One uniquely marginalizing school environment for sexual and gender diverse (SGD) youth is school based sex education (SBSE). While research has documented the negative sexual and mental health impacts these marginalizing environments can have for SGD youth, we know less about the developmental competencies that this population of youth exercises…

Victimization is a common experience encountered by sexual and gender minorities across domains of life, including academic institutions. The present study aims to explore the forms and consequences of victimization experienced by LGBTQIA+ students, along with the coping strategies adopted by them to deal with such experiences. To address these…

Rates of depression and suicide are rising in adolescents, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth experiencing higher rates. We examined the relationship between team sports participation, depression, and suicidal ideation among a representative sample of adolescents (n = 46,537) in the Healthy Kids Colorado…

On March 28, 2022, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1557 "The Parental Rights in Education" bill into law, taking effect July 1, 2022. As written, the bill: (a) prohibits discussion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, and all other terms and concepts related to sexuality and gender (LGBTQ+)…

Transphobic bullying is prevalent in schools around the world. The present study examined the bidirectional relationships among transphobic attitudes, perpetration of transphobic bullying, and witnessing transphobic bullying. The study also included the validation of an instrument to measure transphobic bullying and the prevalence rates of…

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience more significant mental health concerns compared to their cisgender and heterosexual peers, especially within recent years, as a result of the relentless political attacks on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) community. Given that youth…

Sports participation has been shown to positively affect youth well-being. However, research has also shown that sports environments can be unsafe for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Using data from a large study on school-related experiences of LGBTQ secondary students who reported on their extracurricular activities…

Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and/or Queer (LGBTQ+) education laws are defined as laws that prohibit or limit schools from discussing same-sex relationships, broader sexuality, and gender issues in their sexual education curriculum. This study presents a historical context of anti-LGBTQ+ sex education laws, examines the extant literature on…

The presence of a Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) reduces risk for sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth across a variety of domains, but little is known about the adult advisor-level variables contributing to these observed benefits. This study explored relationships between advisors' tenure, receipt of professional development,…

Although newcomer youth demonstrate high levels of resiliency, many experience challenges in emotional, linguistic, academic, and social functioning. Over the past decade, some promising school-based psychosocial interventions for newcomer youth have been developed. These interventions are necessary, but not sufficient to promote well-being.…

This study uses the minority stress model to examine the relationship between sexual and gender diverse youth's (SGDY's) emotional and peer problem outcomes with their school setting (i.e., attending school in an urban or nonurban setting) and consent type (i.e., parental/guardian or waived consent). The study also explores how social support can…

The purpose of this study is to describe the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, two spirit, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth with school-based sexuality education (SBSE), as well as to document strategies LGBTQ+ youth are using to address their evolving and specific sexual health needs outside of SBSE. Researchers…

In a time of unprecedented polarization in the United States, particularly concerning immigration, schools are uniquely positioned to help students understand the consequences of drastic policy changes. Beyond formal settings such as social studies classes, extracurricular activities may be important for fostering discussions about sociohistorical…

The present systematic review analyzes ways in which empirical studies in the field of school psychology have studied the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students in the past decade (2009-2019). Results from 23 studies revealed an over-representation of quantitative studies conducted mostly in the United…

Gender and sexually diverse (GSD) students face unique challenges in schools due to the privileging of cisgender and heterosexist norms in these settings. In particular, GSD youth who belong to ethnically and racially minoritized groups face further challenges within school environments that disregard their cultural contexts and intersectional…