Background

• “Homophobia among adolescents remains an understudied yet prominent social issue relevant to several interrelated areas of research within schools”1 • “Homophobia includes negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors toward non-heterosexual individuals and behavior … This can include verbal, physical, and relational aggression that contains homophobic themes or references”1 • The psychological and social consequences resulting from being the target of homophobic bullying can be devastating (depression, isolation, fear) • Students of all sexual orientations, genders, and racial or ethnic backgrounds are directly victimized and impacted by homophobic acts.2 • “Bullying of LGBTQ students stems largely from discomfort with students who do not conform to traditional gender roles in their appearance or behavior, i.e., who are gender-non-conforming. A student’s actual sexual orientation may be far less relevant to his or her social victimization than his or her gender identity or gender expression.”