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Move beyond the pink/blue binary to support students who don’t conform to narrow gender norms.

Billy Lucas grew up an Indiana farm boy in Greensburg—halfway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up winning blue ribbons for his prized and much loved horses and lambs. He also grew up enduring taunts, threats, and physical abuse from bullies. He grew up with those bullies telling him he should kill himself because they thought he was gay. Whether he was or not, Billy never said.

I work as an instructional coach at a large, diverse and underperforming urban public elementary school. Our students are at-risk. Families are struggling with stress and trauma. Teachers work mightily to close the achievement gap. So as I left a third-grade classroom the other day after a check-in with the teacher, I wasn’t surprised when she said, “Wait, can I ask you one more thing?”

To best serve LGBTQ students, GSAs should not exist in a vacuum. Schools and school districts should implement a host of other practices to complement the efforts of a GSA.

We tracked 90 hate incidents at schools in October alone—and that’s only what made the news. Just as important is the way schools respond, and in most cases, those responses don’t measure up.

Equity and social justice work in schools is easier said than done. This educator offers four steps for turning talk into action.

Students are dying. On Nov. 27, Josh Pacheco took his own life. He had come out as gay to his mother a couple months before his death. His parents learned recently that Josh had been bullied at school.

An Anti-Defamation League video inspires this teacher to help his students imagine—and build—a world in which everyone thrives.