Students in states such as South Carolina and Alabama face significantly more bullying over their sexual orientation than students in states like Connecticut and Massachusetts.
In October, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a group that works to make schools safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, released its 2013 National School Climate Survey. On Thursday, the group released further information about what these survey results look like by state, revealing the varying challenges faced by LGBT students in different areas of the country.
The 2013 National School Climate Survey asked almost 8,000 students between the ages of 13 and 21 from all 50 states about the type of environment they face at school. Overall, the results showed marked improvements from previous years, although more than 55 percent of those surveyed still reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.
However, as shown in the state profiles released Thursday, some areas of the country clearly provide friendlier learning environments than others -- although every state has substantial room for improvement. The organization provided results for the 29 states where it had the most data to validate its findings.
The chart below shows where students reported facing the most verbal harassment, physical harassment and physical assault over their sexual orientation.
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