CSD has a wonderful track record of academic success with many groups of students. Closer inspection reveals that we are not meeting the needs of students from historically oppressed and marginalized groups. Our families and students have shared their experiences here in Camas and the message is clear - we have work to do.
Why is a district talking about LGBTQIA+ students? First, our highest priority is to see and serve all Camas students. Second, LGBTQIA+ students have important needs that have largely gone unmet in our school communities. Research shows that when LGBTQIA+ students are faced with rejection, fear of rejection, erasure, harassment and violence, that their mental health is significantly and negatively impacted. All students deserve for their identities to be validated. LGBTQIA+ students are no different. Additionally, Camas families will benefit from access to resources aimed at helping them navigate the sensitive territory of a child who is in the process of coming out as LGBTQIA+.
CSD staff know that failure to effectively serve each and every student threatens our collective capacity to thrive as a community. We owe each child the opportunity to experience success.
To Read: Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Teens: Facts for Teens & Their Parents, HealthyChildren.org
To Watch: Visible: Out on Television
To Listen: Time Out Youth Podcast
To Do: Visit The Q Center and explore The Family Acceptance Project, The Trevor Project
NOTICE: This resource may contain links to websites operated by third parties. These links are provided for your convenience only and do not constitute or imply any endorsement or monitoring by CSD.
What is LGBTQIA+? The Center & The GLAAD Media Reference Guide define the acronym as the following:
LESBIAN: A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay or as gay women.
GAY: The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex. Sometimes lesbian is the preferred term for women.
BISEXUAL: A person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of another gender. People may experience this attraction in differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual people need not have had specific sexual experiences to be bisexual; in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual.
TRANSGENDER: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. People under the transgender umbrella may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms— including transgender. Many transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. Some undergo surgery as well. But not all transgender people can or will take those steps, and a transgender identity is not dependent upon physical appearance or medical procedures.
QUEER: An adjective used by some people, particularly younger people, whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual. Typically, for those who identify as queer, the terms lesbian, gay, and bisexual are perceived to be too limiting and/or fraught with cultural connotations they feel don’t apply to them. Some people may use queer, or more commonly genderqueer, to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some LGBT people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBT community.
QUESTIONING: Sometimes, when the Q is seen at the end of LGBT, it can also mean questioning. This term describes someone who is questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Intersex: An umbrella term describing people born with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or a chromosome pattern that can't be classified as typically male or female. Those variations are also sometimes referred to as Differences of Sex Development (DSD.) Avoid the outdated and derogatory term "hermaphrodite." While some people can have an intersex condition and also identify as transgender, the two are separate and should not be conflated. (For more information, visit interactyouth.org.)
Asexual: An adjective used to describe people who do not experience sexual attraction (e.g., asexual person). A person can also be aromantic, meaning they do not experience romantic attraction. (For more information, visit asexuality.org.)