LGBTQ+ Belonging

  • Every school already serves LGBTQ+ youth, and the lives of kids depend on doing it well.
  • Every school already serves LGBTQ+ youth, and the lives of kids depend on doing it well.
  • Verge provides customized training or consultation to help schools and youth-serving organizations serve LGBTQ+ youth

The Why

Why include a focus on LGBTQ+ issues in your DEI work? 1. Gender and sexuality are central components of healthy identity development for all children and adolescents. 2. If you work with youth, you definitely work with students who have or will have an identity that falls with in the LGBTQ+ continuum. It's a statistical fact, regardless of where you are. To create a safe learning environment for all members of your community, you must address gender and sexuality diversity. 3. LGBTQ+ youth most often don't have anyone at home who shares this identity. They need trusted adults in their lives. 4. LGBTQ+ competent educators can save lives. A welcoming school is a protective factor, and LGBTQ+ young people experience better mental health and lower rates of attempting suicide when they have access to LGBTQ-affirming spaces. Educators need tools for engaging with these essential aspects of human identity. 5. Multiple studies have shown that ALL students benefit from an inclusive curriculum, as it fosters a safer environment for all students of all identities.
Recent Research
A 2023 CDC report raises the urgency to invest in schools as a vital lifeline to help struggling youth.
The report shows that LGBQ+ teens continue to face extremely high levels of violence and mental health challenges.
  • Read the full CDC Report here: CDC Youth Risk and Trends Data 2023
  • Watch PBS coverage of the findings

The How: DEI Trainings and Consultations

  • Patti and her co-trainers help schools and other youth-serving organizations expand their knowledge and practices for working with LGBTQ+ children, adolescents, teens, and their families.
Verge Services can work with your school in stand-alone workshops or ongoing trainings or consultations, focused on belonging for LGBTQ+ students. Sample sessions include the following:
  • Gender and Sexuality Diversity basics, ensuring that the team has a shared language and baseline understanding
  • Human-centered design task focused on once challenge your team is facing related to inclusivity for LGBTQ+ students (such as how to navigate pronouns, talking with parents, or shifting school culture)
  • Craft or revise an anti-discrimination statement
  • Design inclusive language, policies, and practices that are specific to the context of your school
  • Working alongside teachers to review, assess revise, and expand curriculum to reflect LGBTQ+ history, contributions, and representation
  • Developing lesson content and strategies related to diverse identities and expressions
  • Three-part coordinated series with sessions for students, faculty/staff, and parents/guardians
  • Crafting a diversity plan for your school that reflects an understanding of the importance of intersectionality and student experience, rather than numbers or statistics, and is geared toward action rather than mere aspiration.

The Who

Patti Hearn is an LGBTQ+ literacy educator, coach, and consultant.

Many LGBTQ youth lack access to affirming spaces, with only 55% of LGBTQ youth reporting that their school is LGBTQ-affirming and only 37% saying that their home is LGBTQ-affirming. Fewer than 1 in 3 transgender and nonbinary youth found their home to be gender-affirming and a little more than half (51%) found their school to be affirming. LGBTQ young people report lower rates of attempting suicide when they have access to LGBTQ-affirming spaces. (The Trevor Project)