Trans Youth Voices: Helpful and Harmful Practices

Abstract

This paper reports on qualitative interviews of gender-diverse youth (n = 17) about their educational experiences. Using transgender studies and grounded theory research methods, I examine how schools produce and reproduce policies and practices that harm transgender individuals. This paper identifies specific actions, practices, and policies the participants experienced were helpful, purposefully harmful, and unintentionally harmful regarding their gender identities and expressions.

Keywords:

• Transgender
• LGBTQ
• education

I had one openly affirming teacher … and she was the physics and chemistry teacher, and she had a great classroom and a great affirming space. But she was the only one that was openly an ally in that school … She was one of the few teachers that obviously opened up her room as a designated safe space, affirming space. If something’s going on, you come in here, and you talk to me. And she was like that with all her students, not just the LGBTQ students. If there’s something going on, she made it clear that she was there to support you … but she was one of the few teachers that would actually stand up for the rights the LGBTQ students because … teachers are afraid of the repercussions (Sloan, 19).

Imagine being an elementary or secondary student and only being able to identify one teacher in your entire school building who is affirming of your identity. When it comes to gender-­diverse youth, those who identify outside of the gender binary of cisgender male and cisgender female, the experience is not unique to nineteen-year-old Sloan (Gretyak et al., 2013). This paper reports on the findings of a study investigating the P-16 school experiences of seventeen transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse youth ranging in age from ten to twenty-six. In this article, the terms trans, transgender, and gender diverse youth will be used in referring to those who have many gender identities and expressions outside of the gender binary.

Throughout the literature, the acronyms LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQI+, or other versions are used to refer to those who have diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions. However, much of the research that purports to address LGBTQ+ topics and issues is more focused on the sexual orientation, or lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) part of the acronym, rendering the experiences of gender-diverse individuals ignored or minimized (McCarthy, 2003). Much of the school-based professional development that occurs in schools addresses this broad category of LGBTQ+. School faculty and staff need to be aware of and acknowledge that the experiences of those who have identified as trans are often extremely different within schools and society because of the ways they identify and express their gender than those with diverse sexual orientations (Leonardi et al., 2021). Even in the same school setting, a student identifying as a trans female can have a significantly different schooling experience than someone who identifies as gay or lesbian. In short, the school experiences of trans youth are significantly different than their cisgender peers. While their experiences overlap with the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, there are still major differences between the two.

It has been well documented that schools continue to be hostile places for most LGBTQ+ youth (Gretyak et al, 2013; Kosciw et al., 2022; Mangin et al., 2022). Schools are even more hostile to students who have a gender identity or expression outside the gender binary, leading to students who feel unsafe being verbally harassed and physically assaulted at school (Kosciw et al., 2022). Additionally, while at school, these youth hear negative remarks about gender identity or expression from their peers, but even more startlingly, they hear negative remarks about gender expression from teachers or other school staff (Kosciw et al., 2022), struggle to find supportive teachers in the buildings (Greytak et al., 2013), and perceive school climates as negative (Day, 2018). As previously mentioned, Gretyak et al. (2013) found that transgender youth were less likely to identify at least one supportive educator in their school building than their cisgender peers. There continues to be unprecedented anti-transgender violence outside of school contexts (Human Rights Campaign, n.d.; National Center for Transgender Equality, n.d.), which often goes unreported, leading to undercounts of the actual amount of violence. Additionally, in 2023, 589 anti-trans bills were proposed in 49 states across the U.S., of which 85 have passed (Legislative Tracker, n.d.).

Given this violence against trans individuals in schools, society, and legislatively, there is a critical need for more scholarship on transgender issues. However, it is not enough to merely conduct research on trans individuals, especially within educational contexts. Instead, this research needs to ethically “interrogate how education institutions reproduce anti-transgender policies and practices” (Mangin et al., 2022, p. 303). Mangin et al. (2022) argue that we still have a long way to go to ensure schools are safe and equitable spaces for transgender youth (and educators). This study aims to collect interview data about the P-16 school experiences of gender-diverse students (transgender, gender nonconforming, genderqueer, non-binary). The research questions that frame the study are:

• What are the experiences of youth with diverse gender identities in P-16 schools?

• What would gender-diverse youth want teachers, school counselors, and school administration to know about their experiences with gender in schools?

• In what ways can the experiences of these young people shape P-12 education and teacher education?

Situating the Study

This study is situated within the field of transgender studies in education. Trans studies, as a theoretical frame and methodology, goes beyond merely studying gender-diverse individuals and instead “draws from knowledge produced by trans people and communities” (Keenan & Suarez, 2022, p. 21). The goal of research situated within trans theory is to understand the lived experiences of individuals who have diverse gender identities (transgender, nonbinary, etc.) with a particular focus on the social construct of gender (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010). Transgender studies is a framework that can “address emerging problems in the critical study of gender and sexuality, identity, embodiment, and desire in ways that gay, lesbian, and queer studies have not always successfully managed” (Stryker, 2004, p. 214) as it both “encompasses and transcends feminist and queer theory by explicitly incorporating ideas of the fluidly embodied, socially constructed, and self-constructed aspects of social identity, along with the dynamic interaction and integration of these aspects of identity within the narratives of lived experiences” (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010, p. 432). Transgender theory is based on the principle that

You are who you say you are, you exist, you are not invisible, you should not be subjected to the emotional labor of educating others, and you are the expert on your own body and life’s experience. These practices do not rest on outward appearance, nor are they determined by sexual orientation. Furthermore, someone also has the right to determine their appropriate pronouns and name, which may or may not be socially aligned with their gender expression (Breaux & Thyler, 2021, pp. 74–75).

Transgender studies lends itself well to this study as it is not only the study of gender-diverse individuals but, more importantly, examines the relationship between these youth’s self-­construction of gender identity within the specific context of the school setting (Nagoshi & Brzuzy, 2010). As laid out by Kean (2020), transgender studies is built on the fundamental understanding that gender operates on the micro (individual) and macro (institutional and cultural) levels, that gender-based oppression is intersectional with other forms of oppression (e.g. race and ethnicity), and that gender-diverse stories and experiences need to be situated in the forefront of that narrative.

Methodology

Participants were recruited using social media, contacting various LGBTQ groups across the United States, and through snowball sampling. Participants engaged in one interview via Zoom. Interviews ranged from 30 min to 90 min. Interviews were semi-structured (Fontana & Frey, 2003) as this mode of inquiry allowed the author to ask some pointed questions such as: a) How or when did you realize you were a different gender than the sex you were assigned at birth?; b) Do you ever see representations of yourself in the curriculum?; c) Have your teachers ever talked about gender in nontraditional ways?; and d) Does your school have clubs or organizations that are “safe spaces” for gender-diverse youth? The semi-structured interview format also allowed space for the participants to share elements of their experiences in schools that went beyond the questions generated by the author. Questions were modified, as appropriate, based on the participant’s age.

The interview audio recordings were first transcribed via the Zoom transcription service. The author then went through each transcription to check the accuracy of the Zoom transcription and conducted a round of initial coding (Saldaña, 2021) as consistent with grounded theory research methods (Charmaz, 2014). This initial coding of the transcripts allowed the author to generate any follow-up questions for the participant during member checking. The transcriptions were then sent back to the participants for member checking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) to verify transcription accuracy, answer the author’s additional questions, and allow them to share any additional information they wanted. Subsequent rounds of coding were conducted through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). Specifically, the transcripts were analyzed to identify the practices and policies that the trans youth found to be helpful and harmful in their school experiences.

Participants

The data set for this study includes 17 interviews with participants ranging from age 10 to age 26. Table 1 provides a brief description of their self-identified gender. It is important to note that gender and sexuality identification are fluid. Many of the participants are still “playing with their gender.” If follow-up interviews were conducted today, the participants may or may not identify differently than they did at their initial interview. The acronyms AFAB and AMAB stand for Assigned Female at Birth and Assigned Male at Birth and speak to the sex they were assigned at birth based on their visible genitalia. It should also be noted that Taylor (10), Phoenix (12), Logan (12), and Ezra (14) all had a parent or guardian sit in on and participate in the interview. These supportive adults were often able to provide additional information or context to the children’s interviews.

Table 1. Study participants.

Name	Age	Location	Self-Described Gender Identity
Finn	10	S. Carolina	AFAB, Transgender, Demiboy
Taylor*	10	Oregon	AFAB, Transgender, Non-Binary, Agender
Phoenix*	12	Oregon	AFAB, Gender Queer
Logan*	12	Michigan	AMAB, Transgender
Parker	13	Maryland	AFAB, Transgender
Ezra*	14	Florida	AFAB, Transgender
Blake	15	Florida	AFAB, Transgender
Charlie	15	Washington	AFAB, Transgender, GenderQueer
Casey	17	New Jersey	Transgender, Non-Binary, Transmasculine
Milo	17	S. Dakota	Non-Binary, Gender Fluid
Kit	18	Arizona	AFAB, Transgenders Nonbinary
Sloan	19	S. Dakota	AFAB, Nonbinary
Mikey	19	Iowa	AFAB, Transgender
Avery	20	Tennessee	AFAB, Transgender, Non-Binary
Amari	21	Florida	AFAB, Transgender
River	24	California	AFAB, Transgender
Ash	26	Nevada	Transgender

* Asterisks denote participants who had a parent and/or guardian sit in on the interview.

What We Do (or Don’t Do) Matters

The participants shared a range of experiences in schools. Some participants had relatively “easy” experiences transitioning and were thriving in their school settings. While they were still dealing with the challenges of transitioning as students in elementary, middle, and high schools, they found themselves doing so in contexts where they had support from school faculty. Others had mixed experieneces, with some supportive and some non-supportive school faculty. Others faced such challenging situations that they left in-person public schools and either home-schooled or attended school virtually. Regardless of the context, every participant identified policies and practices from school faculty and staff that were helpful and harmful. Many participants identified practices that they found to be well-intentioned or non-­intentional but, ultimately, harmful. Table 2 presents the data about the category of practices and examples of those practices that could be described as harmful, helpful, or unintentionally harmful. Specific examples from the youth themselves will follow. In this section, the voices of the participants will be centered so that we can learn from them (Keenan & Suarez, 2022). Their words have been left intact as much as possible, and my additions are there to provide context to our conversations.

Table 2. Practices by categories.

Categories	Examples
Names & Pronouns	Correct name/pronouns use vs. deadnaming Procedures for changing name/pronouns Names/pronouns for substitute teachers
Creating Safe & Welcoming Spaces	Flags, ally stickers, safe zone signs/stickers LGBTQ-inclusive spaces
LGBTQ+ Inclusive Curriculum	LGBTQ inclusion vs. erasure Teaching about gender/pronouns
Gendered Spaces & Practices	Bathrooms & locker rooms Gendered activities
Bullying & Harassment	Stopping vs. not stopping bullying/harassment Adults bullying trans kids
Other Practices	Outing kids Assuming gender Lack of knowledge Listening to trans youth

Names and Pronouns

Research has found that respecting a trans person’s name and pronouns holds great significance to them and that when people use the chosen name of a trans person, it results in better mental health outcomes for the trans person (James et al., 2016; Pollitt et al., 2021; Russell et al., 2018). This came up repeatedly in the interviews with the trans youth, and they shared a range of experiences. Some had little resistance from school faculty and staff in using their chosen names and pronouns. Others constantly found themselves getting misgendered, mispronounced, and deadnamed. Amari (21) shared that when he came out to a teacher, “She actually helped me come up with a name and helped me get more comfortable with being addressed as he/him by my peers. And it was really nice.” Similarly, Avery (20) and their friend both came out as nonbinary at the same time. They went to their teacher and told her they would like to use names and pronouns different from those on the roster: “And she was very nice nice about it. I don’t think she really understood it, but she tried her best.” In contrast, Parker (13) recalled when the principal came to a club meeting and mentioned that he knew Parker by his dead name. Parker stated, “No one knew our deadnames when we joined that school. So that was really upsetting.” The principal went on to say how hard it was for school faculty to understand the changing of names and pronouns and that the trans students could not expect everyone (students and faculty) to respect their wishes for the changes right away.

Taylor (10) and Finn (10) talked about how teachers helped them facilitate the change in name and pronouns with their peers. Finn, Finn’s parents, the school counselor, and the teacher met to talk about Finn’s desire to use a different name and pronouns: “And then we got back from related arts, which was where the kids were right then she was like, ‘<Deadname > would now prefer to be called Finn. And he uses the pronouns he/him.’”

The youth interviewed also expressed appreciation for systems that allowed for the easy change of names in the school system. River (17) who lived in New Jersey, a state with pro-transgender laws, shared,

They can change the appearance of your name [in the system]. When you open your school account, they can change how it appears. They can’t change your legal name in the system itself, in the records, but they can change how it appears on your accounts, which is something that I’m really grateful for, actually.

When no systems were in place, it created real challenges for youth.

[Before the year started], I emailed all of [my teachers] saying my name is Mikey. Call me Mikey. Call me he/him. And every time I raised my hand in class, he would [use Mikey’s deadname]. And I’d send him a reminder after class. He’d be like ‘Sorry it won’t happen again.’ Next class: Deadname again. And then I just stopped reminding him at that point. I stopped raising my hand because I was not dealing with it. (Mikey, 19)

Carter (16) highlights the importance of teachers being aware of what shows (or does not show) on the official roster. While Carter could not change his name in the system, most of the teachers were supportive in crossing out his deadname and writing in his preferred name on the roster, but he faced a challenge when it came to substitutes. He expressed frustration at going up to every substitute, sharing that the name on the roster needed to be corrected, and providing their preferred name: “And then you sit there and hope they remember because they don’t always remember. And you get deadnamed in front of the entire class. And that’s just a really painful experience.”

Avery (20) argued for the normalization of asking students to share their pronouns, suggesting that teachers, at the beginning of school, ask all students, regardless of gender identity or expression, to share their pronouns. Mikey (19) presented a counterpoint to this. He wanted teachers to be careful in requiring the sharing of pronouns or putting them in the signature of their email,

Because what if the kid is closeted…I understand that you mean well trying to make it inclusive, so instead you can make it known that it’s okay to put your pronouns in there. So have your pronouns in your screen name if you want to encourage it and other people might do that. Introduce yourself with your pronouns, but don’t make everyone introduce themselves with their pronouns. Model that behavior, but don’t require it because there could be a reason the kids are not giving you that. (Mikey, 19)

Creating Safe & Welcoming Spaces

Almost every single [gender diverse kid] feels alone, and giving them the safe space is worth the risk. Having that safe space at school just means everything. And I know that goes for other people that aren’t me. It is really important that there is a GSA at every single school and that kids should be comfortable being able to say, “I like this name more, and I like this set of pronouns more,” and not have to worry about [teachers saying] “I don’t understand that. I’m not going to do that or have to worry about anything like that” (Ezra, 14).

Ezra was not alone in their sentiment. Over and over again, the participants shared ways that school teachers and administrators created spaces in school that felt “safe” for them. These teachers created spaces where the youth interviewed could feel comfortable and affirmed exploring their identities. Even the youngest participants were able to identify the impact of affirming teachers. Logan (12) talked about one of her teachers who had a significant impact on her.

[One teacher] had one of those [community pride flags] and a lot of pride and rainbow stuff in her classroom, so I really enjoyed being there. I felt supported. I wasn’t nervous at all. I felt a lot more comfortable there. It just felt really good to know that somebody does support it.

For Logan, something as small as diplaying a pride flag, made the world of difference in her sense of affirmation in the classroom.

At the beginning of this article, Sloan (19) shared he had only one openly affirming teacher in his high school. He mentioned that this teacher did face backlash from the students and other staff because of her advocacy for LGBTQ students but continued to support LGBTQ students regardless.

Nearly all participants expressed the importance of having LGBTQ-inclusive clubs and spaces in their schools. Amari (21), Mikey (19), and others mentioned spaces like English, choir, theater, and band classrooms where they felt most comfortable sharing their gender identity. Most of the youth interviewed pointed to having a GSA (Gay-Straight or Gender-Sexuality Alliance) as a safe space in their school. Phoenix (12), like many of the participants, started a GSA in their school. Phoenix says that starting the GSA was vital to them because they needed space to know that they were not alone and that being transgender was not a “bad thing.”

While having safer spaces in school for gender-diverse youth is critical, they can also be problematic. Charlie (15) provided an example of a school practice that was well-intentioned but may have actually been more harmful. When Charlie came out as transgender, he was told that he should lead the school’s Gender & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) club. While he was thrilled that his school had a space inclusive of those with diverse gender and sexual identities, he struggled. He stated, “I don’t know who I am. How do I help other people figure out [who they are]?” Just as white people should not ask people of color to speak for all people of their race and ethnicity, cisgender people should not ask trans youth to speak for and represent all gender diverse youth, unless they volunteer to do so. Cisgender teachers and school adminstrators need to be thoughtful about their practices and consider whether they make spaces inclusive or may further maginalize students.

LGBTQ+ Inclusive Curriculum

Kosciw et al.’s. (2022) school climate study showed that having an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum contributes to sexually diverse and gender-expansive students feeling safer at school. Unfortunately, inclusive school curricula are the exception, not the norm, with some students even reporting harmful content being taught by teachers about gender and sexuality (Kosciew et al., 2022). Specifically, a trans-inclusive curriculum provides an opportunity for all students to consider how their “gendered lives [are] constructed and rule-bound, to understand gender as one of many significant categories of difference, and to understand the relationships between gender and sexuality and between gender identity and gender expression” (Ryan et al., 2013, p. 102). Some participants saw themselves and LGBTQ+ identities reflected in their curriculum.

[Many curricular materials including essays and textbooks] ‘if they aren’t talking about a specific person they’ll use they/them pronouns. And in health, they talked a bit about transgender people and gender nonconforming people and transition and starting testosterone or estrogen hormone blockers’ (Phoenix, 12).

Similarly, Charlie (15) mentioned that LGBTQ+ identities were talked about in sex education but had “so much room for improvement.” Phoenix and Charlie’s experiences were rare, as most of the participants reflected the lack of LGBTQ+ presence in the curriculum, even in cases with mandated LGBTQ+ standards. River (17) and Mikey (19) mentioned specific figures and historical events that should highlight queer identities and contributions to history but do not:

We were basically doing our whole section on some of the movements in the 60s and 70s, so we covered Native American movements. We covered American civil rights movements. We covered feminist and suffrage movements. We covered anti-war movements. Everything except the gay liberation movement. That was the only one that was not in there. (River, 17).

The youngest participants even noticed the lack of LGBTQ inclusion: “I love school. And I love books. What about the books about LGBTQ?” (Finn, 10). Something as simple as having diverse books in the classroom can have a significant impact on gender diverse youth. Nearly all of the participants in the study reflected wanting to learn in environments that they see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

Gendered Spaces & Practices

The most gendered spaces in schools that come up most often when talking with transgender students are the bathrooms and locker rooms. Many of the participants shared experiences that were troubling for them and often led them to restrict their fluids at school and only use the restroom in extreme emergencies and wait, instead, until they got home. “At my middle school, teachers will see someone who looks more female presenting but identifies as male going into the male bathroom, which I think they should be able to do. And they’ve told them not to do that and to go into the girls’ bathroom, which I feel is weird” (Phoenix, 12).

Gendered practices in school are not limited to the bathroom and locker rooms. In P-12 schools, especially elementary schools, children are often sorted by gender (usually the sex assigned at birth). Unknowingly, many teachers engage in daily gendered practices, which can have a significant negative impact on students. For example, in almost every elementary school classroom, teachers separate their students into a “boy” group and a “girl” group for no real reason other than to organize students (Mangin, 2020). The language used to refer to the children is often boys and girls instead of gender-neutral terms such as students or children (Woolley & Airton, 2020). River (24) recalled the pain of gendered practices in elementary school, even though, at the time, he did not identify as transgender. He remembers that in November, the boys made pilgrim hats, and the girls made bonnets.

It just seems like as we went through school, there were more and more of these dividers between what the boys did and the girls did that just sometimes [it] got me thinking internally ‘Why can’t we choose what we want to do? Why can’t we all do the same thing?’

These practices continued through middle and high school. High school graduations often have the boys wearing one color and the girls wearing another or having to wear a dress or a tux for senior pictures. High schools have prom kings and queens. Ezra (14) wanted to run for homecoming king but acknowledged that if he did win, “there would be so much backlash on me for being a girl in the guy’s position that I did not even want to go through with that.” The transgender kids noticed these practices: “There’s such a large focus on the binary, and that can be very stressful, especially when you’re questioning” (Avery, 20).

Amari (21) shared an example of one of these gendered practices and how a helpful teacher helped him navigate it:

[The band director] noticed that I was complaining one night after a concert because I was wearing…the band dress. He said, ‘Are you okay?’ I said, ‘No, I hate wearing the dress.’ And he [said], ‘Do you want to wear the shirt and pants like what the guys have?’ and I’m like yes, that would make me feel a lot more comfortable.

Something as “simple” as letting Amari change his outfit and not charge him for the new outfit made a world of difference for him as a transgender youth. While he had not started transitioning yet, the ability to wear the shirt and pants enabled Amari to feel more comfortable in his skin and enjoy the experience of the band for what it was.

Bullying & Harassment

Interviewing these youth reaffirmed the statistics above of bullying and harassment in schools. Almost every participant shared at least one experience of being harassed or bullied by their peers. Charlie (15) and a few others felt they had teachers and school staff support:

I went to a counselor and was like, hey, this kid is harassing me. Please do something, and they did. And it resolved. They basically said they don’t speak to him, period, and he didn’t, so there was no problem (Charlie, 15).

Additionally, Charlie shared that when he started using the boys’ locker room at school, the teachers would always ensure he could change without being harassed by his peers. Unfortunately, this was the exception, not the norm. More often than not, the adults did not stop bullying, harassment, and hate speech: “I tried to tell the counselor. I tried, and my mom would talk to the teachers, too. Nothing ever happened though. None of the bullies ever got punished. Nothing ever happened to stop it” (Carter, 16). Similarly, Parker (13) shared that “the gym teacher watched me as I was getting bullied by a few students, and he just stood there and didn’t do anything.” Mikey (19) stated, “Don’t allow hate speech in your class. It should be an easy one, but you’d be surprised the stuff that comes up in classes.”

The participants also shared experiences of being treated poorly by school faculty or staff. Kit (18) shared an experience in which they told the teacher that she should have the students share their pronouns with their names, and the teacher made fun of them: “And that hurt a lot…she was using her authority as a teacher to make fun of me, making me sound ridiculous for saying that. I didn’t like her very much.” Blake (15), who lives in Florida, shared many of his trans friends have to report teachers for being mean to them because of their trans identities. Similarly, Ezra (14) shared that “you’ll get those few teachers or staff who … you can just tell that they’re like ‘please stay away from me.’” Being a youth today is challenging enough. Students are bullied and harassed for a number of reasons. Teachers and school staff should do whatever possible to stop that bullying and harassment. Moreso, they should not be contributing to it by encouraging that type of behavior or engaging in it themselves.

Other Notable Practices

There were several different practices that the participants shared that are notable and did not fit in any of the previously mentioned categories. Others cut across multiple categories. Throughout the interviews, it became clear that transgender youth have experiences that they want teachers and school administrators to hear about; they want school faculty and staff to be supportive and to stop harmful practices.

All participants expressed a need for individuals to understand gender diversity and trans identities. Many participants shared experiences of teaching others in their lives, including teachers about trans identities, pronouns, outing, and dead naming. For example, after correcting a teacher on his pronouns, “one teacher asked me what a pronoun was. He was being completely serious. This man was like 30-something” (River, 17). The youth often discussed needing to explain diverse gender identities to adults in their lives. Charlie (15) stated, “Really, Google is your best friend. I’ve had a lot of people come to me with…questions. It’s like, have you tried Google?” Ezra (14), Avery (20), Parker (13), and Blake (15) all shared stories of school faculty or staff deadnaming or outing them. “Teachers just [keep] bringing up the fact that I am trans in front of the class is a big thing. Even though everybody already knows …There’s no reason to bring that up, and it just singles me out” (Ezra, 14). Blake (15) shared that a teacher outed him and “starting talking about how I was trans and all that” in a class that he was not even in and feels like others often “find it as a novelty kind of thing.” Similarly, Mikey (19) recommended that teachers be thoughtful when explaining identifying someone as trans. Mikey recalled an incident where a teacher said, “I think it’s really cool that you’re doing this. My nephew is trans, too.”

Many participants expressed frustration at people not understanding trans identities: “There were people who denied me. People who were like ‘Oh, that’s not a thing.’ Even a teacher did that” (Kit, 18). That experience led Kit to be extremely cautious about when and where they would share their gender identity with others, especially school officials. Other participants were begging for adults in their lives and schools to trust them. For 12-year-old Phoenix, it is simple:

Just let the kid be the kid and not make them feel like they’re a weird alien … We’re kids. Even though we are kids, we aren’t dumb. We know about ourselves. And if we think that, if we know that we want to be a different gender than we are assigned at birth, to not make us feel like it’s a phase…or, like something’s wrong with [us] or something. Just to let [us] be [ourselves] and figure it out.

Implications and Conclusion

This study has made it clear that what faculty and staff in P-12 schools do (or do not do) make a difference in the lives of gender-diverse youth. Despite the call for years for changes in school policies and practices (e.g. Gretyak et al., 2013; Martino et al., 2022; McCarthy, 2003), the movement is slow, and the youth are waiting for the schools to catch up to them. Despite the extensive research around the importance of trans-inclusive school settings, transgender identities continue to become more politicized and legislated (Legislative Tracker, n.d.), often forbidding schools from talking about gender and sexual diversity or, in some cases, to call students by any other name than what is on their birth certificate. The fight for trans rights and safety must be fought on many fronts.

Arguably, all schools should have trans-inclusive policies and procedures. There should be clear anti-bullying and harassment policies that specifically name gender identity and expression. Moreover, when reports of bullying and harassment are filed, action needs to be taken. Over and over again, the participants shared that often, bullying and harassment by peers were never addressed. Additionally, schools should have clear and easy procedures for trans youth to change their name and gender in the official school records, even if not legally changed. Trans students should not be forced to be deadnamed and outed each time a new teacher takes attendance or a substitute in the room. Schools must decrease gendered practices, use more gender-inclusive language, and include instruction about gender and gender diversity (Mangin, 2020; Woolley & Airton, 2020). In order to prepare teachers to do this, teachers need high quality professional development that teaches them about gender diversity, how to be responsive to gender diverse students’ needs and how to use a trans-inclusive curriculum in age-appropropirate ways in their classrooms (Gretyak et al, 2013; Meyer et al., 2019; Staley & Leonardi, 2021).

Schools should examine their gendered practices regarding school spaces. Mangin (2020) argues that whenever possible, schools should go beyond merely accommodating and assimilating trans students and instead modify spaces so that they are accessible for all students, regardless of gender. Parker (13) reflected this in his own experiences of having to use a ­single-stall restroom in the nurse’s office to change for the gym: “It doesn’t matter what I identify as. I shouldn’t have to be separated from other people.” This might prevent incidents such as River (15) experienced: “I’ve had two teachers on separate occasions try and not let me use [the guidance bathroom]. I don’t think they were being transphobic. They were just clueless.”

Beyond formal policies and practices, gender-diverse students need to know that there are adults in their school buildings who are. Acts as simple as “just using the preferred pronouns and preferred names can definitely help” (Milo, 17). Gender diverse youth thrive in environments with safe spaces and formal clubs, such as a GSA or informal spaces. Sloan (19) talked about their experience in a choir where the choir teacher let them change their name and sing tenor rather than alto and offered to help train their voice to do so: “That’s acceptance. That is caring about your students’ social emotional needs.” Even in the most toxic environments, the youth were able to identify at least one person and one context within the school setting where they felt seen, validated, and safe.

Woolley’s (2019) article is aptly titled “When You Don’t Believe Something Is Real, You Can’t Actually Advocate For or Support It: Trans* Inclusion in K-12 Schools.” Teacher education must be purposeful in including gender diversity beyond the gender binary. If we want teachers to teach about gender diversity, teacher education must take up the charge. Teacher educators need to examine their own self-efficacy and practices around teaching about gender and sexual diversity (Brant & Willox, 2021, 2022, 2023). We need to educate P −12 teachers about being trans-inclusive in their teaching, as more education about trans individuals can lead to less discrimination, bullying, and harassment in school and society:

I think that if we had LGBTQ history taught that would be extremely good because we treat it like it’s all about sex. It just weaponizes the whole LGBTQ. And they will use it against you. So teaching actual history of it can kind of put it in kids’ heads, like “Hey, they are oppressed. You shouldn’t be doing this.” (Ezra, 14)

It would be naive to think these changes will be easy to make, especially given the sociopolitical context. What is clear is that the fight for transgender youth will continue. As their identities continue to be politicized, trans youth will continue to experience hardships in schools and society. P-12 education needs to see, hear, and advocate for transgender youth. They also want to know that they can come to school, learn, and be safe from peers and teachers. We must listen to these youth and do our best to meet their needs.

This article concludes with the voices of Blake and Logan. Hopefully, their words can influence how we work with and for gender-diverse youth in P-12 schools and higher education:

[Trans kids are] just kids [who] most of the time want to be seen by the people who are teaching them so that they can see the people who are teaching them back…Most trans teens I’ve talked to want just recognition for who they are trying to fight to be recognized as. (Blake, 15)

I think the most important thing is to feel safe…just saying you’re okay, you’re safe is enough to make them feel better. Just those simple words. That’s all it takes. And maybe I think you should also have some flags. Some trans flages. Just those little things can make a big impact (Logan, 12)

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).