Supporting the goals and ideals of the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative, a call to action to communities across the country to demand equal educational opportunity, basic civil rights protections, and freedom from erasure for all students, particularly LGBTQI+ young people, in elementary and secondary schools.

Whereas young people, teachers, school staff, families, and communities must be free of transphobia, homophobia, racism, sexism, and ableism in elementary and secondary schools; Whereas elementary and secondary schools must be safe and inclusive learning environments that affirm LGBTQI+ young people, especially those who are transgender, nonbinary, intersex, Black, Indigenous, people of color, people with disabilities, and from all communities that experience marginalization; Whereas for over two decades, Congress has supported a resolution for a National Day of Silence No Name-Calling Week Whereas advocates have designated 2023–2024 as a time for communities to carry out the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative in support of LGBTQI+ young people in schools, by building on the goals of the National Day of Silence No Name-Calling Week Whereas LGBTQI+ young people frequently experience bias-based bullying and harassment, discrimination, and punitive discipline that increases the likelihood they will enter the school-to-prison pipeline; Whereas over 200 anti-LGBTQI+ education bills are introduced each year in State legislatures across the country, the majority of which specifically target transgender and nonbinary young people, including— (1) in Idaho, on March 30, 2020, where Governor Brad Little signed the first bill into law barring transgender students from playing on the school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity 17 days after the COVID–19 pandemic was declared a national emergency; (2) between 2021 and 2022, when 17 additional States enacted laws prohibiting transgender students from playing alongside their peers on school sports teams; and (3) between 2021 and 2022, when 3 States enacted laws to prevent transgender students from using the school bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity; Whereas the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2021 National School Climate Survey found that LGBTQI+ students who experienced LGBTQI+ discrimination at school in the past year, including being prevented from using the restroom that aligns with the student’s gender identity and being barred from playing on the school sports team that aligns with the student’s gender identity, were nearly 3 times as likely to have missed school in the past month, had lower grade point averages, reported lower feelings of school belonging, and had higher levels of depression compared to LGBTQI+ students who had not experienced LGBTQI+ discrimination; Whereas LGBTQI+ young people are more likely than their non-LGBTQI+ peers to experience bullying at school and mental health concerns, including stress, anxiety, and depression; Whereas nearly half of LGBTQI+ young people seriously considered suicide in the last year, a trend that increases among Indigenous, Black, and multiracial LGBTQI+ young people; Whereas Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2021 National School Climate Survey found that, among LGBTQI+ students who said that they were considering dropping out of school, 31.4 percent indicated that they were doing so because of the hostile climate created by gendered school policies and practices; Whereas States are passing or attempting to pass legislation that erases or censors LGBTQI+ people, history, and contributions from classroom literature and curricula, including— (1) in March 2022, in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis signed House bill 1557 into law censoring instruction related to LGBTQI+ people, commonly referred to as the Don’t Say Gay or Trans (2) in May 2021, in Arizona, where Governor Doug Ducey signed House bill 2035, which would require parental consent for a child to learn about topics such as the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples; and (3) in 2021, when Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and Tennessee enacted laws that treat instruction related to LGBTQI+ people in history, science, the arts, or any academic class as a sensitive topic that requires parental notification and allows parents to opt their child out of such instruction; Whereas these laws harm students and force parents to consider leaving their homes, as demonstrated in a Williams Institute report, which found that 56 percent of LGBTQI+ parents of students in Florida considered moving out of Florida and 16.5 percent have taken steps to move out of Florida because of House bill 1557; Whereas States have gone farther by specifically targeting transgender students and their parents with laws that attack transgender students’ mental health counseling and gender-affirming care, including— (1) in 2022, in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive to the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate the parents of young people seeking gender-affirming care for child abuse, which purported to require school professionals to report parents who are supportive of their transgender child for investigation; and (2) by early March 2023, when 34 States introduced over 135 bills that prohibit or create barriers to the social affirmation of transgender and nonbinary students, such as using a student’s chosen name and pronouns, regardless of the risk to students’ safety, health, and well-being; Whereas 85 percent of transgender and nonbinary young people say that recent debates prompted by State legislation restricting the rights of transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health; Whereas every young person must have equal educational opportunity and freedom from the fear that their basic civil and educational rights will be taken away from them; Whereas 94 percent of teachers say that schools should ensure that no students feel unsafe, invisible, or unheard; Whereas young people who develop in positive school climates, free of bullying, harassment, and discrimination, report greater physical and psychological safety, greater mental well-being, and improved educational and life outcomes; Whereas positive school transformation must recognize that safety is too low a bar and that all communities deserve to be acknowledged and affirmed in our schools; Whereas students and parents, educators, and community members in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, and in all States and territories of the United States are advocating for safe and inclusive learning environments that affirm LGBTQI+ young people, including those who are transgender, nonbinary, Black, Indigenous, people of color, and people with disabilities; and Whereas we must all demand the best possible future for all young people in schools, particularly those who identify as LGBTQI+, without exception: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) supports the goals and ideals of the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative in demanding the best possible future for all young people in schools, particularly those who identify as LGBTQI+; and (2) encourages each State, territory, and locality to support the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative and adopt laws and policies that prohibit bias-based victimization, exclusion, and erasure.

Summary: This resolution expresses support for the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative.