Earlier this week, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Alphonso David and National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle held a fireside chat to discuss achieving LGBTQ equity and inclusion in schools.
Said Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David:
“Prior to COVID-19, the health experiences of LGBTQ young people were already compromised. We’re talking about high rates of bullying, high rates of harassment at school, and the subsequent struggle with mental health that results from the bias and from the discrimination,” said Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David. “For some students, the distanced learning experience… may be a reprieve from bullying at school or for those who may be terrified of being outed. But it was also probably less ideal for students who have non-affirming parents or family members, and for whom the school provided some solace. … We clearly need to do a better job in creating safe, welcoming schools across the country.”
Said National Education Association President Becky Pringle:
“We know that as we talk about those multiple identities that our
students and educators bring to the education system, to our classrooms,
that we need to first recognize them and we need to honor them. We need
to respect them and we need to talk about that rich tapestry that those
multiple identities bring to creating that culture of care, that
culture of inclusion and acceptance, that culture of an environment that
builds on the diversity that our students bring to our classrooms and
our work spaces,” said National Education Association President Becky Pringle.
“It is absolutely essential that as we talk to our kids… we have to
create the space so that we can listen to our students. As they describe
who they are for us, and we listen to them, what they’ve told us is
that… when we arrive at that intersection – whether it’s race, or
whether it’s class, or whether it’s LGBTQ status – whatever it is, that
we know that when [intersectional identities] come together, they
compound too often to put our students in a place where they are
discriminated against, where they are marginalized, where they don’t get
what they need so they can be their fullest selves.”
