OutFront Minnesota Community Services
Report date
October 2018
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
In the fall of 2014, OutFront started Minnesota School Pride, a new program formed in partnership with Out 4 Good and Out for Equity. We sought a breakthrough in a) leadership by LGBTQ and allied youth to impact their schools and communities, and b) educators and school professionals equipped to address the needs and concerns of the LGBTQ community.
We partnered with the Minnesota Department of Education to research what kind of support and opportunities were available for LGBTQ youth in our schools. We contacted every high school in the state to find out what kind of specific opportunities they had for LGBTQ students, and, asked them what kind of support they needed to make the schools safer. The strategies and goals we developed with our key partners were based on the results of the research. The funding we received from the Bush Foundation in 2016 provided the support we needed to actualize our plan. Since then, we have been able to provide a platform for youth leadership on a statewide level and in schools throughout the state, and, provide training and technical assistance for educators and staff to improve school policies and practices for all youth, including LGBTQ youth.
We partnered with the Minnesota Department of Education to research what kind of support and opportunities were available for LGBTQ youth in our schools. We contacted every high school in the state to find out what kind of specific opportunities they had for LGBTQ students, and, asked them what kind of support they needed to make the schools safer. The strategies and goals we developed with our key partners were based on the results of the research. The funding we received from the Bush Foundation in 2016 provided the support we needed to actualize our plan. Since then, we have been able to provide a platform for youth leadership on a statewide level and in schools throughout the state, and, provide training and technical assistance for educators and staff to improve school policies and practices for all youth, including LGBTQ youth.
One of the key components of the work that has helped make many schools throughout the state safer and more affirming is the creation of a youth-led, statewide gender and sexuality (GSA) Network. Through peer-reviewed research on academic achievement, studies have found that having a GSA in the school decreases bullying and harassment for all students. We have helped youth work with educators to create GSAs throughout the state and provide a network for youth and students to share best practices and ideas. When we started our work with the Bush Foundation, we were talking about having 65 schools included in our work. By the end of 2018, we expect to be working with 165 schools in the network.
The GSA Network provides a platform for youth leadership and professional development for educators and staff. We have met and worked with over 1600 students in their schools and have trained over 3000 educators and staff on intersectionality, LGBTQ inclusion and bullying intervention.
The GSA Network provides a platform for youth leadership and professional development for educators and staff. We have met and worked with over 1600 students in their schools and have trained over 3000 educators and staff on intersectionality, LGBTQ inclusion and bullying intervention.
A key component of our progress is anchored in centering youth and their leadership as key decision makers in this work. We created a Youth Leadership Council that meets every other week to inform and shape OutFront’s youth and schools work. Youth apply to be a part of the Council in the spring. Youth from the previous council interview and decide who will be on the Council. There are currently 22 youth from all over the state who serve on the Council. We have found that the Council provides OutFront staff and board with authentic youth leadership within the organization. The youth engaged in the Council are provided training, support and opportunities to help them further their leadership goals. These leaders not only help change their school’s policies and practices to make their schools safe and affirming, they work with OutFront staff to train educators, school boards, GSA advisors and other stakeholders in the education system. One key success in our work was helping to write and pass the MN Transgender Toolkit through the Minnesota Department of Education. The youth played a critical role in getting the toolkit passed and are now working on getting schools to implement it.
Key lessons learned
During this grant period, OutFront staff and youth leaders have learned how to navigate the complicated infrastructure of our educational system and its stakeholders. Despite being a nonprofit that has no official role or connection with the schools, we have been able to work with youth, parents and staff in over 165 middle and high schools. We have also helped schools make positive changes like forming a GSA or updating their school policy to create access and inclusion for trans and gender non-binary youth even when there is an active and vocal opposition. We feel like our trainings are effective and useful because schools are now trying to book our trainings for multiple years. The high level of requests also reveals that there are few resources available for professional development and training on intervention on bullying and LGBTQ inclusion. We also hear from the GSA advisors that the professional development and peer-to-peer networking we provide for teachers and other staff in these roles has not been done before and provides critical support in their work with LGBTQ youth.
We are continually learning how to provide effective leadership development support and opportunities for LGBTQ youth involved in our work. With the Youth Leadership Council, we provide ongoing support, training and leadership opportunities. The youth involved in this group lead trainings for teachers and youth, speak at press conferences, rallies and other public events, and provide input and feedback on OutFront’s work. We have found that it is critical to not only provide leadership skills and opportunities, but to also provide a safe and supportive space for them to process through any trauma they have. To ensure that we are providing affirming and positive opportunities for youth, our staff are trained in counseling and are able to help the youth work through their challenges. At all of our events we have found that it is important to have counselors available for youth. The latest MN Student Survey shows that LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to be bullied, five times more likely to attempt suicide and twice as likely to feel unsupported by school staff. We have a long way to go to make our schools and our communities affirming and equitable for LGBTQ youth.
We have been successful in getting schools to support GSAs and allow us to provide trainings to help improve the school climate, but we have more work to do to make lasting changes in the policies and practices of middle and high schools. Without changing their policies, schools are not consistent in how they treat trans and gender non-binary students. The lack of an inclusive written policy often opens up the school for controversy and a potential lawsuit because trans and non-binary students are subject to arbitrary and changing rules that can be exclusionary and discriminatory. Some leaders in the schools think that controversy will be avoided by not creating and adopting a school policy, but the opposite is true. The organizations opposing LGBTQ equity fight against any school policy or practice that recognizes the gender of the trans or non-binary student. If there isn’t a policy in place they actually fight against the actual student. There have been petitions against allowing trans students as young as five to attend the school. We will continue to encourage schools to have us provide the trainings and policy changes necessary to improve the school climate for all youth.
Reflections on the community innovation process
What has been most helpful about using the innovation model in the planning and execution of the work is that it has provided us with a framework to generate and test new ideas. In our work to improve school climate and support leadership opportunities, we are always working to increase the collective understanding about how to create safe and supportive learning environment for all youth, including LGBTQ youth. The drive to innovate compels us to seek out new ways to generate new approaches and strategies with students, parents, staff and teachers. For instance, when we were meeting with GSA students in Duluth, they said that they had issues with teachers putting safe space stickers on their doors without knowing much about LGBTQ issues. The students developed an evaluation process to interview and train teachers before they are provided safe space stickers. The youth are going to bring their questions and process to the Youth Leadership Council and share it with the students who attend the Youth Summit.
Progress toward an innovation
We achieved an innovation in Minnesota by creating a statewide youth-led GSA Network. Through this work, we have been able to provide proactive and consistent support for youth, educators and staff in over 160 schools. Without OutFront’s work, there would be some GSAs in our state but they would not be connected to each other and they would not have support for their work to improve the policies and practices of their schools. Our work has meant that thousands of youth and educators have been trained and connected. We are also the only organization working to provide training and leadership development support for students in the GSAs. Whether the youth are getting trained on creating healthy relationships based on consent, intersectionality or one of the other skill-based or issue topics we provide, they also have access to OutFront staff who can provide additional resources and support. We are also the organization educators and administrators consult when they have difficult situations to navigate. They usually tell us that they do not have anywhere else to go to get assistance and support.
What it will take to reach an innovation?
We achieved an innovation and have made an impact on our schools but there is a troubling reality we cannot deny. When the MN Department of Education compiles and reviews the results of the next Minnesota Student Survey, we are concerned that the survey will show that the health and well-being of LGBTQ students will show no improvement. The next survey will be the second time trans and non-binary students will be included and the third time the survey will be asking youth about sexual orientation. The last two surveys show little to no improvement in the climate for LGBQ youth. Because trans and non-binary people have been the target of negative campaigns, we are expecting trans and non-binary youth to face more discrimination, bullying and isolation. We are not sure what next innovation will make the schools safer and more supportive, but we will keep working for a sustainable breakthrough.
What's next?
We are planning to expand the Minnesota School Pride program by adding an additional staff person who can help ensure that we increased engagement with more schools each year. We are also planning to add paid internships and scholarships for youth and provide them with mentors who are in educational programs or work that they are interested in. We also need to help youth form more GSAs in middle and high schools in Greater MN.
One key area of research we would like to add to our work is testing the effectiveness of our training, leadership development and technical assistance. It would be helpful to evaluate a school before and after our work with them to determine our impact. We would like to use our learnings to determine improvements we could make to our work to make durable improvements in our schools.
One key area of research we would like to add to our work is testing the effectiveness of our training, leadership development and technical assistance. It would be helpful to evaluate a school before and after our work with them to determine our impact. We would like to use our learnings to determine improvements we could make to our work to make durable improvements in our schools.
If you could do it all over again...
We wish we would have started the work to pass the trans inclusion toolkit earlier than we did. We could have developed the toolkit with more input from students, teachers and administrators if we would have spent the time reaching out to them before we worked on the document with our coalition partners and department staff.
We also wish we would have identified and connected with GSA advisors earlier we did. We plan to increase our support and training for them in the future, but we did not know how little support they get from their schools until we started talking with them.
We also wish we would have identified and connected with GSA advisors earlier we did. We plan to increase our support and training for them in the future, but we did not know how little support they get from their schools until we started talking with them.