Local school leaders say some of the resources she has received from the state education department have been helpful, but want more guidance on navigating the conversation around gender identity in schools.
Students in the Bay State who identify as LGBTQ are 3.7 times more likely to miss school due to feeling unsafe, according to a state education official.
"What we're finding is that in our schools, we're not seeing the hostility. For us the hostility is coming from the community. I have received so much vitriolic email, phone calls, death threats, marches outside my office, where people are offended primarily about gender neutral bathrooms or decisions around curriculum," she said.
"The guidance was pretty vague in some areas, particularly around working with families and how do you identify a student to their family. What are the laws around it?" she said. In first grade, the department offers guidance in social studies standards about helping students understand families that look different from their own. U.S. history standards for high schoolers include having students use primary and secondary resources to analyze social political movements such as the LGBTQ civil rights movement.
As students get older, the guidelines include education about sex, healthy romantic relationships, gender identity and how to stay safe from sex trafficking.
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