As the social and educational landscapes continue to evolve, educational leaders need to be prepared to create institutions that reflect all students, staff, and communities. In the last few years, the need for culturally responsive, anti-bias and anti-racist leadership and teaching has taken hold of the educational community. However, the need for better education and development on understanding the LGBTQ+ community and their issues is often ignored in the school institution. Schools have “historically been places that reinforce heterosexuality and gender conforming roles among staff and students” (Ferrante, 2017).
States also face challenges to adapt to the new landscape as leaders are threatening the safety and ability for students, staff, and communities to learn and be provided appropriate resources. Following the 2016 Presidential campaign, the number of state legislations across the United States targeting LGBTQ students has risen significantly. In 2015, there were 15 anti-LGBTQ bills that were enacted into law, 17 passed in 2021, and in 2022, 29 anti-LGBTQ laws were passed (Human Rights Campaign, 2023). Of the 46 discriminatory laws passed between 2021 and 2022, 39% targeted transgender and limiting their rights in school (Movement Advancement Project, 2023). Currently, in 2024, there are several hundred new legal acts being considered against the transgender community all across the United States.
In the K-12 setting, transgender students face challenges from three critical legal areas within the United States, gender identity discrimination, privacy, and access to medical care and support services. In primarily Republican-controlled states, there are higher numbers of anti-LGBTQ legislation. State authorities are becoming active in LGBTQ issues to gain votes and access their more “conservative base by curtailing the rights of LGBTQ people and specifically trans youth” (Ronan, 2021). The following gives a quick overview of each area.
Gender Identity Discrimination:
State legislators have enacted laws and enforced policies that discriminate against students based on their gender identity, preventing them from playing on sports teams and accessing bathrooms that match their own identity, forcing them instead to go with their assigned sex at birth. This also shows up in cases such as Vlaming v. West Point School Board, where French teacher Peter Vlaming refused to recognize chosen names and pronouns of students (Justia Law, 2023). Under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, schools have a legal obligation to ensure that transgender students are treated fairly and not subjected to discrimination or harassment.
Privacy:
For students under the age of 18, parents have legal control over their privacy and rights. For transgender students, this can create concerns around how they identify at school versus at home. Schools collect and store legal student information, but also collect personal information including gender identity. A student’s privacy needs are challenged when schools collect, store, and discuss pronouns and gender identity in environments where that information may harm the student. Mishandling of confidential information related to a student’s gender identity can lead to legal challenges and violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Medical Care:
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for increased mental health support in schools has increased by 27%and amongst transgender students by 60% (Sparks, 2022). Transgender students require access to medical care and support that addresses their health needs, such as hormone therapy and counseling. However, legal challenges have arisen since 2016 concerning the school and its obligation to provide access to these services. On August 1, 2024, new Title IX requirements ensures that transgender students are provided access to these services in schools. However, schools may face legal implications by collaborating with healthcare providers and must work with families and the community to ensure that everything is provided in a nondiscriminatory manner consistent with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if needed.
Maryland and Student Protections:
Maryland has among the highest levels of protections in the United States for transgender students. Under Governor Wes Moore, transgender students and the trans and queer community are protected under numerous state-enumerated protections, including employment, anti-bullying, LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education in schools, affirmative gender markers and non-binary makers on all state IDs, and required all-gender single occupancy facilities. In particular, Maryland offers strong healthcare protections for the LGBTQ+ community, providing mental health coverage, hormone therapy, and affirming surgery options. In 2012, Maryland became the first state that granted same-sex couples the same legal and civil benefits of marriage. Then, in 2014, Maryland prohibited discrimination on gender identity and expression in the Fairness for All Marylanders Act of 2014. One of the greatest protections for queer and transgender students occurred in 2018, when Maryland banned the harmful practice of conversion therapy on minors.
On June 6, 2023, Governor Moore signed an executive order that built “on the administration’s dedication to safeguard the rights of LGTQUIA+ individuals” (The Office of Governor Wes Moore, 2023). The order ensures Maryland is a safe place for gender affirming care and protects any individual “seeking, receiving or providing care from attempts at legal punishment by other states” (The Office of Governor Wes Moore, 2023). Despite this executive order offering numerous protections for transgender students in schools, it is not without uncertainty and gaps in its ability to be implemented in educational spaces. The order lacks language and clarity around how schools can provide access for students to receive this care, who can authorize this care (school professionals, medical, or family), and what facilities would need to be provided or built to allow for care in schools. But it is still far outpacing other states in terms of formal legislation.
Schools can provide transgender students with necessary medical care and support in Maryland, with numerous structures already in place under the inclusive leadership of Governor Moore. However, the protections lack the necessity of ensuring every public school is provided with access to affirming healthcare providers and school nurses, accommodating access and treatment for hormone therapy, and trained mental health counselors (Maryland State Department of Education, 2024). Updating or working with the Maryland Department of Education to ensure that all school staff, including teachers, administrators, counselors, and operational staff, are trained on transgender health issues and inclusive practices (Maryland State Department of Education, 2024) is the next essential evolution in Maryland’s transgender leadership.
Inclusive For All Students:
According to the Human Rights Campaign, “the wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation – a coordinated push led by national anti-LGBTQ groups, not local lawmakers, is to score political points with the conservative base” (Ronan, 2021). Principals need to work against this national trend and create an inclusive environment that honors and recognizes students’ identities and expression, but also those of the staff and community. Principals must understand and honor everyone’s gender identities, pronouns, and their right to be themselves. To ensure that the school is welcoming and inclusive for transgender students, the principal needs to implement professional development that focuses on the need and strategies of being culturally responsive. A study from 2022 found that 78% of transgendered youth experienced harassment or mistreatment at school and 35% reported physical violence (Das & Drolet, 2022). Creating professional development that “integrate[s] LGBTQ topics and ensures that leaders are shifting away from policies that support just tolerance to policies that support and educate on acceptance” is critical (Ferrante, 2017).
This training should not be implemented as a one-time session that all staff experience. For principals to implement real change to their schools, this training needs to be continuous and focused as the center of all leadership work. Through working to continuously create a positive inclusive environment, principals will see a great impact on students’ well-being, academic performance, and a greater retention of staff. Educational leadership training often discusses the types of leadership needed to “promote a strong climate but fail to provide strong action suggestions that leaders can use immediately in their own institutions.” (Hughes & Pickeral, 2013) Once staff education and development is in progress, principals can then move on to begin deconstructing the heteronormative practices in their schools. This can be accomplished by implementing social justice programs, acknowledging where the school has failed to address LGBTQ+ topics, incorporating inclusive books into class curriculum and libraries, and inviting LGBTQ+ community leaders into the school. Principals could create social community circles, or discussion town halls, to allow for the community to give voice on the progress and structures that are in place. Leadership teams would take the feedback and reflect upon it and take immediate actions to continue to create a welcoming and safe school.
Conclusion:
Even in Maryland, with its robust transgender protections, gaps exist in the implementation and accessibility of affirming healthcare services within educational spaces. School leaders, especially the principal, play a critical role in creating inclusive environments that provide for all students. Through ongoing professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching and LGBTQ+ issues, staff and community can promote tolerance, acceptance, and understanding for transgender and gender non-conforming students, fostering stronger student well-being and academic success in the process.
The educational landscape in America today continues to shift in a post-pandemic space, presenting both challenges and opportunities for school leaders to respond. The need for culturally responsive teaching has never been more important, as anti-LGBTQ+ views rise throughout the United States. This dangerous rise in legislation highlights the urgency that principals need to have to address the unique needs of LGTBQ+ students.
Despite obstacles throughout the United States, Maryland is a leader in protections for the LGBTQ+ community. Maryland has ensured lasting protections, including gender affirming care, affirming gender marks on state IDs, and banning conversion therapy practices. Moving forward, principals and other educational leader must prioritize the deconstruction of the heteronormative practices within their schools. These systemic practices create harm and isolation for transgender and LGTQ+ students. By actively involving the community in the process and continually seeking feedback and reflection, principals can cultivate powerful environments where all students are valued, supported in their identities, and respected. Offering strong staff development, social justice programs, and collaboration with community LGBTWQ+ leaders, principals can shift the climate of their schools. Through these concerted efforts and commitments to equity and inclusion, schools can be places that reflect the diversity of their students, staff, and communities and be a truly more harmonious place for all to learn and grow.
