LGBTQ

Education news, analysis, and opinion about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer students or teachers and their experiences in school

See also: Transgender Students

Explainer

Hands holding different colored placards with the letters LGBTQ+
These LGBTQ+ Terms Can Help Create A Safe School for Students
To create a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students in schools, here are some terms that educators should know.
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A group of California parents has asked the nation's highest court to reinstate a federal district court decision that said parents have a federal constitutional right to be informed by schools of any gender nonconformity and social transitions by their children. The Supreme Court building is seen on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
A group of California parents has asked the nation's highest court, whose building is shown on Jan. 13, 2026, to reinstate a federal district court decision that said parents have a federal constitutional right to be informed by schools of any gender nonconformity or social transition by their children.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Law & Courts Parents Ask Supreme Court to Restore Ruling on Gender Disclosure
Parents asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene over school gender-identity policies in California.
Mark Walsh, January 14, 2026
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4 min read
Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother Heather Jackson outside the Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother, Heather Jackson, outside the U.S. Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on female athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Signals Support for State Bans on Trans Girls in Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court weighed Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender girls from sports.
Mark Walsh, January 13, 2026
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7 min read
Fifteen year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia.
Fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia. Her challenge to the state’s ban on transgender girls in school sports is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Scout Tufankjian/ACLU
Law & Courts School Sports Case Reaches the Supreme Court at a Fraught Time for Trans Rights
The justices will consider state laws that bar transgender girls from participating in female sports.
Mark Walsh, January 9, 2026
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8 min read
Students carrying pride flags and transgender flags leave Great Oak High School on Sept. 22, 2023, in Temecula, Calif., after walking out of the school in protest of the Temecula school district policy requiring parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender.
Students carrying pride flags and transgender flags leave Great Oak High School on Sept. 22, 2023, in Temecula, Calif., after walking out of the school in protest of the Temecula school district policy requiring parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender. But many districts in California follow a state policy limiting when schools can inform parents about a student's gender identity without the student's consent.
Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Blocks Ruling Bolstering Parental Rights Over Gender Identity
A federal appeals court blocked a groundbreaking ruling over the disclosure of students' gender identities.
Mark Walsh, January 6, 2026
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4 min read
Students carrying pride and transgender flags leave Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., on Sept. 22, 2023, after walking out of the school in protest of the Temecula school district policy requiring parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender.
Students carrying pride and transgender flags leave Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., on Sept. 22, 2023, after walking out of the school in protest of the Temecula school district policy requiring parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender.
Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Halts Ruling Letting Teachers Disclose Students' Gender Identity
A federal appeals court has temporarily paused enforcement of the ruling but has not yet decided whether to grant a longer-term stay.
Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 2, 2026
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3 min read
Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender in November 2025. A policy on the issue in the city’s elementary school district is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit in which a judge just sided against the district.
Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender. A policy on the issue in the city’s elementary school district is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit in which a judge just ruled against the district.
Charlie Neuman for The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS
Law & Courts Schools Can’t Bar Teachers From Telling Parents If Kids Are Transgender, Judge Rules
The injunction bans any public school employee from misleading parents about their child’s gender presentation at school.
Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune, December 24, 2025
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5 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion Scrubbing Critical Conversations About Racism Isn't Helping Your Students
Five ways to create "brave spaces" for your classroom while also embracing humanity.
Larry Ferlazzo, December 1, 2025
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4 min read
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge on June 14, 2024, in Houston.
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media outside a federal courthouse on June 14, 2024, in Houston. The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to hear his appeal of a $1.4 billion judgment over his allegations that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., was staged.
David J. Phillip/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Again Declines a Case on School Gender Identity Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a case on purported school gender-identity policies, as well as two other education-related appeals
Mark Walsh, October 14, 2025
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5 min read
AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
AB Hernandez, a transgender female student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track and field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31. The U.S. Supreme Court in its new term will consider state laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from competing in female athletics.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Law & Courts New Supreme Court Term Puts Transgender Student Rights in the Spotlight
The justices will weigh state laws that bar transgender girls from female athletics, amid other issues of interest to educators in new term
Mark Walsh, October 2, 2025
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8 min read
The Supreme Court building is seen on April 30, 2025, in Washington.
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen on April 30, 2025, in Washington. The high court recently declined to pause a ruling allowing a South Carolina transgender student to use restrooms consistent with his gender identity.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Block Transgender Boy From Male Restrooms at School
A divided Supreme Court declined to pause an injunction blocking a South Carolina law as it applied to a transgender male student.
Mark Walsh, September 10, 2025
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2 min read
A sign for a newly-constructed gender neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School on June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan.
A sign for a newly-constructed gender neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School on June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan. The Trump administration's finding that a northern Virginia school district violated Title IX by allowing students to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity is the subject of a new lawsuit.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Law & Courts School Board Sues Trump Admin. to Defend Transgender Student Policy
The lawsuit challenges the Ed. Dept.'s finding that the district violated Title IX.
Brooke Schultz, August 29, 2025
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3 min read
A newly-constructed gender neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan.
A newly-constructed gender-neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan. The Shawnee Mission school district is one of four in Kansas that the Trump administration has started investigating at the urging of the state's Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach.
Charlie Riedel/AP
States Some State Leaders Cheer as Trump's Ed. Dept. Investigates Their Schools
The use of the office for civil rights for political purposes has been dialed up in the second Trump administration, experts say.
Brooke Schultz, August 25, 2025
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6 min read
A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington.
A commuter walks past the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on March 12, 2025. The department has imposed financial restrictions on five Virginia school districts for policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Imposes Funding Restrictions for 5 Districts Over Transgender Policies
The districts will have to jump through extra hoops to claim their federal funds.
Brooke Schultz, August 19, 2025
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6 min read
Illustration of two people arguing and teenager plugging his ears.
Education Week + Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement Opinion My Generation Is Sick of Your Culture Wars. Here's What Students Really Need
Both liberals and conservatives have disappointed me with their alienating rhetoric and failure to listen, writes a high school graduate.
Joshua Cheng, July 18, 2025
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5 min read
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