A Political Toll: Black LGBTQ+ Students Face New Barriers

During his third run for the White House, Donald Trump made hostility toward LGBTQ+ rights an integral part of his campaign. 

He vowed to roll back federal anti-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation and gender and promised to exclude gay and transgender people from civil rights protections. Trump also repeated false claims that public K-12 schools are facilitating gender transitions without parental consent: “Your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation.”

Now that he’s heading back to the Oval Office, school-age LGBTQ+ youth are flooding crisis hotlines, fearful about what Trump 2.0 means for them and their safety—including Black LGBTQ+ kids, who are uniquely more vulnerable to Trump-inspired threats, bullying, and violence than their white peers.  

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“The misinformation and rhetoric emboldens other students, teachers, and administrators to view Black LGBTQ+ students as a problem and treat them as such,” Corryn Freeman, executive director of Future Coalition, a nonprofit that supports young progressive leaders of color, tells Word In Black. 

The promises of Trump and his allies, she says, “[stifles] their experience in schools [and] is an infringement on the rights of young people.”

Data also speaks to this reality. A recent study determined that laws that strip away protections for LGBTQ+ young people led to increased suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth by as much as 72%. At the same time, The Trevor Project — the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people — reported a nearly 700% increase in crisis-level calls and other means of contact since the election. 

LGBTQ+ youth of color made up a third of those callers, according to the organization. 

The National Impact on Black Student Achievement

Political misinformed rhetoric can have a direct impact on Black LGBTQ+ students’ academic success. The Trevor Project survey notes that 90% of LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. This impact can make schools a hostile environment, exacerbating already serious issues among queer students of color, including absenteeism and disengagement.

Those students “often stop participating in activities to proactively prevent themselves from becoming targets of bullying and further marginalization,” Freeman says. Hostile political rhetoric and misinformation, she says, “has the potential to greatly stifle the growth of Black queer and gender non-conforming students.”

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Even before Trump’s campaign, data from the Trevor Project illustrated this vulnerability. It found that 63% of Black LGBTQ+ youth reported symptoms of depression, with even higher rates among Black transgender and nonbinary youth.

“These mental health challenges, exacerbated by hostile school environments,” Freeman explains, can lead to “exhaustion and hinder students’ ability to thrive academically.”

Where Can Black LGBTQ+ Students Turn To?

Political misinformation has far-reaching consequences for Black LGBTQ+ students, impacting their mental health, academic achievement, and sense of belonging. Despite the challenges, resources exist to support Black LGBTQ+ students. Freeman highlighted several organizations making a difference:

• The Trevor Project: Provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services for LGBTQ+ youth.
• GLSEN: Focuses on creating safe and inclusive schools for LGBTQ+ students.
• The LGBTQ+ Students of Color Resource Guide: Offers tailored resources to address the unique needs of LGBTQ+ students of color.
• Lucky Lightyear Foundation: Provides community support for gender-expansive and LGBTQ+ youth.

Freeman also stressed the importance of finding community: “What you need most now is a community of trusted friends, family, and allies. Do your best to find people who will advocate for you and make space for you to exist in your fullness.”

Bigger Steps Toward Change

Ultimately, education policymakers and school officials can counteract misinformation, Freeman says, by “intentionally creating safe spaces for conversations where factual information is presented on what it means to live at the intersection of being Black and queer.”

Educators and administrators “also play a critical role,” Freeman says. “Teachers and school leaders need to create very clear rules of engagement around what is tolerated in classrooms and what isn’t. These rules must consider the unique experiences of Black LGBTQ+ students.”

By fostering inclusive environments, countering misinformation, and providing critical resources, schools can help these students thrive. As Freeman concluded, “This is not just about creating a better educational environment—it’s about affirming the humanity of every student.”

The post A Political Toll: Black LGBTQ+ Students Face New Barriers appeared first on Word In Black.