If your LGBTQ+ child is attending grade or high school in Delaware, you know that life is not always easy for them when they're at school. They might be harassed or bullied from time to time; school personnel may not understand the rights your child has, and some might actively discourage your child from expressing themselves as who they are. Even though there are laws and some policies that may protect your child's rights while at school, these may vary from one school to another and may be ignored by school administrators.
When your LGBTQ+ child's rights are not being respected at school, or they're being harassed, bullied, or worse, and nothing is being done about it, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help. Call us at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how our experienced education law attorneys can help you and your child.
Common Issues for LGBTQ+ Students
As your LGBTQ+ child may tell you, it's not unusual for them to experience abuse or discrimination at school, even if the school claims to have an open and welcoming environment for all students, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identification. Of course, abuse often comes from other students and happens when school personnel aren't looking. But sometimes teachers or administrators will discriminate against LGBTQ+ students and, in rare but shocking cases, abuse them as well.
A 2021 survey of LGBTQ+ students in Delaware revealed the following types of discriminatory comments, abuse, and behavior in connection with the school setting:
- Harassment. A substantial percentage, 75% and more, of LGBTQ+ students in Delaware, reported being the target of negative remarks that related to their sexuality (being called “gay,” “fag,” “dyke,” or negative comments about their gender expression or about transgender people). While most comments were made in person, a substantial percentage (17-20%) were made online.
- Abuse. Between 6% and 9% of Delaware LGBQ+ students said they were targeted for physical abuse at school because of their gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
- Discrimination. More than 2 in 5 of the LGBTQ+ students responding stated they had experienced some form of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination at school. Common forms of discrimination included:
- Being prohibited from wearing clothes deemed “inappropriate” based on gender
- A requirement that they use bathrooms or locker rooms that align with the gender they were assigned at birth
- Requiring the students to play on a sports team consistent with their birth-assigned gender
- Refusal by school personnel to use the student's chosen name or gender pronouns
While it's not unusual for LGBTQ+ students to experience discrimination, harassment, and even abuse at school, that doesn't mean there is nothing that can be done about it. In many cases, schools that don't take action against student abuse or that discriminate against LGBTQ+ students are violating state or federal laws. In some cases, they're violating policies set by their own school districts. In these types of situations, there are legal steps that can be taken to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ students that are being ignored or abused. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team is ready to help enforce your child's rights when those rights are not respected at school.
LGBTQ+ Rights in Delaware
According to the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Delaware has a ways to go when it comes to implementing policies, laws, and regulations that create an affirmative and inclusive school environment for LGBTQ+ students. It has awarded Delaware a 1 out of 7 overall policy score, though since that score came out, the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) has adopted a transgender policy that allows transgender students to participate in interscholastic athletics in a manner consistent with the student's gender identity, provided the student can show that their “reassigned sex” has been legally recognized, or a physician certifies that the student is undergoing or has undergone treatment to transition to the student's “reassigned sex.”
Delaware also has an anti-bullying law that applies to its public schools. The law doesn't specifically prohibit bullying based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. However, Delaware law does require schools to have a procedure for investigating bullying. That procedure must include an investigation of whether the target was bullied “wholly or in part” due to the target's “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,” as well as other potential reasons. The law doesn't mention what the school is supposed to do with that information, but it does highlight factors that the state believes are important when schools take steps to investigate and prevent bullying.
Where there isn't a specific state law that protects LGBTQ+ student rights, federal law may step in. Laws such as Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Federal Equal Access Act, as well as the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights guidance on Title IX and Sexual Violence, may all provide ways to protect LGBTQ+ student rights in Delaware public schools.
In addition, the schools themselves may adopt policies that provide more protection to LGBTQ+ students than Delaware or federal laws offer. In those cases, if a school or school personnel fail to follow the school's own written policies, the school can be sued.
Remedies for Violations of LGBTQ+ Student Rights in Delaware
The combination of state and federal laws and regulations that protect student rights, including the rights of LGBTQ+ students, plus the possible existence of local school policies, means that there may be a number of ways to remedy violations of your child's rights. In almost all cases, of course, the first step is to have a conversation with school officials about the problem.
Having an experienced education attorney from the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team with you at such a meeting can sometimes have a powerful impact on school officials. Knowing that you have someone on your team who understands what the school is required to do under the law and who also knows how to file a lawsuit and seek a court order directing the school to respect your child's rights can often result in the school deciding to make the changes that need to be made.
If discussions don't work, then it's often time to sue. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team knows the laws and court procedures that apply in cases where our attorneys are asking a court for an order directing the school to take steps to protect our LGBTQ+ student client's rights. We're ready to go to court on behalf of your child to protect their rights at school.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team is Here to Help Protect Your LGBTQ+ Student's Rights
It can be a challenge trying to help your LGBTQ+ child grow up in a world where not everybody will welcome them, and some will take active steps to ignore their rights, harass them, or discriminate against them. When that happens at school, where children spend so much of their time, it can have a devastating effect on your child's sense of well-being. Our experienced education law attorneys are here to help fix those kinds of situations, to change the way people act towards LGBTQ+ students, and to enforce the laws and policies that are designed to help make sure LGBTQ+ students have the same opportunities and rights as all other students.
At the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team, we've helped LGBTQ+ students all across the country protect their rights at the grade school, high school, and even college level. When your child's rights are being ignored at their Delaware public school, call us. We're here to help. You can reach us at 888.535.3686, or you can use our contact formto schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced education law attorneys. Your child deserves to learn in a welcoming environment; let us help you make that happen for them.
