What resources or rights do LGBT students and parents have in addressing victimization in school?
For parents that want to do something for their children, they need to know that they do have rights. Children need to be safe in school. They should be working with their administrators and teachers. If they don’t get satisfaction, they should try to work with an advocate organization. Here at the University of Houston I have been partnering with several organizations, one of those being the Houston Area Teen Coalition of Homosexuals (HATCH). HATCH is a drop-in support group for any student that identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning, or any ally of LGBT students. They can find out those resources within their city to try to get support. Within certain schools there are also gay straight alliances (GSA), and many of those are through the Gay, Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN). These are groups of students with an educator-facilitator to try and promote tolerance within schools. Any student can request that a school district support and charter those
