The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the leading national
organization providing crisis intervention and
suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.
organization providing crisis intervention and
suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.
The Trevor Project Supports the East Aurora School District Policy Protecting Transgender Students
Oct. 19, 2012 (West Hollywood, CA) – This past Monday, the East Aurora School Board passed a wonderfully inclusive policy to protect transgender and gender nonconforming students in local schools. Now, however, the policy is under attack by the conservative anti-LGBT group, the Illinois Family Institute. They have flooded the school board with hateful comments about LGBTQ youth, and the school board has responded by scheduling a special meeting on Friday to consider repealing the new policy. Below is a statement from Abbe Land, Executive Director and CEO of The Trevor Project.
“The Trevor Project is fully in support of maintaining the policy adopted unanimously by the East Aurora School Board on Monday. Since 2010, more than 3,000 teens from Illinois have called the Trevor Lifeline in crisis, and among their top presenting problems were bullying and harassment at school. This policy will help protect the highly vulnerable transgender student population from discrimination, fear and hate that leads to bullying, increased anxiety, and elevated safety concerns on East Aurora’s campuses, and is a step that can help save lives.
"Both Illinois Law and the Illinois State Board of Education require schools to protect on the basis of gender identity, and the new policy enforces this protection for all students in East Aurora. Reversing this policy would send a hurtful, stigmatizing message to all students, inflicting humiliation and empowering bullying. This is not the message we should be sending to our young people.”
About The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning young people under 24. Every day, The Trevor Project saves young lives through its free and confidential lifeline and instant messaging services, in-school workshops, educational materials, online resources and advocacy. Honored by the White House as a Champion of Change, The Trevor Project is a leader and innovator in suicide prevention. Learn more at TheTrevorProject.org.
