Many stories in the news recently have focused on increasing efforts to make young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans feel welcome in public high schools. As young LGBT suicides continue at shocking rates, this is a critical step in the right direction. Inclusion and tolerance in an academic setting are crucial to the learning and development of all students, not just the heterosexual students. Moreover, the public acceptance of LGBT individuals, and the media surrounding the issue, is important to the inclusion of all people in this modern society.

One of most beautiful stories in the news is about Dylan Meehan and Brad Taylor. For the first time at Carmel High School, located in New York City, two people of the same sex received the yearbook’s “cutest couple” award. It was a mutual friend named Chelsea Blaney who approached the principal about nominating them, according to a June 3 New York Daily News article, and the couple’s photo quickly went viral when Blaney posted it on Tumblr.

This example sets a precedent for high schools across the nation. In communities that are heteronormative, and heteronormativity is all those communities have ever known, the example that Carmel High School has set for same-sex couples nationally is incredibly important. This shows that LGBT inclusion and acceptance, especially in public schools, are increasingly important to Americans and that a lateral shift is occurring nationally.

Two other important examples of LGBT acceptance in public schools nationally come from videos that recently went viral. The first example is of 18-year-old Jacob Rudolph, who came out as LGBT in his acceptance speech of his high school’s “best actor” award. Rudolph said he labeled himself as LGBT rather than gay, bisexual or straight because he thought those were terms of the past, according to a Jan. 27 Huffington Post article. In the speech, Rudolph said he had acted straight throughout his high school career, but he felt it was time to come out as an LGBT person.

Ted Chalfen’s senior class graduation speech from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colo., made national news when a video of the speech went viral on YouTube. Chalfen spoke about coming out in high school and how he expected to be greeted with verbal insults and even physical bullying, but instead was greeted with encouragement and acceptance.

“The kindness and understanding

that you all have shown me over the past four years speaks volumes about each and every one of you as human beings,” Chalfen said to his graduating class, according to a May 22 Huffington Post article.

Stories like these are critical to raising LGBT acceptance in the sphere of public education. In public high schools and middle schools in all 50 states, the vast majority of LGBT students experience verbal harassment and bullying — 81.9 percent, according to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network’s 2011 School Climate Report. Disturbingly, 38.3 percent of students reported physical harassment, and 18.3 percent were actually physically assaulted at school in the past year due to their sexual orientation.



With such alarming statistics as those reported by GLSEN, it is almost astonishing that Chalfen, Rudolph, Taylor and Meehan were greeted with such acceptance in their respective schools. This is certainly a contemporary shift in society. This is not something that existed when my parents were going to high school or even college. It is incredibly important to see the small steps that are being taken to increase the acceptance of LGBT students in all schools, all over the nation.

As I sit and think about my high school experience in terms of LGBT bullying, I recall that I was one of the many students who experienced exclusion, disrespect, insults and aggression. So, as a college student, it is very meaningful to see that high school students are increasingly experiencing not harassment and bullying, but acceptance and empathy in their communities, whether the change comes from formally coming out during a public speech or winning “cutest couple” in the high school yearbook. Even though these are only three examples of LGBT students receiving media attention for being accepted by their community, there are countless more who have made great strides in their communities to increase LGBT acceptance and inclusion.

Jakki Thompson is a junior in journalism and mass communication and American ethnic studies. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com.