used to support the transgender community are not transferable to the issue of transracial.
• COVID-19 and the Mental Well-Being of LGBTQ+ Community The newspaper article studied for this week highlighted recent questions about the relationship between COVID-19 coronavirus infection and the mental well-being of Americans in the LGBTQ+ community.
• The Church’s Attitude Toward Homosexual Marriage Erickson Millard claims that Jesus’s teaching about the permanence of marriage is based on the fact that: God made humanity as male and female and pronounced them to be one.
• Homosexuality and Feminism in the TV Series The depiction of these complex topics in the TV series of the humoristic genre implies both regressive and progressive impulses for the audience.
• Challenges Faced by Members of the LGBTQ Community Historically, homosexuals have encountered many challenges due to their erotic orientation because there exist certain people in society who view them as a deviation from the norm.
• Gay Marriage Should Be Repealed The institution of marriage has changed dramatically within the first two decades of the 21st century due to the gradual acceptance of gay marriage.
• Transgender Athletes in Female Sports Teams Thus, there are two contrasting views: to allow transgender people to compete in the women’s competition or organize separate competitions for them.
• Queer (LGBTQ) Therapy and Religious Impact Secondly, LGBTQ+ community members face an array of challenges, which are not seen by the rest of the population. The necessity is caused by unique unfortunate aspects of these people’s lives, which must be addressed […]
• “Social Attitudes Regarding Same-Sex Marriage and LGBT…” by Hatzenbuehler It relates to the fact that the scientists failed to articulate a research question in the proper form. However, it is possible to mention that the two hypotheses mitigate the adverse effect of the lacking […]
• Anti-Transgender and Anti-LGBQ Violence Crisis in the US The vicious circle of minority stress that leads to marginalization and the marginalization that contributes to the stigma has to be broken.
• LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) in Canada, Japan and China With a perfect understanding of the LGBTQ issue in Canada, my team and I started to compare LGBTQ in Canada, China, and Japan.
• The Defense of Marriage Act: LGBTQ + Community One of the milestones in the development of the struggle of members of the LGBTQ + community for their rights in the United States is the adoption of the Defense of Marriage Act.
• Mental Health Problems in Bisexuals Thus, the study appears to be insightful in the context of exploring the mental health of bisexuals. This article is informative, as it describes that the aforementioned factors appear to be influential considerably in the […]
• Mental Health in Bisexuals: Mental Health Issues The current research views the mental health of bisexuals from several different perspectives in order to evaluate all the possible mechanisms that could have contributed to mental health issues in bisexual individuals over the course […]
• Why LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) Is Becoming Popular In the context of the continuity of experience, morality, and moral values, it is appropriate to emphasize one of the most apparent global trends, namely the gradual recognition of the inalienable rights of the LGBTQ+ […]
• Teaching Strategies for LGBTQ (Queer) Community Men and women have different learning styles and orientations that depend on past experiences, interests, and social and biological roles. Therefore, educators should learn the art of inquiry to assess a group, inform them of […]
• Abuse in the Queer (LGBTQ) Community Rolle et al.establish that there is an overwhelming increase in the rate of abuse across the LGBT community mainly because of their societal stigma and potential rejection. The consistent abuse of the individuals is a […]
• LGBTQ: Personal Characteristics in Health Promotion According to GLMA, since the patient’s cultural relevance is vital to improve their health in this healthcare facility, in addition to biophysical information, the questionnaire should contain cultural questions.
• Kahiu’s Rafiki Movie: Stereotypes Regarding Homosexuality Kahiu’s Rafiki movie is a salvo regarding an ongoing cultural conflict in Kenya over the rights of the LGBTQ community. The reason is that they live in a society that prevents them from expressing the […]
• Nursing: Caring for a Pregnant Lesbian The second sensitive issue is the family history of diabetes. It is unknown if the patient herself had diabetes in the past.
• The Gay Gene: Understanding Human Sexuality If this gene existed and it was similar to a gay gene, it would explain the difference in gay people. If this happened, there would be a great change in the way gay people are […]
• HIV Transmission From Homosexual Men Receiving Cure The study reaches the following conclusions: In general, male partners to MSM receiving treatment are at risk of contracting HIV virus although the risk is relative to condom use as well as the last time […]
• Gay Couples as Vulnerable Population and Self-Awareness The idea of same-sex marriages has developed in America to a legal platform. Cultural beliefs that undermine the role of same-sex parenting have an impact on the efficacy of gay couples as parents.
• The Gay Marriages: Ethical and Economic Perspectives Among the key ethical dilemmas that are related to the issue in question, the conflict between religious beliefs and the necessity to provide the aforementioned services, the issue regarding the company’s needs v.its duty to […]
• The Houston Gay Community’s Health Nursing Considering the demographics of this population group, this study seeks to carry out a community health analysis of the Houston Texas gay community, with a special emphasis on the health risks and health implications in […]
• Homicides Associated With Homosexual Lifestyle Knight notes that murders by homosexuals are very common and most of the times they involve both sexes, either as the victims or the assailants.
• HIV Intervention in Gay Community The AIDS scourge is at the center of this study because this paper seeks to address AIDS as a special health concern affecting the gay community in the Montrose area, with a clear aim of […]
• Medical and Social Stances on Homosexuality The main aim of the essay is to highlight the medical and social view of homosexuality. There is no doubt that homosexuality is the current problem that threatens to wreck marriages and accelerate the spread […]
• Attitude to the LGBTQ Rights in the Political System LGBTQ rights have advanced many positions in the last several decades. There is quantitative evidence regarding the increase in public support of gay rights.
• LGBTQ Rights: Sexual Minority Members Discrimination In the past few years, the number of legal cases related to discrimination against LGBTQ representatives has been growing. In the past 30 years, LGBTQ activists have begun to fight for members of sexual minorities’ […]
• Social Work With Disabled Representatives of LGBT Community Members of the LGBT community with disabilities are one of the most invisible and closed groups, both within the community itself and in society at large.
• Bullying of LGBTQ Students in American Schools The chosen article focuses on the issue of bullying of LGBTQ students in American schools and its legal repercussions. The author shows that students who are openly gay or bi, as well as those who […]
• The Opinion of Americans on Whether Gay Marriage Should Be Allowed or Not Based on the political nature of the population, 43% of the democrats think, American society supports gay marriages and only 18% of the republicans hold the same view.
• Sexuality, Marriage, Gay Rights The supremacy of law and protection of people right lie in the heart of the protection of the freedom of personality.”Part of the basis of democratic government in the United States is a system of […]
• Lesbian Motherhood: Identity Issues In the studies of Moore and Hequembourg, the problems of lesbian and black lesbian mothers are explored, while it is pointed out that women of color and those belonging to lower classes appear to be […]
• The Gay Community’s Activism Events Research through interviews actually indicates that more than 60% of the population in the United States has come to the recognition and appreciation of their gay counterparts.
• ”Refugees From Amerika: A Gay Manifesto” Context Review In the 1950s, the West Coast became one of the pulsing centers of the counterculture, heralded in San Francisco by exponents of the Beat generation, including Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg, the latter openly gay.
• The Debate Over Gay Rights in American Politics Proponents of gay rights vigorously dispute these interpretations, but many people on both sides of the issue do not realize that the Bible has historically been used to argue many things in the past including […]
• Democracy: Forms, Requirements and Homosexuality Democracy exists in two major forms there is the liberal democracy which is a very capitalistic economic approach in nature while the other form is a socialist democracy that embraces economic aspects like subsidies and […]
• The Seed That Grew: Homosexuality The title “The seed that grew” demonstrate the reality that the seed of homosexuality is planted in an individual and grows as the individual grows.
• Societal Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Therefore, people should not be homophobic but should try as much as possible to learn and understand the reasons as they interact with these people.
• The Case Against Gay Marriage The Constitutional protection to equal rights under the law has been invoked over and over again to try and afford homosexuals “equal right” to the social institution of marriage and to social security when one […]
• Re-Thinking Homosexual Marriage in Rational and Ethical Fashion We demonstrate that the way out of the hysterical debate is to consider soberly the basis for supporting the ordinary family as the basic unit of society and protector of the next generation.
• Why Homosexuality Among Females Is Overlooked vs. Males? This leads to the difficulties of gay men in securing work in the military because the focus is mainly on the men.
• Parental Rejection Effects on Homosexuals Society needs to come to terms that it has to include the homosexuals among and as one of them and attend to their needs as effectively as for the rest of it.
• Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality From the context above, it is clear that historical and scientific perspectives on homosexuality contribute immensely to shaping how gay people view themselves.
• Gay Marriage and Bible: Differences From Heterosexual Practice When respected the bonds of marriage leads to the good not only of the couple and their children, but also to the good of society as a whole.
• Homosexuality and Conversion Therapy In order for conversion to occur in humans, there has to be a mental approach to facilitate the switch. This is attributed to the lack of a clear definition of sexual orientation.
• How Views of Homosexuality Have Changed Homosexuality is the attraction and sexual acts performed with people of the same sex, between men and men and women and women.
• Heterosexuality, Homosexuality and the Law In this respect the paper deals with the aspect of sociological research on the problem of heterosexuality and a lack of constructive data as for the sociological survey on the issue.
• Gay Marriage: Evaluation Argument The basic theme of the article was to present advocacy of gay marriage and a thorough presentation of arguments in favor of the legalization of gay marriages.
• Harassment of Young Adults Who Are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning According to the professional code of ethics, it is the duty of a social worker to help people in need and with problems.
• Homosexuality Aspects in Nazi Germany Dominating such a household would be quite easy for the German authorities because all they had to do was to convert the husband and the rest of the family would follow without question.
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Ideation, Correlations With ‘Suicidality’ In addition, experience of verbal ill-treatment and physical assault intensified feeling suicidal for both heterosexual and gay or bisexual men, not just for homosexual men alone as contained in many research findings, and that social […]
• Homosexuality: Explanations of Origins and Causes Seen from the perspective of sexual orientation, homosexuality is “a lasting pattern of or inclination to encounter sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions predominantly to people of the same sex; it also relates to an individual’s […]
• Homophobia in Social Workers: Gay Affirmative Practice Scale The obvious limitation of the study is the extremely low response rate. The sample size is the key strength of the study.
• The Idea of Gay Parenting First of all, there have not been any studies done and proved that children of gay or lesbian parents are disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.
• Transgender in Jewish Religion Transsexual people identify as or desire to live and be accepted as a member of the gender opposite to that assigned at birth.
• Being Gay in Canada: Faced Problems and Difficulties It has encouraged immigration of Canada from all corners of the world and the homosexuals are making plans to move to this part of the globe to secure their rights and enjoy their life in […]
• Discrimination Against Gays in the Military This information shows that the problem of gay men and lesbian in the military is a part of politics which supports discrimination and inequalities.
• Homosexual Stereotypes in Film and TV Homosexuals are feeling more comfortable and open with their sexuality mainly due to the rise of new shows on American television that feature gay individuals and this exposure has resulted in a deep awareness of […]
• Ethnography of Homosexuals Analysis According to Wikipedia LGBT is an acronym referring collectively to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual people and relates to the diversity of gay culture.
• Gay Culture’s Influence on Hip Hop Fashion Gay men have the influence of female fashion design due to the fact that most of the designers of female clothes are men and most of them are homosexual.
• Feminism: Liberal, Black, Radical, and Lesbian 2 In the 1960s and the 1970s, liberal feminism focused on working women’s issues and the impact of experiences that females of any race could have.
• Durable Inequalities in Relation to the LGBT Community in the United States The purpose of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon of durable inequalities with reference to the LGBT community in the US society to understand how four aspects of this concept are reflected in LGBT […]
• Ethical Issues of the Transgender Rights One of the most significant burdens transgender people experience is the recognition of their identity. Therefore, to increase the chances for transgender adults’ health care, it is important to pay thorough attention to any signs […]
• Growing Up Transgender: Malisa’s Story on NBC News It is essential to develop a better understanding of the concept of gender in relation to children and their development to ensure the protection of the interests of all people and, thus, improve their lives.
• Gay Marriage: Societal Suicide While Colson and Morse cannot neglect the need to oppose gay marriage because it destroys human society, the tone, references to the law, and the language chosen for the article help the reader understand the […]
• Transgender Bathroom Rights and Legal Reforms One of the themes that deserve discussion is the possibility of creating transgender baths and the rights that can be given to this category of the population.
• Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and LGBTQ Suicide Awareness Concerning the format, the design of the poster is good and the words are readable. The colors and contrasts enhance the readability of the content and stress the key points, such as AN indicators, risk […]
• Health Care for Transgender Individuals However, the medicalization of transsexualism made it more difficult to receive the treatment as individuals have to prove that they have such problems, and it is not just a temperate state of their mind that […]
• The Discovery of the ‘Biological Marker’ of Homosexuality The discovery of the specific biological cause of homosexuality in one sex, but not the other, will most likely result in the following set of effects on people’s understanding of gender, sex and sexuality: The […]
• Racism in Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders Instead of supporting one another as members of a minority group, these people arrange internal arguments within the society of LGBT that leads to the increased feeling of depression and psychological pressure on behalf of […]
• Homosexual Relationships: Ethical Reflection That is why it is useless to hope that the discovery of some genomes, which could be taken as the sign that the preferences of these people are the result of physical development, can improve […]
• Vladimir Putin’s Government: Controversial Anti-Gay Law The aim of this essay is to analyze the news of the Russian government under Vladimir Putin passing the controversial anti-gay law.
• Philosophy: “The Gay Science” by Friedrich Nietzsche Darwin gave the world his famous book On the Origin of Species, in which he tried to trace the genealogy of some species and which made a revolution in the world of science.
• Indians in the 19th Century vs. Gay’s Struggle Today The plight of American Indians in 19thcentury The present plight of the gay struggle for acceptance Legislations The Dewes Severalty Act of 1887 was passed on February 8th, 1887, with an intention to allot lands to individuals (Nichols 125). It was perceived that by allocating lands to Native Americans, the government would not have to […]
• Open Homosexuals’ Effects on Military Morale Britton and Williams start by noting that when President Clinton announced his intention to lift the ban that restricted homosexuals from participating in the military service, a debate emerged in which the performance of lesbians […]
• Gender Studies: Lesbian Sadomasochism She insists critics of sadomasochism only see pain and humiliation yet the people involved consent to it because of the strong connection they feel.
• Homosexual Religious and Legal Rights Another recommendation is that the legal structures that govern the issue of homosexuality should be coherent and considerate. Conclusively, it is evident that legal and religious provisions differ remarkably on their stands regarding the matters […]
• Sociological Imagination of Homosexuality This is due to the commonality of problems that we may have as members of a given society. I did not know whether the signs I was exhibiting were that of a homosexual or it […]
• “An Asian Lesbian’s Struggle” by C. Allyson Lee In the end, the author confesses that she has finally come to terms with herself, and she is proud of being an Asian lesbian.
• Gender Issues and Sexuality: Social Perspective and Distinction It is rather interesting to note that society today has such a well-established preconception regarding genders that when presented with alternatives to such established norms the result has been subject to confusion, disdain, at times […]
• Children in Gay and Lesbian Couples These techniques of getting children not only provide gay and lesbian couples with an ethical method to have children, but they also provide them with a chance to raise children for the donors.
• Homosexuals and Their Personal Culture Unique culture generally refers to a set of beliefs, values, or generally the way of life of an individual irrespective of the way of life of people in the larger society.
• Gay and Lesbian Adoption Issues The end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century are prominent in the evolution and empowerment of the LGBTQ movement.
• The Problem of Discrimination Against the LGBT Community Subsequent stages of work in this direction can include the following steps: Making a presentation on the topic of the equality of people regardless of their religious, racial, and sexual background.
• Cancer Screening in Lesbians, Gays, Transgenders Moreover, one of the diseases that are the burden of American society as a whole and the LGBT population, in particular, is cancer.
• Homosexuality in “Laura” and “Brokeback Mountain” 1 It may seem that the representation of Waldo embodies the features of sexual perversion and decadence, as expressed by the sexual intercourse of the young men with the older man along with the unusual […]
• Gay Society and Challenges in “Gay” by Anna Quindlen
• Transgender Issues in Modern Society
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender at Life Stages
• Transgender Bathroom Rights and Needed Policy
• Women in Sports: Policy for Transgender Players
• Women and Homosexuality in “Pariah” by Dee Rees
• Gay Marriage and Its Social Acceptance in the US
• LGBT Literature: “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
• Transgender People in the USA
• Transgender Inclusivity in Higher Education
• Homosexuality in Natural Law Theory
• Amy Zimmerman: It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV
• British vs. Japanese Homosexuality Criminal Laws
• Homosexuals and Heterosexual Brain Structure Differences
• Age Bias, Disability, Gay Rights in the Workplace
• Sexual Strangers: LGBT Politics in United States
• United States v. Windsor – Homosexual Rights
• Homosexual Marriage: Causes of Debates
• Parenting: Learning That an Adolescent Is Gay or Lesbian
• Challenges for Educators: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Families
• LGBTQ Issues in Korean Film Industry
• Korean LGBTQ Films: The King and the Clown and Hello My Love
• Homosexual Discrimination in Our Society: Causes and Effects
• Homosexual Students and Bullying
• Gay Judge’s Ruling Should Be Thrown Out
• Homosexuality Issues in the Film “Milk” by Van Sant
• Gay and Lesbian Relationships’ Nature
• Legalizing Gay Marriage in the US
• The Evolution of the LGBT Rights
• Xaniths as a Transgender in Omani Culture
• Queer Activism Influences on the Social Development of LGBT
• “Gay Marriages” by Michael Nava and Robert Dawidoff
• Dating Sites: Gay Latino Men and Women in Los Angeles
• Globalization and Gay Tourism: Learning to Be Tolerant
• Gay Marriage’s Social and Religious Debates
• Members of the LGBT Community
• Gay Marriage in The UK
• Is homosexuality an Innate or an Acquired Trait?
• Gay Marriage: Debating the Ethics, Religion, and Culture Analytical
• Homosexuality, Religion and Atheism
• Why Homosexuality Should Be Illegal
• Homosexuals’ Right to Marry
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Labor and Employment Issues
• LGBT Labor and Employment Issues
• Transgender Students on Colleges: Needs and Challenges
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Sexuality in the Hispanic Culture
• Transgender Issues in “The Crying Game” and “M. Butterfly”
• Problems Experienced by Children of Homosexual Parents
• Gay Marriages and US Constitution
• The Issue of Gay Marriages: Meaning, Importance and Cons
• Views of Young Australian and Chinese Adults on Homosexuality
• Legalizing Gay Marriage
• The Article “Against Gay Marriage” by William J. Bennett
• Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, And America’s Children
• Homosexuality Criticism Rates
• Clinton Homosexual Discrimination Policy
• Gay Couples’ Right to Marriage
• Discrimination, Social Exclusion and Violence among the LGBT Community
• Homosexuality: Why only some intimacies are labeled as homosexuality
• Defending Gay Marriage
• Relation of Gay Marriage to the Definition of Marriage
• Setting the Parameters for Regarding Homosexuality: To Whose Doors Should One Lay the Blame To?
• “The New Gay Teenager” by Ritch Savin Williams
• Concepts of Gay Marriage
• Gay Marriage: Culture, Religion, and Society
• Homosexuality in the Contemporary Society
• Gay Marriages in New York
• Suicides Among Male Teen Homosexuals: Harassment, Shame or Stigma?
• The Homosexual Lifestyle Issues
• Why Gay Marriages Should Not Be Legalized?
• Gay Marriage as a Civil Rights Issue
• Gay Marriage and Parenting
• Should Gay Marriages Be Allowed?
• Gender Studies: Gay Rights
• Gay Couples Should Not to Marry
• Arguments for and against Homosexuality: A Civil rights & Liberties Perspective
• Gays in the Military
• Reasons of the High Homosexual Marriage Rate
• BEAR Magazine: Lifestyle Entertainment for Gay Men
• Gay Marriage and Decision Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
• Gay Denied their ‘Rights’ in Australia
• Arguments for Gay Marriages
• Position of the Christian Church on Homosexuality
• Gender Studies: Gays and Lesbians Issues in 1940’s and 1950’s
• Young Opinion on Homosexuality
• Should Homosexuality be Legalized?
• Gay Marriages: Why Not Legalize Them?
• Should We Allow Gay Marriages as Civil Unions?
• Castro Gay Village’ Gentrification in San Francisco
• Media and Homosexuality
• Adopted Children With Gay Parents Have Better Chances of Succeeding
• Must gay marriage to be legal?
• Should Homosexuals be Allowed to Legally Marry?
• Gay Marriage in the U.S.
• A Critical Evaluation of Historical & Scientific Standpoints on Homosexuality
• Gay marriage and homosexuality
• Social Justice and Gay Rights
• Gay Marriage Legalization
• Gay in the Military
• What Does LGBT Mean?
• How LGBT Live in Russia?
• Why Should the LGBT Community Serve Openly?
• How LGBT Live in India?
• How Can I Be More Inclusive With LGBT?
• Are LGBT People Discriminated Against in the Hiring Process?
• Why Should the LGBT Community Have Equal Rights?
• What Were Cracker Barrels’ Reasons for Firing Their LGBT Employees?
• How Does LGBT Culture Fall in Our Society Today?
• How Happy Could LGBT People Be in a Homophobic Society Such as Ours?
• Why LGBT Color Is Rainbow?
• Why LGBT Teachers May Make Exceptional School Leaders?
• How Does Stress Affect the LGBT Community?
• Why Are LGBT Students Committing Suicide More Than Non?
• Does LGBT Inclusion Promote National Innovative Capacity?
• How Can I Be Kind to LGBT?
• Are LGBT People Born This Way?
• Does LGBT Marriage Threaten the Family?
• How Are LGBT People Represented on TV?
• How Virginia Woolf’s Orlando Subverted Censorship and Revolutionized the Politics of LGBT Love in 1928?
• What Are the Different Flags for LGBT?
• How LGBT Live in the USA?
• How Successful Are LGBT People Straight Alliances?
• Are You Born LGBT Person?
• Were There LGBT Subcultures From the 1900s to the 1960s?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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How architecture can empower LGBTQA+ Community?

First, let’s understand:

What Gender is Architecture?

If we try to understand  Architecture as a profession, it has been a long period of a male-dominated field. While times are slowly changing, some firms have made a deliberate effort to make their offices more representative of society as a whole by promoting gender equality. One of the most prominent areas of practice in  architecture  rests almost solely within the domain of men. The last three decades have seen frequently more women in the profession of architecture, but the number of women entering the field of design technology remains disproportionately small.

But if you are someone who looks at Architecture as a form of expressionism or free-flowing art that helps to express several artforms regardless of gender then it’s a human value, that can reflect shifting expressions of the society’s values, desires, way of thinking, ideologies, and many other things that has the potential to make an impact.

Why Do People Trust Architecture as a Part of The LGBTQIA Community?

For some young people, a home is a scary place. They may not have the right to live in it, they may not be allowed to make any changes, or worse still—they may be teased and bullied by their housemates. A home can’t become a sanctuary for LGBTQIA+ young people without architecture that fosters inclusivity and safety from an early age.

Architecture is no stranger to social movements; rather some Schools of Architecture across the world are embracing inclusive design as a way of fighting oppression. From interviews with LGBTQIA+ architects and photos of these homes around the world—this article will explore how architecture can empower our queer youth community as well as other diverse groups who are often excluded from the housing.

Housing is a fundamental need and we all want to live in a safe and secure environment for ourselves and our families. In a world where there are so many different types of people who are at risk to be targeted by their landlords/homeowners because of their identity – housing is a critical issue. It remains such an issue in ways we couldn’t even think about, particularly given various reports that the research-based NCH [ New College of the Humanities ]has brought forth around this topic.

LGBTQIA+ is an umbrella term covering all individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or have other sexual orientations/identities. A 2017 report by NCH reveals that nearly half of homeless young people identify as LGBTQA+. This is a very important number that we must bear in mind.

Around the world, many initiatives are focusing on the housing rights of these communities and try their best to provide them with safe and secure homes to live in. One of which is in  UK known as ‘Queer Homes’ initiative by Shelter, this program ensures five-year housing support for young LGBTQA+ people . The shelter works with a group called ‘ Independent Options’ which str ives to create a supportive community for young people who are going through hard times in their lives. The aim of ‘Queer Homes’ is to make sure that 20% of the total budget goes directly to supporting young LGBTQA+ people.

When we think of queer space, we may first be drawn to architectural metaphors that have long been woven into non-heterosexual identity: the closet and the bathroom, pride and oppression, homosexuality and heterosexuality. Although the term “coming out of the closet” did not penetrate the cultural lexicon until the 1960s, the closet itself is central to queer narratives and how they were told.

In the United States, to respond to the needs of the LGBTQA+ community, states are beginning to work towards building affordable and supportive housing units for LGBTQA+ youth. In New York City, there is an initiative called ‘Open Doors’ which is mentioned by the Greater New York Housing Opportunity Network.

Raising LGBTQIA+ Voices In Architecture

“To strike a path toward greater equity and inclusion in architecture, queer architects encourage others to identify themselves and come together.”

Understanding differences and moving forward

Both Fritz and Gann urged architects to take measures within AIA [American Institute of Architects] and their communities to encourage and protect LGBTQ + people in this profession.  They stressed the need for unity and solidarity with all architects, regardless of their origin. “We need to understand that LGBTQ diversity isn’t the only kind of diversity we’re talking about,” says Fritz, acknowledging that the lack of racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity in architecture is problematic. “We have to work with everyone to make architecture representative of the culture we serve. Towards the end of the panel, Berman reminded the attendees the differences within the queer community should not be disregarded. We all have this form of dual consciousness,”  he says.  “We understand our problems, but we don’t necessarily understand each other.” 

Starting with recognizing their differences will allow the LGBTQ + community in architecture to move forward as a stronger and more unified force. Then the real work can begin.  “This is just the beginning of a conversation that we are all trying to have in a very strategic and targeted way,”  says Gann.

Reflecting LGBTQ Culture

It’s all about how the building responds to the needs of its users. Our culture aims to make the most of buildings. Creating a built environment that will not be out of date in a few years and will last longer than expected is what the future should aim for, besides Architecture reflects the culture in which it grows.

With a cryptic perspective and ambivert personality, Simran is a student of B.Arch, who beliefs in reverie as escapism to bring solutions to realism. Besides, she says Architecture is not a domain limited to buildings however it’s an art that’s so far evident in every entity in this world, she also intends to explore more with her perceptions.

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Here Are the Most Targeted Books of 2023

Amid a nationwide surge in book bans, memoirs and novels that deal with the experiences of L.G.B.T.Q. people or explore race received the most challenges.

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By Elizabeth A. Harris

The most challenged books in the United States in 2023 continued to focus on the experiences of L.G.B.T.Q. people or explore themes of race, according to a report released Monday by the American Library Association.

Amid an explosion of books bans across the country, the association counted more than 4,200 challenged titles , which is the most in a single year since it began tracking this information more than two decades ago. In the years leading up 2021, when the increase really took off, the average number of titles challenged in a given year was about 275, according to the library association.

“More and more, we’re seeing challenges that say, simply, This book has a gay character, or, This book deals with L.G.B.T.Q. themes, even if it has no sexuality in it,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the American Library Association’s office for intellectual freedom. “We’re seeing those naked attacks on simply the visibility of and knowledge about L.G.B.T.Q. lives and experiences.”

Traditionally, books were challenged when individual parents raised concerns about a specific book their child had encountered in school, and libraries have long had processes in place so that parents could prevent their children from borrowing books they consider inappropriate.

But organized groups have led the charge in this escalation, challenging large batches of titles and circulating lists online — sometimes including dozens or even hundreds of books — to encourage parents and others to seek them out at their local libraries en masse.

Parents and organizers who have pushed to remove certain titles say they are trying to protect children from stumbling on books that are explicit or inappropriate for their age.

Increasingly, Caldwell-Stone said, these challenges are taking place not only in school libraries but in public libraries as well. According to the library association’s report, 54 percent of the challenges they tracked took place in public libraries.

The report also highlighted efforts to counter book challenges. Some local elections and initiatives have come out against those trying to restrict access to books, federal legislators have held hearings on the subject and those who oppose restricting access to certain books have had some legal victories.

Here are the 10 most challenged books of 2023, along with the reasons they were targeted. Several, including “Gender Queer,” “The Bluest Eye” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” have been among the most frequently challenged in previous years.

1. “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe

An illustrated memoir by Kobabe, who is nonbinary, was challenged because it contained L.G.B.T.Q. content and was called sexually explicit.

2. “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson

This memoir about the joys and challenges of growing up Black and queer was challenged because of L.G.B.T.Q. content and because it was considered sexually explicit.

3. “This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson

A nonfiction book that explores growing as an L.G.B.T.Q. person and includes topics like sex and stereotypes, this was challenged because it included L.G.B.T.Q. content, which was considered sexually explicit.

4. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky

This best-selling book for young adults is about a high school freshman in the suburbs in the 1990s. It was challenged for its L.G.B.T.Q. content, as well as its inclusion of profanity, drugs and rape.

5. “Flamer,” by Mike Curato

“Flamer,” a graphic novel for young adults that draws on the author’s own experience, is about a child at Boy Scout camp who is coming to terms with being gay. It was challenged for L.G.B.T.Q. content and for being sexually explicit.

6. “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison

This was Morrison’s 1970 debut, and follows a Black girl who wishes for blue eyes so she will fit the standards of conventional white beauty. The book also address racism and sexual abuse. It was challenged for its inclusion of rape and incest and because its content was seen as promoting equity, diversity and inclusion.

Tie: “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” by Jesse Andrews

A best seller about high school students, this novel was challenged because of profanity and because it was deemed sexually explicit.

Tie: “Tricks,” by Ellen Hopkins

This novel, about teenagers who fall into prostitution, was challenged for being sexually explicit and including drugs, rape and L.G.B.T.Q. content.

9. “Let’s Talk About It,” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan

A graphic novel about sex and relationships, this was challenged for being sexually explicit and including L.G.B.T.Q. content.

10. “Sold,” by Patricia McCormick

This National Book Award finalist is about a 13-year-old girl who is sold into prostitution. It was challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and included depictions of rape.

An earlier version of this article misstated a title of one of the targeted books. It is “This Book Is Gay,” not “The Book Is Gay.”

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Regions & Countries

2. partisanship by race, ethnicity and education.

As has long been the case, White voters are much more likely than those in other racial and ethnic groups to associate with the Republican Party. Hispanic and Asian voters tilt more Democratic. Black voters remain overwhelmingly Democratic.

However, there have been some shifts toward the GOP in most groups in recent years.

The Republican Party now holds a 15 percentage point advantage among White voters: 56% of non-Hispanic White voters identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, while 41% align with the Democratic Party.

• This double-digit lead for the GOP among White voters has held for more than a decade. The last time White voters were about equally split between the two parties was in 2008.

About six-in-ten Hispanic voters (61%) are Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, while 35% are Republicans or Republican leaners.

• The Democratic Party’s edge among Hispanic voters over the last two years is somewhat narrower than it was in years prior.

Black voters continue to overwhelmingly associate with the Democratic Party, although the extent of the Democratic advantage among this group has fallen off over the last few years.

• Currently, 83% of Black voters are Democrats or lean Democratic, while 12% align with the GOP.
• As recently as 2020, the share associating with the Democratic Party was 5 percentage points higher. That somewhat larger edge in party affiliation had been in place for much of the last two decades.

About six-in-ten Asian voters (63%) align with the Democratic Party, while 36% are oriented toward the GOP.

• The balance of partisan association among Asian voters has changed little over the last few years.

Education and partisanship

The relationship between education and partisanship has shifted significantly since the early years of the 21st century.

• The Republican Party now holds a 6 percentage point advantage over the Democratic Party (51% to 45%) among voters who do not have a bachelor’s degree. Voters who do not have a four-year degree make up a 60% majority of all registered voters.
• By comparison, the Democratic Party has a 13-point advantage (55% vs. 42%) among those with a bachelor’s degree or more formal education.

This pattern is relatively recent. In fact, until about two decades ago the Republican Party fared better among college graduates and worse among those without a college degree.

In the last years of George W. Bush’s presidency and the first year of Barack Obama’s, Democrats had a double-digit advantage in affiliation over Republicans among voters without a college degree. For example, in 2007, 56% of voters without a degree were Democrats or leaned Democratic, while 42% were Republicans or GOP leaners. This group was narrowly divided between the two parties for most of the next 15 years, but in the last few years it has tilted more Republican.

College graduates moved in the opposite direction, becoming more Democratic over this same period.

• Since 2017, the gap in partisanship between college graduates and those without a degree has been wider than at any previous point in Pew Research Center surveys dating back to the 1990s.

Voters with postgraduate degrees are even more Democratic than those with bachelor’s degrees. About six-in-ten registered voters who have a postgraduate degree (61%) identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 37% associate with the Republican Party. Voters with a bachelor’s degree but no graduate degree are more closely divided: 51% Democratic, 46% Republican.

Voters with a high school degree or less education and those who have attended some college but do not have a bachelor’s degree both tilt Republican by similar margins.

Education, race and partisanship

White voters are far more polarized along educational lines than are Hispanic and Black voters.

White voters by education

By nearly two-to-one (63% vs. 33%), White voters without a bachelor’s degree associate with the Republican Party.

The GOP’s advantage among this group has remained relatively steady over the last several years but reflects a major shift since 2009. This group is now substantially more Republican-oriented than at any prior point in the last three decades.

Today, White voters with a bachelor’s degree are closely divided between associating with the Democratic Party (51%) and the Republican Party (47%). Prior to 2005, this group had a clear Republican orientation.

Hispanic voters by education

In contrast, there are no meaningful differences in the partisan leanings of Hispanic voters with and without bachelor’s degrees. Democrats hold a clear advantage in affiliation among both groups of Hispanic voters, although the share of Hispanics (both those with and without bachelor’s degrees) who align with the Democratic Party has edged lower in recent years.

Black voters by education

Black voters both with (79%) and without college degrees (85%) remain overwhelmingly Democratic in their partisan affinity.

Black college graduates are somewhat less closely aligned with the Democratic Party now than they were for most of the prior three decades (for most of this period, 85% or more of Black college graduate voters affiliated with the Democratic Party).

Asian voters by education

Two-thirds of Asian voters with a college degree align with the Democratic Party; 31% associate with the Republican Party. The partisan balance among Asian voters with a college degree has remained largely the same over our last two decades of surveys. (Asian American voters without a college degree are a smaller group, and sample sizes do not allow for reporting trends among this group.)

Partisanship by race and gender

Visit the chapter on partisanship by gender, sexual orientation and marital and parental status for discussion of overall trends among men and women.

Six-in-ten White men who are registered voters identify as Republicans or lean Republican, as do 53% of White women voters.

The balance of partisanship among White women voters has tilted toward the GOP in recent years, but it was more divided in 2017 and 2018.

Among Hispanic voters, about six-in-ten men (61%) and women (60%) associate with the Democrats. Hispanic women voters have become somewhat less Democratic in recent years (down from 74% in 2016).

About eight-in-ten Black voters – both women (84%) and men (81%) – are Democrats or Democratic leaners.

About six-in-ten men (61%) and women (64%) among Asian voters identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party. (There is insufficient sample to show longer-term trends among Asian voters by gender.)

Partisanship across educational and gender groups by race and ethnicity

Among White voters, there are wide differences in partisanship by gender, by educational attainment – and by the combination of these.

• Among White voters without a college degree, 64% of men and 62% of women say they identify as or lean toward the Republican Party (about a third of each associate with the Democrats).
• White men with a college degree also tilt Republican among voters, though to a lesser extent (53% are Republicans or lean Republican, 45% are Democrats or lean Democratic).
• In contrast, White women with a college degree are more Democratic than Republican by 15 percentage points (42% Republican or Republican leaning, 57% Democrat or lean Democrat).

Among Black and Hispanic voters, there are only modest differences in partisanship across the combination of gender and education. In both groups, there are no significant differences between men with and without college degrees, or between their women counterparts. (Because Asian American voters without a college degree are a small group, sample sizes do not allow comparing college and non-college Asian men and women.)

This dynamic has changed over time, as college-educated White men and women have grown more Democratic and those with less formal education have grown more Republican.

As recently as 15 years ago, there were sizable gender gaps in partisanship among both college and non-college White voters. In both cases, men were substantially more likely than women to associate with the Republican Party.

But, at that time, there was not a substantial difference in the partisanship of college and non-college White voters – for either women or men.

Today, there is no gender gap in partisanship among non-college White voters, while there is a gender gap among college graduate White voters. The difference in partisanship between White women voters who have a college degree and those who do not, in particular, is quite large.

By contrast, there is little variation in the partisanship of Black and Hispanic voters by these characteristics, and the relationship has varied less over time.

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Table of contents, behind biden’s 2020 victory, a voter data resource: detailed demographic tables about verified voters in 2016, 2018, what the 2020 electorate looks like by party, race and ethnicity, age, education and religion, interactive map: the changing racial and ethnic makeup of the u.s. electorate, in changing u.s. electorate, race and education remain stark dividing lines, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .