Michigan schools are unsafe for LGBT Students

GLSEN has found some alarming news about Michigan's school system.

According to their research:

97% of Michigan LGBT students regularly (sometimes, often or frequently) heard the word gay used in a negative way in school, such as “that’s so gay.” 97% LGBT students regularly heard homophobic remarks, such as “faggot” or “dyke,” from other students in school.

87% of LGBT students were verbally harassed, 45% were physically harassed and 21% were physically assaulted in the past year because of their sexual orientation.

More than two-thirds (68%) of LGBT students were verbally harassed, 31% were physically harassed and 13% were physically assaulted because of their gender expression.

66% of LGBT students who were harassed or assaulted in school never reported it to school staff. Only 29% of students who did report incidents said that reporting resulted in effective intervention by school staff.

34% of LGBT students had skipped class at least once in the past month because they felt unsafe, and 32% had missed at least one entire day of school for this reason. Students who were more frequently verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation were more than twice as likely to miss days of school because they felt unsafe than students who were less frequently harassed (45% to 22%).

The grade point average of LGBT students who were more frequently physically harassed because of their sexual orientation was a half grade lower than of students who were less frequently harassed (2.3 vs. 2.9).

Michigan is one of 43 states that does not explicitly protect students from bullying and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Only 18% of LGBT students reported that their school had this type of comprehensive anti-bullying policy.

This info comes from, Inside Michigan Schools: The Experiences of LGBT Students. It's based on 217 Michigan students who participated in GLSEN's 2007 National School Climate Survey.