Shifting School Climate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Other Sexual and Gender Minority Students: An Impact Analysis of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) students have more stressful experiences that negatively affect their well-being than their cisgender, heterosexual peers do, but supportive school climates can mitigate risks for LGBTQ+ students. Support guides for LGBTQ+ students in three counties in Floridawere compared from before to after the passage of “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. Content analysis demonstrated six categories of change in the support guides: removal (omitting a section from the newer version), modification of language (wording changes without changing the overall meaning of the guidance), increased guidance (additions to the newer version of a guide), decreased guidance (deleting one or more words from the newer version), policy reversal without supplement (guidance offered in the newer version conflicts with the guidance in the original version, with no explanation given), and policy reversal with supplement (guidance offered in the newer version conflicts with the guidance in the original version, with an explanation). Across all three counties, not a single section of the LGBTQ+ support guides was left entirely unchanged between versions. One county’s LGBTQ+ support guide had 60% of its sections removed, 25% reversed, and 15% modified between 2021 and 2023; another had 55% of its sections removed, 25% reversed, and 20% of its support guide modified between 2020 and 2023. The third county’s support guide had 15% of sections removed, 25% reversed, and 60%modified, providing a model for how tempered support can be maintained even in the face of restrictive legislation.

Duke Scholars

Author Jennifer Lansford Sanford School of Public Policy