[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-591573-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-591573-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","more-thana-safe-space-how-schools-can-enable-lgbtq-students-to-thrive","More Thana Safe Space - How Schools Can Enable LGBTQ Students to Thrive","","The text argues that school safety is necessary but not sufficient for LGBTQ students, since many schools treat “safe” as the primary goal while overlooking broader educational inclusion and treatment of LGBTQ issues. It introduces the book Safe Is Not Enough and explains how educators across roles already apply parts of this improved vision. It also traces the historical use of “safety” language from the 1980s onward, noting early efforts targeting harassment, and state initiatives such as Massachusetts and Washington that supported safer school environments for LGBTQ youth.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/more-thana-safe-space-how-schools-can-enable-lgbtq-students-to-thrive/591573/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/more-thana-safe-space-how-schools-can-enable-lgbtq-students-to-thrive/591573.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"supergirl","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why does the text argue that “safe” schools are not enough for LGBTQ students?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It contends that schools often focus on safety alone while failing to address deeper attitudes and practices about LGBTQ issues. Safety is a prerequisite, but broader support is needed for students to thrive.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What historical problem does the text link to safety-focused arguments in the 1980s and early 1990s?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It describes that gay and lesbian students faced daily verbal and physical harassment and experienced academic, health, and mental health consequences as a result.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Which early state example does the text give for tackling LGBTQ-related school issues?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Massachusetts is cited as the first state to establish the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth in 1989, leading to state-funded Safe Schools programs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},591573,1792189508,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":106,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","More Thana Safe Space  \nHow Schools Can Enable LGBTQ Students to Thrive  \nILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDRÉ DA LOBA  \nBy Michael Sadowski  \nF  \new educators or philosophers of education would argue that schools’ sole purpose is to keep children safe. Yet a particular subset of students in the United States—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning  \n(LGBTQ)* students—are often served by their schools as if their mere safety were a sufficient objective in and of itself.1 The purpose of my book Safe IsNot Enough: Better Schools for LGBTQ Students,  \nMichael Sadowski teaches education at Bard College, is the director of the Bard Early College-Hudson Initiative, and is the editor of the Youth Development and Education Series for Harvard Education Press. A former high school teacher and Gay-Straight Alliance advisor, he has served as vice chair of the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, editor of the Harvard Education Letter, and a teacher trainer in New York City’s public schools. This article is adapted with permission from his book Safe Is Not Enough: Better Schools for LGBTQ Students (Harvard Education Press, 2016), [www.hepg.org/hep-home/](www.hepg.org/hep-home/)[ ](www.hepg.org/hep-home/)[books/safe-is-not-enough.](books/safe-is-not-enough.)  \nfrom which this article is drawn, is to challenge the all-too-prevalent attitudes and practices that suggest “safe” schools are enough for LGBTQ students, and to articulate what it might look like to take public schools in the United States to the next level in their service to LGBTQ students and their treatment of LGBTQ issues.  \nFortunately, this vision need not emerge out of some utopian vision of the future. Today, right now, educators working in different parts of the country and in various capacities—as teachers, administrators, librarians, and counselors—realize aspects of this vision every day with their students. Their efforts illustrate not  \n*In discussions of the issues that affect LGBTQ students, language can be problematic. Before the 1990s, most studies about LGBTQ people referred only to lesbian (L) and gay (G) individuals, but researchers have become increasingly aware that bisexual (B) people are a distinct group with specific concerns. More recent research also has recognized the special issues that affect transgender (T) individuals, who do not conform to traditional man/woman or boy/girl gender norms in a variety of ways. In addition, some individuals identify as queer (Q), a designation that implies a rejection of societal norms and/or labels associated with sexuality and gender. The Q in LGBTQ is also used to designate “questioning” here, referring to students who are unsure of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  \n4 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2016–2017  \nonly that schools should be more than safe for LGBTQ students but that they already are in many respects, in a wide range ofcommunities and contexts around the country, and that they therefore can be in many others.  \nA History of “Safe” Schools  \nSafety is, of course, a basic prerequisite for schooling—children and adolescents need to feel and be safe at school in order to learn. The language of safety has therefore been central to programming in support of LGBTQ students throughout its often-contentious history over the last three decades.  \nThe universal belief in the need for students tobe safe at school was key to the arguments educators and activists made in the 1980sand early 1990s, when efforts to improve schools for LGBTQ (or, as was the focus at the time, gay and lesbian) youth were in their early stages. As these education advocates urgently and accurately pointed out, gay and lesbian students were being verbally and physically harassed on a daily basis at school, did not feel safe, and were suffering a host of academic, health, and mental health consequences because of it—conditions that persist in many school environments to this day.  \nIn 1989, Massachusetts","cbCaioc7W2YzfxLh","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioc7W2YzfxLh","pdf",412273,"English","# More Thana Safe Space\n## How Schools Can Enable LGBTQ Students to Thrive\n## A History of “Safe” Schools","[{\"question\":\"Why does the text argue that “safe” schools are not enough for LGBTQ students?\",\"answer\":\"It contends that schools often focus on safety alone while failing to address deeper attitudes and practices about LGBTQ issues. Safety is a prerequisite, but broader support is needed for students to thrive.\"},{\"question\":\"What historical problem does the text link to safety-focused arguments in the 1980s and early 1990s?\",\"answer\":\"It describes that gay and lesbian students faced daily verbal and physical harassment and experienced academic, health, and mental health consequences as a result.\"},{\"question\":\"Which early state example does the text give for tackling LGBTQ-related school issues?\",\"answer\":\"Massachusetts is cited as the first state to establish the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth in 1989, leading to state-funded Safe Schools programs.\"}]","More Thana Safe Space - How Schools Can Enable LGBTQ Students to Thrive | PDF",1792072752,18]