Research, Data and Reports

Reports and Papers

California LGBTQ Youth Report (PDF)
A resource from 2019 providing data, state laws and best-practices related to creating safe and inclusive kindergarten through twelfth grade schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer (LGBTQ) students in California. The report was produced by the Human Rights Campaign in collaboration with the Association of California School Administrators, the California Parent Teachers Association, the California Teachers Association and several other statewide educator associations.

Schools in Transition (PDF)

This is a document that provides information and tools for creating a plan that addresses different aspects of a student coming out as transgender.

National School Climate Survey - GLSEN
The Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) National School Climate Survey conducted in 2019 is a flagship report on the school experiences of LGBTQ youth in schools, including the extent of the challenges that they face at school and the school-based resources that support LGBTQ students’ well-being.

California Snapshot - National School Climate Survey - GLSEN
This state-specific data from 2019 allows advocates, educators, administrators, and policymakers, among others, to evaluate school climate in their individual state, and to advocate for safer and more inclusive school environments for LGBTQ students across the nation, including LGBTQ-supportive school policies, LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, and more.

Supporting Safe and Healthy Schools for LGBTQ+ Students: A National Survey of School Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists – GLSEN (PDF)

Supporting Safe and Healthy Schools report from 2019 is the latest example of GLSEN’s evidence-driven approach to understanding the dimensions and impact of LGBTQ issues in kindergarten through grade twelve schools, and identifying the most promising avenues for an effective response.

Understanding the Experiences of LGBTQ Students
This WestEd report from 2019 describes the school experiences of LGBTQ students by examining two years of California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) data from approximately 800,000 secondary school students. The data reveals LGBTQ+ students’ perceptions of school supports, school safety, school engagement, academic performance, and mental health.

Troubling Data on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth in California
Disparities among youth based on sexual orientation are startling. Across many indicators of health and well-being, lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in California reported negative behaviors and consequences at about twice the rate of straight youth in 2018.

LGBTQ Youth in California’s Public Schools
Using data from the California Student Survey and CHKS, this study from the Williams Institute in 2017 explores disparities in school experiences, school performance, and well-being of LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ youth in California, as well as disparities between LGBTQ youth in rural and urban areas across the state.

Making the Framework FAIR (PDF)
California’s history-social science framework proposed LGBT revisions related to the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act. In 2011, the FAIR Education Act amended the California Education Code to ensure that the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and people with disabilities are accurately portrayed in kindergarten through grade twelve history instruction. This report, sponsored by the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History, an affiliated society of the American Historical Association, proposes revisions related to LGBT history.

School safety and nondiscrimination Laws Report
Report 2021-108. California State Auditor findings on the implementation of school safety and nondiscrimination laws and programs by local educational agencies and the California Department of Education in 2013.

Harassment among California students, 2006–08. California Healthy Kids Survey Factsheet #10 (PDF)
The CHKS asks students in grades seven, nine, and eleven a series of questions to ascertain the frequency they experienced harassment or bullying at school in the past 12 months, as well as another series asking whether they experienced specific types of physical or verbal harassment, including bias related harassment for sexual orientation. Completed in 2010 by West Ed.

Teaching Respect: LGBT-inclusive curriculum and school climate - GLSEN
Teaching Respect: LGBT Inclusive Curriculum and School Climate highlights how inclusive curriculum can positively affect LGBTQstudents' experiences in school. The research brief is based on data from GLSEN's 2009 National School Climate Survey, a biennial survey on the school experiences of LGBTQ students.

A Report on the Status of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People in Education: Stepping Out of the Closet (PDF)
This report from the National Education Association on the status of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students is based on the basic principle that every student has the human and civil right to a quality public education. The content of the report derives largely from the presentations and research of more than 25 scholars and education employees from the United States and Canada who convened for a two-day summit in Chicago, Illinois, in July 2008.

Bias-Related Harassment Among California Students (PDF)
This report from WestEd in 2005 highlights the CHKS which asks students how often they had been harassed or bullied during the past 12 months on school property for each of five hate-crime related reasons—race, ethnicity, or national origin; gender; religion; and sexual orientation.

Williams Institute
The Williams Institute conducts independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. They ensure that facts—not stereotypes—inform laws, policies, and judicial decisions that affect the LGBT community.

Data

California Healthy Kids Survey – LGBTQ Reports
The LGBTQ Youth Research and Advocacy Project utilizes data from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), developed by West Ed under contract to the California Department of Education. Stakeholders from Attallah College, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Central Coast Coalition have created county fact sheets and narratives outlining rates of bullying, perceptions of school climate, substance use, and mental health among LGBT youth and their peers in public schools.

CALSCHLS Dashboard
Use the dashboard to examine and graphically display the most recent state and district CHKS results for elementary and secondary schools. Reports can be generated and can be aggregated at the secondary level by county and by gender identity and sexual orientation.

LGBT Health and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
For LGBTQ+ youth to thrive in schools and communities, they need to feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe and supported. A positive school climate has been associated with decreased depression, suicidal feelings, substance use, and unexcused school absences among LGBTQ+ students according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report from 2020.

YRBS – California
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) provides data on health-risk behaviors among ninth through twelfth grade students, including behaviors that contribute to injuries and violence; alcohol or other drug use; tobacco use; sexual risk behaviors; unhealthy dietary behaviors; and physical inactivity.Data can be filtered for LGBTQ+ youth.

KidsData
A program of Population Reference Bureau that promotes the health and well-being of children in California by providing an easy-to-use resource that offers high quality, wide ranging, local data to those who work on behalf of children. Data are compiled from more than 35 trusted public sources, 12 of which are California specific and includes the California Department of Education and the California Department of Public Health. See the demographic area to see data by sexual orientation.

LGBTQ+ Students and School Safety

Safe at School: Addressing the School Environment and LGBT Safety Through Policy and Legislation
Gay and gender-non-conforming students continue to be confronted with challenges that can become overwhelming. Court records and academic research reveal a highly troubling pattern of mistreatment, negative consequences, and a dramatic failure on the part of many educational institutions to adequately address LGBT-related issues and concerns. This brief from the National Education Policy Center (2010) describes those issues, presents concrete policy recommendations, and then offers model statutory code language to implement many of those recommendations.

Safe Schools Policy for LGBTQ Students
Research during the past decade has shown that LGBTQ youth are a vulnerable population, and that the negative school experiences of LGBTQ students often contribute to their vulnerability. This Social Policy Report from 2010 reviews research relevant to these federal, state, and local laws and policies.

Suicide Risk and Prevention for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (PDF)
This paper from 2008 highlights the higher risk of suicidal behavior among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth. Additionally, the paper provides recommendations to reduce this risk by addressing stigma and prejudice at the institutional and individual level.

LGBT Issues in the Curriculum Promotes School Safety (PDF)
Having LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum makes all students feel safer, including heterosexual students. Clear recommendations offered for students, teachers, administrators and policy makers from 2006.

Articles

Understanding Gender – Gender Spectrum (PDF)
This document from Gender Spectrum, written in 2019, show that today’s young people have significantly different understandings of gender than previous generations, with consequences for all children, families, organizations and institutions.

Gender Inclusive Schools Framework - Gender Spectrum (PDF)
When focusing on the intentional development of gender inclusive school settings, it is helpful to think in terms of four discrete approaches, or entry points: Internal, Interpersonal, Instructional and Institutional. Through deliberate work in each one of these areas, gender inclusive practices can be woven into the fabric of the institution.

About LGBTQ+ People in the United States

Obergefell v. Hodges: 1.1 Million LGBT Adults are Married to Someone of the Same Sex at the Two-Year Anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges (PDF)
This research brief from the Williams Institute (2017) tracks how many same-sex couples existed before Obergefell V. Hodges and how many married after the Supreme Court decision.

How Many Adults Identify as Transgender in the United States?
This report from the Williams Institute (2017) utilizes data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to estimate the percentage and number of adults who identify as transgender nationally and in all 50 states

Gallup Poll: An Estimated 780,000 Americans in Same-Sex Marriages
In examining the total population of 243 million U.S. adults in 2014, these survey estimates suggest nearly 2 million adults are part of a same-sex couple, of whom 780,000 are married.

Demographics of Married and Unmarried Same-Sex Couples: Analyses of the 2013 American Community Survey
Using data from the 2013 American Community Survey, this report presents information about the demographic, economic, and geographic characteristics of married and unmarried same-sex couples across the United States.