Is your school homophobic? Take our quiz to find out

For questions A-C, please circle the number for the ONE answer to each question that comes CLOSEST to describing your school.

A. In relation to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, your principal …


1) has made supportive comments in public. 1 point
2) has not made public comments of support, but has privately assured you or someone you know that he or she supports school safety and respect for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender traits. 2 points
3) Pretty much avoids the issue. 3 points
4) Doesn’t protect targeted students when incidents of harassment or attacks occur. 4 points
5) Has made clear his or her hostility toward LGBT people by blaming the victim of harassment, making negative public statements, denying publicly that there are LGBT students at the school or in some other way. 5 points

B. At your school, when they hear anti-LGBT slurs or harassment …


1) Most teachers intervene, educate the student who used the slurs, and report the incident to the principal. 1 point
2) A lot of teachers intervene, educate and report. 2 points
3) It’s a mixed bag: it seems like every teacher has their own policy. 3 points
4) Almost no teachers intervene; they pretend they don’t hear it. 4 points
5) No teachers intervene; some express their hostility to LGBT students. 5 points

C. Students at your school …


1) Don’t use anti-LGBT slurs, don’t attack LGBT students, don’t consider "gay" to be a synonym for stupid or gross, don’t make comments when same-sex couples show their affection in public and accept every individual without regard to whether he or she conforms to stereotypes of what a guy or girl should act like. 1 point
2) Don’t use slurs or attack LGBT students, but occasionally display some subtle forms of anti LGBT prejudice, and some students seem to think that "gay" is a synonym for stupid, weird, or gross. 2 points
3) Use some anti-LGBT slurs, but for the most part don’t seem to be targeting any one student for harassment. 3 points
4) Use anti-LGBT slurs all the time and target students perceived to be LGBT. 4 points
6) Are extremely hostile to any student who is even suspected of being LGBT, and target those students with intense harassment, including physical abuse. 6 points

For questions D-L, circle the number at the end of the question only if the answer is TRUE; otherwise move on to the next question.


D. A student perceived to be LGBT has been seriously hurt at my school during the time I’ve attended it. 5 points

E. Most students are too afraid to be out at my school; anyone who can "hide" their sexual orientation or gender nonconformity does. 4 points

F. If a guy is more "feminine" than other guys at my school are, he gets picked on. 4 points

G. If a girl is more "masculine" than other girls at my school are, she gets picked on. 4 points

H. There are no openly lesbian, gay or bisexual teachers at my school. 3 points

I. There are some parts of school that aren’t safe for LGBT students. 5 points

J. Sexual orientation and gender-trait-related harassment or discrimination isn’t taken as seriously at my school as other forms of harassment or discrimination. 4 points

K. There’s a lot of subtle prejudice, or maybe just ignorance, at my school. 2 points

L. My school doesn’t have a support group or club for LGBT and ally students. 4 points

Add the total for all of the numbers you circled. The highest possible score is 50. The higher the score, the more hostile your school is to LGBT students.

3 — Your school is too good to be true. Don’t ever transfer!

4-12 — Your school is doing a good job to build a safe and respectful environment for all, but there’s still some more work to be done.

13-25 — Your school has problems, but the community has already made some progress. Keep working.

26-35 — Your school is not living up to its responsibility of providing a safe and fair educational environment. You have your work cut out for you.

36+ — Your school urgently needs reform. Please bring as many people as possible together to address your school’s deep problems with safety, fairness and respect for LGBT students.