Research, Responses, and Reflection on Three Years of The Reduction of Stigma in Schools Program

Elizabethe Payne & Melissa Smith

Paper Title: Research, Responses, and Reflection on Three Years of the Reduction of Stigma in Schools Program

Abstract: The Reduction of Stigma in Schools Program (RSIS), begun in 2006, strives to actively create opportunities for dialogue and change around the issues facing LGBTQ youth in schools through educator to educator directed workshops and through on-going research. Denial of the existence of LGBT students in schools and fear of addressing non- hetero sexualities in schools remains high. In the spring of 2009, 3 days after an RSIS workshop, a district superintendent ordered all teachers to remove their new Safe Space stickers. The reason given was a parent complaint that “kids who read the sticker could become gay.” This paper explores the collected stories of RSIS educators, interviews with workshop participants, observations of encounters with administrators and districts, and those “you must be kidding moments” to develop a greater understanding of the discourses that continue to silence LGBTQ identities in schools and to locate potential for change.