Deborah Temkin

Creating school environments that support students’ health and well-being is critical for helping them thrive. For students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary, or another non-heterosexual and/or non-cisgender sexual orientation or gender identity (LGBTQ+), research demonstrates that affirming policies—which provide explicit, enumerated protections (i.e., a specific list of protections)—are associated with reduced rates of bullying and suicide, among other outcomes.