LGBTQIA+ students deserve to feel safe and valued in our schools. Let's work to ensure it

I still remember attending my first Sarasota County School Board meeting.

There were several women present who clearly knew each other. They all stated the same “facts,” right down to the district's budget items. And they all had the same people they considered to be "enemies" on the School Board, in the administration and among the district's teaching staff.

That meeting was in 2022, and we would consider it tame compared to today’s standards. Yes, a few people would face a School Board member and say, “We know where you live." But a year ago such a remark might have been viewed as mere hyperbole, and not as an actual threat. What a difference an election makes.

Today I am no longer in Sarasota; I am in Fort Lauderdale, and I am now holding my first Stonewall National Education Project symposium. This is the project’s 10th year, and there are teachers and education professionals from all across the country – as well as concerned parents and students – attending the symposium. Some are taking part to show their support for Florida’s teachers who are under fire; others want to know what they can do if similar threats and policies come to their cities and states.

Few participants from Florida

For years, Florida would bring one of the largest contingents to the symposium. But this year we only have four registrants from Florida – and one of them has informed us they will be wearing a full-face mask during the symposium so that they cannot be recognized and targeted.

That attendee will be in good company, because Sarasota County School Board Member Tom Edwards – one of four school board members across Florida who has been targeted by Gov. Ron DeSantis for defeat in the 2024 elections – is the symposium's keynote speaker. In addition to sharing his personal story, Tom will tell the attendees about his recent decision to walk out of a School Board meeting after receiving extreme verbal abuse during the public comment period – all while the board chair sat nearby and did nothing to stop it.

Addressing the root causes

During the symposium – which runs through Sunday, April 16 – attendees have been addressing what can be done to make schools safe for teachers, families and, most importantly, students. They are reviewing best practices and discussing education trends that appear designed to marginalize many students – and particularly LGBTQIA+ students, who feel they are being silenced and threatened by the adults who are supposed to protect them.

Our events are taking place in the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library headquarters, the Sunshine Cathedral and the Courtyard by Marriot in Fort Lauderdale. We also plan to announce a national task force to address the root causes of why we are where we are today – and rip off the Band-Aids that have given us false hope and less than adequate protections.

Too often a few root causes for problems can morph into myriad crises because they have never been addressed. That's why we are creating a national task force, made up of leaders and families, to tackle what must be tackled –and to seek solutions.

A ray of hope

The Stonewall National Education Project symposium is offering a ray of hope to those under duress. It is crafting a strategic plan toward a better future. And it is providing a space where like-minded people can share ideas.

There is light at the end of this tunnel: If nothing else, the LGBTQIA+ community has demonstrated it is resilient and able to fight for a better future. After each period of crisis, we have emerged with more organizations that are attuned to fighting for equality and justice.

As we have in the past – in the fight against AIDS, the struggle for the right to marry and our demand to serve our nation out and open in the military – we have overcome obstacles and come through them stronger than before.

The Stonewall National Education Project is the next step in that march to full equality for everyone who marches under a rainbow flag – for we march under the flag of the United States as well.

We will not surrender the American Dream or our constitutional rights. Education has always been the great equalizer in enjoying both, so let us join together to do what is right for our children, our families and our nation.

Robert Kesten is the executive director of Stonewall National Museum, Archives, and Library in Fort Lauderdale. He has been a human rights integrator for 20 years and has worked across the world.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Let's act to ensure LGBTQIA+ are safe and valued in Florida schools