The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network ( GLSEN ) has released a report that reveals that LGBT students in Illinois face high levels of harassment at school.
"Inside Illinois Schools: The Experiences of LGBT Students" surveyed 206 Illinois students in 2007 about the level of harassment they receive in school, as well as related questions.
The report showed that 89% of Illinois LGBT students experienced verbal harassment in the past year that involved sexual harassment, 43% said they had been physically harassed and 21% said they had been physically assaulted.
In other results, 97% of the respondents said that they had regularly heard "gay" spoken in a negative way, such as "That's so gay." Also, 36% of LGBT students had skipped school at least once in the previous month because of safety concerns.
GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said in a statement that " [ w ] hile we applaud Illinois for being one of only 11 states to pass a law that explicitly protects students from bullying and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, Inside Illinois Schools shows just how much work still needs to be done to make sure LGBT students in Illinois are safe in school."
Read the entire report at www.glsen.org/binary-data/GLSEN_ATTACHMENTS/file/000/001/1391-1.PDF.