From Outright Vermont Executive Director, Dana Kaplan (edited for length) Last week, members of the Legislature’s Rainbow Caucus and allies issued a statement that rightly identified the current climate of anti-LGBTQ+ hate as an assault not just on the community, but on the very values that define us as Vermonters: love, safety, and inclusion. Their recognition of the anti-LGBTQ+ movements threatening Vermont underscores a commitment to fight against queer and trans antagonism and advance equality, respect, and justice. In Vermont, the need for such affirmation is acute. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) 2021 data paints a troubling picture of the realities faced by LGBTQ+ youth in our state. Our new brief, “Critical Stats: Vermont’s LGBTQ+ Youth,” shows higher rates of bullying, depression, and feelings of isolation than their heterosexual peers. And, today, there are over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation in the U.S., many targeting LGBTQ+ youth and their right to safely access basic necessities like healthcare, school bathrooms, and sports. Outright concurrently held conversations with Vermont youth leaders to ask for their priorities and demands. The resulting document, 2023 Demands for Queer and Trans Youth Autonomy, represents a collective vision for a world where ALL queer and trans youth have autonomy. An area of focus includes needed improvements in our schools, cited below. This is why we are calling for an increase in the state’s education budget to support LGBTQ+ youth. https://outrightvt.org/.../Queer-Youth-Assemble-Demands.pdf Demands for Schools: • We call for the end to outing and ask for teachers, parents, and peers to maintain confidentiality in regards to others’ gender, sexuality, and other aspects of our identities. • We call for school faculty and staff to undergo mandated LGBTQ+ specific diversity, equity, and inclusion training. • Schools should create and follow a clear plan for trans students to use chosen names in place of legal names (unless specifically instructed otherwise by the student). • Designate funding for at least one clearly designated and functioning gender-neutral bathroom at all times, and transition to single-stall and multi-stall gender-neutral bathrooms. • Teach LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and disabled history as part of existing history classes and Make LGBTQ+ History, BIPOC, and African American History electives accessible for students who want to learn about these communities. • Require the teaching of LGBTQ+ inclusive sex-ed as a part of sex-ed courses/curriculums. Sex-Ed should be comprehensive, culturally competent, developmentally appropriate, trauma and consent informed, medically accurate, and inclusive of intersex and disabled experiences. • Remove dress codes that are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, nativist, xenophobic, mentalist/sanist, or classist. • Collect, analyze, and publicize Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from the CDC regarding LGBTQ+ students, including gender identity and expression. We urge you to email your legislator to let them know that you want to see increased funding in the education budget to support LGBTQ+ youth. https://legislature.vermont.gov/people/