In a moment when LGBTQ+ young people are finding themselves talked about constantly, but rarely listened to, we decided it was time to do things differently.

The current administration has made its hostility toward LGBTQ+ people in schools explicit. Policies targeting what this administration calls “gender ideology” – a label used to justify stripping documented protective content from schools already failing to keep LGBTQ+ students safe – are erasing LGBTQ+ young people from classrooms and from history itself.

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In February 2026, we launched a new name and brand identity: Glisten. After 35 years advocating for LGBTQ+ youth in K–12 education, we made a deliberate choice to move away from an antiquated acronym and toward something more reflective of the young people we serve. We envision Glisten as a beacon and shimmering lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth navigating school systems that don’t always see them. It’s a name that signals not just survival, but the possibility of being visible, affirmed, and empowered.

As part of this transformation, we reimagined our 2025 National School Climate Survey, one of the most comprehensive efforts to document the experiences of LGBTQ+ secondary school students across the United States. 

Between April and October 2024, nearly 2,800 LGBTQ+ students across the country shared their experiences from the 2023–2024 school year. The disclosed commentary challenges some of the dominant narratives and deepens others. Too often, research on LGBTQ+ youth focuses narrowly on harm: bullying, harassment, and risk. While those realities remain urgent, they don’t tell the whole story.

So we asked a different set of questions.

Working closely with Glisten-affiliated youth, educators, and partners across the LGBTQ+ youth ecosystem, we updated the survey to reflect young people’s lived realities, centered on belonging and support.

The result is a more nuanced and multidimensional picture of school climate; one grounded not only in data, but in storytelling. A picture that reflects the complexity of safety, the importance of connection, and the intersectional identities that shape how young people move through their schools.

LGBTQ+ youth made clear that safety cannot be defined solely as the absence of harm. For them, safety means having the freedom to exist authentically, without constant self-censorship. It means knowing that their identities will be affirmed, not merely tolerated.

Young people pointed to specific spaces within schools where that sense of safety is more likely to exist. A majority (77%) reported feeling safest in at least some classrooms, and over half (51%) identified school libraries or media centers as places of refuge. These findings underscore a critical truth: Even within systems that may feel hostile, there are spaces shaped by supportive educators and inclusive practices.

Equally important are the relationships students build with one another. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of LGBTQ+ students reported feeling somewhat or very connected to other LGBTQ+ peers at their school. As one participant put it, “It’s nice to be friends with someone that’s also queer… we will come together as a little community, and we protect one another from the bullying.” For many LGBTQ+ youth, these connections are what make school environments navigable at all.

Insights like these were gathered from our focus groups, which we conducted for the first time to give students a space to share their stories in their own words. These conversations revealed not only the day-to-day realities of navigating school but also the broader context shaping those experiences, including the ripple effects of a post-election political climate that has intensified debate around LGBTQ+ lives.

The current administration has made its stance toward LGBTQ+ students in schools unmistakably clear: rolling back Title IX protections, restricting how schools recognize students’ gender identities, and threatening funding for schools that affirm and support transgender youth. Additional policies have sought to bar transgender students from using restrooms or participating in sports consistent with who they are, all under the banner of opposing what officials call “gender ideology.”

The impact is not abstract. When protections are stripped away and inclusive curricula are erased, schools become less safe for LGBTQ+ students. They are pushed further to the margins, not only in their daily experiences, but in the stories schools choose to tell. In effect, these policies don’t just exclude young people from classrooms, but attempt to erase them from history itself.

Faced with these realities, we asked students a simple but urgent question: What would make your school feel safe and affirming?

Students emphasized that safety begins with being taken seriously. They want educators who listen and believe them when they report bullying or harassment, and who take meaningful action in response. For many, safety is rooted in relationships: knowing there is at least one adult in the building who sees them fully and cares about their well-being, not just their academic performance.

Students also spoke about accountability. They described the harm caused when teachers or staff contribute to hostile environments and the importance of clear policies that don’t tolerate bigoted language or behavior from anyone in the school community. Students pushed for approaches to discipline that go beyond punishment. They asked for opportunities for those who cause harm to reflect, take responsibility, and repair it.

Students also highlighted the power of representation. They want to see themselves reflected in curricula: in history lessons that include LGBTQ+ people, in health education that affirms their identities, and in acknowledgment of the full diversity of human experience. They spoke about the importance of spaces like Gender and Sexuality Alliances (including the role schools play in ensuring those spaces are protected) where they can build community and support one another.

Across all of these responses was a consistent message: affirming policies matter. From names and pronouns to bathrooms, sports, and dress codes, the everyday structures of school life shape whether students feel they belong.

Let’s be clear about the conditions in which our youth are doing this. A coordinated political effort is actively trying to erase them – from bathrooms, from sports, from curricula, from the historical record. That’s not a policy disagreement. That’s targeted harm against children.

Glisten exists because research without accountability is just documentation. We didn’t rebrand to rebrand. We did it because we are committed to being an organization that doesn’t just witness what LGBTQ+ youth experience, but fights to change it alongside them.

These young people are not waiting for permission to exist. They never were. The question is whether the adults in the room – educators, administrators, policymakers, etc. – are ready to be worthy of them.

Melanie Willingham-Jaggers is the CEO of Glisten, a nonprofit dedicated to creating safe and respectful learning environments for youth of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, race, and abilities. Learn more at glisten.org.