Quick Facts on Families
With LGBT Parents
• Millions of children in the U.S. are growing up in homes with
LGBT parents.
• According to the 2000 Census, California has more gay and
lesbian couples with children than any other state, and these
families live in every county in California.
• Families with LGBT parents come in many shapes and family
arrangements. They include families of all races, ethnic
groups,
socioeconomic status, and religions; and families
living in all kinds of communities.
• According to the American Association of Pediatrics and
the American Psychiatric Association, research shows that
children of LGBT parents do just as well in emotional,
cognitive, and social development as children whose parents
are heterosexual.
• Many schools are unsafe and
unwelcoming for students with LGBT
parents. In the California Safe Schools
Coalition’s 2003 Preventing School
Harassment Survey, 91 percent of
students reported hearing anti-LGBT
slurs at school. 39 percent of students
surveyed said their school was unsafe
for students with LGBT
parents.
What California
Law Says
• Students with LGBT parents have the right to attend
school in safety, free of any form of harassment or
discrimination.
• Students and school staff are protected from harassment
and discrimination on the basis of association with LGBT
people, as well as actual or perceived sexual orientation or
gender identity. (Education Code Section 200 and 220)
• Schools have an “affi rmative obligation” to combat bias,
including bias based on sexual orientation and gender
identity. (Education Code Section 201)
• LGBT parents have the right to participate on an equal
basis with all parents in
their school community
and to be recognized
equally in all school
policies, forms, and
documents.
• LGBT parents have the
same right as other
parents to designate a
person to act on their
behalf at school.
The California Safe Schools Coalition is a Project of the Tides Center.
160 14th St., San Francisco CA, 94103 415.626.1680 www.casafeschools.org
“ My son has been told many times by
teachers and peers that ‘there is no such
thing’ as having two moms.”
—Mom of a 7 year old
Find Out More
FOR INFORMATION, SUPPORT, CURRICULA,
LOCAL CHAPTERS, AND OTHER RESOURCES ON
LGBT FAMILIES, CONTACT:
California Safe Schools Coalition
www.casafeschools.org
415-626-1680
COLAGE
(Children of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere)
www.colage.org
415-861-KIDS
Family Pride Coalition
www.familypride.org
202-331-5015
GLSEN
(Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network)
www.glsen.org
212-727-0135
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
www.gsanetwork.org
415-552-4229
Human Rights Campaign
www.hrc.org
800-777-4723
The L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center’s Family
Services Program
www.laglc.org
323-860-7397
PFLAG
(Parent, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
www.pfl ag.org
202-467-8180
Women’s Educational Media
www.womedia.org
415-641-4616
“I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone in my
school about my mom.”
— Landon, 18 year old son of a lesbian mom and a straight dad
All
Families
Welcome
Making Your School
Safe for Students with
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &
Transgender Parents
“In middle school when