LGBTQ+ Youth's Rights Under Attack: STEP 1 (Part 2)

Source: Alex Tinca, www.pexels.com

By: Sam Piha

There have been recent attacks on LGBTQ+ youth in political rhetoric and as state houses around America are considering legislation that targets LGBTQ young people. Even though there are inclusive and progressive politics in some states, afterschool programs in states across the country do not enjoy this. How can they promote a safe space for all youth amid state efforts to erase the LGBTQ+ community? To read part 1 of this blog, click here.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Begin by staying informed. Below, in this blog we continue our listing of articles about these attacks which are listed by topic. If you click on the title, it will take you to the original article. 

MORE ABOUT SCHOOLS

Source: GLSEN

Principal forced to resign after students shown picture of Michelangelo’s David

March 24, 2023 • One parent complained that a Renaissance art lesson was “pornographic.”

School district bans kids from singing Dolly Parton & Miley Cyrus song because it mentions rainbows

March 27, 2023 • The school also tried to ban a Kermit the Frog song.

SPORTS

South Carolina becomes the latest state to enact a transgender sports ban

May 17, 2022 • South Carolina's governor signed into law a bill that would ban transgender students from playing girls' or women's sports in public schools and colleges.

Utah bans transgender athletes in girls sports despite governor's veto

March 25, 2022 • Lawmakers voted to override GOP Gov. Spencer Cox's veto of legislation banning transgender youth athletes from playing on girls teams. The move comes amid a nationwide culture war over trans issues.

Transgender girls and women now barred from female sports in Iowa

IOWA PUBLIC RADIO NEWS March 3, 2022 • The ban takes effect immediately. The ban applies to K-12 schools and community colleges as well as colleges and universities that are part of the NCAA or NAIA.

The Chicago Blackhawks cancel a pride-themed warm-up citing Vladimir Putin

March 24, 2023 • Russia's gay propaganda law creeps into the National Hockey League.

CRIMINALIZING LGBTQ+ YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES

Texas Supreme Court OKs state child abuse inquiries into the families of trans kids

May 13, 2022 • The ruling overturns an injunction barring state officials from following Abbott's directive to view treatments such as hormones and puberty-blocking drugs as incidents of child abuse.

SOME PUSH BACK

School Sports Cannot ‘Categorically’ Ban Transgender Athletes, Under Biden Proposal

April 6, 2023 • The proposed rules would give schools flexibility for “fairness in competition” or where participation could lead to injury.

A Transgender Student Moved Cross-Country for a Welcoming School. Here’s Their Story

February 27, 2023 • Dandelion Hunt-Smith moved across the country with their family from Columbus, Ga., to San Francisco for their senior year of high school in search of a welcoming school.

A judge has blocked a Texas investigation of one transgender teen's parents

March 2, 2022 • Judge's order stops short of preventing the state from looking into other reports about children receiving similar care.

A judge blocks part of an Alabama law that criminalizes gender-affirming medication

May 14, 2022 • The federal judge issued a preliminary injunction while a court challenge goes forward. The judge left in place other parts of the law that banned gender-affirming surgeries.

Governors in Indiana and Utah veto transgender sports bans

March 22, 2022 • Eleven states have enacted transgender sports bans, though many have been snarled by lawsuits.

A Texas judge blocks the state from investigating parents of transgender youth

THE TEXAS NEWSROOM, March 11, 2022 • The judge halted the state from enforcing Gov. Greg Abbott's directive to launch "child abuse" investigations against parents getting gender-affirming care for their transgender children.

After protests, Disney CEO speaks out against Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill

March 8, 2022 • Disney CEO Bob Chapek says the company will pledge five million dollars to groups "working to protect" LGBTQ+ rights. The Human Rights Campaign says it won't take Disney's money.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• VIDEO: A look at efforts targeting LGBTQ youth around the country
• The Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network is a next-generation LGBTQ racial and gender justice organization that empowers and trains queer, trans and allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and mobilize an intersectional movement for safer schools and healthier communities.
• The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Every day GLSEN works to ensure that LGBTQ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment. Together, we can transform our nation’s K-12 schools into the safe and affirming environment all youth deserve.
• GLSEN- The 2021 National School Climate Survey, Executive Summary
• Global Giving- After School Programs for Gay & Lesbian Youth
• National Afterschool Association- Four Things to Remember About Supporting LGBTQ Youth
• California Afterschool Network- LGBTQ Youth Resources
• More Than a Safe Space: How Schools Can Enable LGBTQ Students to Thrive

Preparing Youth for the Workforce in Afterschool and Building Your Own Youth Worker Pipeline (Part 1)

Source: Alexandriava.gov

By Sam Piha

We know that when asked, older youth say they are most interested in acquiring the skills needed to get a job. Also, we know that as youth program leaders, it is our job to help prepare young people for success in adulthood, which includes creating opportunities to explore careers and gather work-based skills. Afterschool, sometimes referred to as Expanded Learning (ExL), is well positioned to help older youth to acquire these skills. 

Bill Fennessy

Bill Fennessy is a Program Specialist for Workforce Initiatives at the California AfterSchool Network (CAN). I first met Bill years ago when he innovated a new high school afterschool program in Pasadena, CA. Bill was part of the first round of ASSETs (After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens) program funding. He subsequently joined Think Together as their first Director of High School Programs and continued this role later at A World Fit for Kids. We recently invited Bill to lead a How Kids Learn Speaker’s Forum webinar entitled, Preparing Youth for the Workforce in Afterschool and Building Your Own Youth Worker Pipeline. To learn more and register, click here.

In preparation of this webinar, we asked Bill a few questions on the importance of youth workforce development in afterschool programs, and his responses are below.

Q: What do you mean by workforce preparation?   

A: Preparing older youth for the workforce is giving students both the skill building instruction, practice and experience to prepared them for the employment process, and then provide additional specific preparation previous to an actual workplace environment to provide a truly beneficial experience and real context for working. Starting to expose and prepare older youth to serve in afterschool or expanded learning (ExL) elementary programs can be a significant help to developing and finding potential quality staff, thereby creating your own ExL program staffing pipeline.

Q: What do we hear from the business community in regard to preparing youth for the workforce?

A: Businesses and corporations are looking for a diverse workforce of young employees that can assimilate into the workplace smoothly, quickly, and carry themselves in a professional manner. Being able to thrive in a team environment and/or on team projects is also a highly sought ability. They are also looking more now at what an employee can actually do, rather than what level of education they have attained. Then once employed, advancing in the workplace also has far more to do with an employee’s “people-skills” than the volume of work completed. In addition, Community Colleges are considering giving credits for employment completed in general. Resumes are very important in demonstrating what skills potential employees possess, and ExL employment provides an opportunity to acquire a vast number of skills and competencies.

Q: Why is preparing youth for work and career success important for young people from low-income neighborhoods? Is there an issue of equity that we should seek to address?  

A: Preparing young people from low-income neighborhoods is absolutely critical for their success in both education and the workforce. Results from a Gallup Poll showed that 65% of underserved and youth of color will take their educational and career advice from someone in the workplace, over their parent, teacher, or counselor combined. Thus, it is incredibly clear that preparing and placing our underserved and youth of color in the workforce is a MUST.  

Our ExL youth participants are the diversified workforce we are looking for in our ExL programs. Having students serving in elementary ExL programs, can also be a start towards an education pathway, which should then help provide the diversified Exl workforce and potentially continuing on to the diversified teaching workforce desired.  

I would tell the other afterschool programs that it is an excellent idea to bring student youth workers to their program because it is giving them a chance to succeed in life, and they won't be just in the streets doing nothing. Instead, they will be in the programs learning about new experiences and how to be better in the future.” – HS youth, Richmond Village Beacon Center, SF, Ca 

 

Q:  Is this an appropriate concept for elementary, middle and/or high school?  

A: This is most appropriate for high school students, as they are old enough to get a work-permit from their school district. Employing high school youth in elementary school ExL programs does have a positive effect on those programs. Also, older youth students serving in our elementary school ExL programs do not require a Work-Permit, so the opportunity is open for ALL high school students. (We do avoid high school students working with middle school students to avoid potential over-identification issues.) 

Bill Fennessy is a Program Specialist for Workforce Initiatives at the California AfterSchool Network (CAN). Bill was part of the first round of ASSETs (After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens) programs funding. He subsequently joined Think Together as their first Director of High School Programs and continued this role later at A World Fit for Kids, before joining CAN.

Summer Fundraiser:

The How Kids Learn Foundation is hosting a summer fundraiser to support our work in 2023. Learn more here!