LGBT is becoming a social and political identity rather than a sexual identity for many young people, writes Eric Kaufmann in a Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology analysis. Surveys produce much higher LGBT numbers than government data from Canada and Britain, notes Kaufmann, a professor of politics at the University of London’s Birkbeck College. But the trend — more young people say they’re LGBT — is real. The greatest increase has come in women declaring thems

Half of female-to-male transgender teens have attempted suicide, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Suicide attempts also are much higher for adolescents who don’t identify exclusively as male or female (42 percent), trans female teens (30 percent) and those questioning their gender identity (28 percent.) Skylar Marcus Lee, a transmale 16-year-old in Madison, Wisconsin, died by suicide in 2015 after struggling with depression. Of cisgender teens, 18 percent of fema

There has to be a simpler way of avoiding gender stereotypes than refusing to admit that your twins are boys, girls or one of each. Raising “theybies” is a micro-fad, reports NBC News. #genderfluidity #genderstereotypes #Parenting #transgender

NBC News reports on integrating gay, lesbian and transgender issues into classrooms in Colorado. Seven states have “no promo homo” laws that forbid positive portrayal of homosexuality in public schools. Brett Bigham, Oregon’s Teacher of the Year in 2014, was fired for revealing he was gay, but won his job back. Teachers can make a difference for kids who are struggling with their sexuality, he writes on Education Post in Maybe My Friend Mark Wouldn’t Have Committed Suicide If

Jacobe Taras went on a family vacation shortly before he killed himself. Photo: Richard Taras Schools should be required to tell parents if their child is being bullied, say the parents of a 12-year-old boy who committed suicide in 2015. Richard and Christine Taras, who live near Albany, New York, are suing their son’s middle school and pushing for passage of “Jacobe’s Law,” reports Mary Esch for AP. The parents say they didn’t realize how badly their son was treated at schoo

Some 2.7 percent of teens identified themselves as transgender or “gender non-conforming” (TGNC) in a study of Minnesota teenagers in grades 9 and 11.  (“Assigned-at-birth” girls outnumbered boys by more than two to one.) What does that mean? It’s very unclear. Jazz Jennings, originally “Jared,” is a reality TV star and author of Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen. PJ Media’s Tyler O’Neill crunched the study’s numbers, looking for feminine boys and masculine girls: H

Twenty-seven percent of 12- to 17-year-olds in California identify as “nongender conforming,” according to a new UCLA survey. Take a breath. That doesn’t mean they’re transgender or gay. Most are heterosexual kids who don’t conform to gender stereotypes. Here’s the question: A person’s appearance, style, dress, or the way they walk or talk may affect how people describe them. How do you think other people at school would describe you?Very feminineMostly feminineEqually femini

Was Emily Dickinson gay? How about Ralph Waldo Emerson? The California Board of Education has rejected two proposed middle-school textbooks that didn’t label the sexual orientation of historical figures who didn’t “out” themselves, reports Theresa Harrington on EdSource. Stage driver Charley Parkhurst was revealed as a woman after his/her death. California is “the first state in the country to adopt textbooks that highlight the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bi

My Daughter Is Not Transgender. She’s a Tomboy, writes Lisa Selin Davis in a New York Times commentary. Her seven-year-old daughter, who likes to wear track pants and T-shirts and plays more with boys than girls, is “sporty and strong, incredibly sweet, and a girl.” And yet she is asked by the pediatrician, by her teachers, by people who have known her for many years, if she feels like, or wants to be called, or wants to be, a boy. . . . when they continue to question her gen

President Trump has rescinded a federal guideline requiring schools to let transgender students use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. Trump overruled Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, reports the New York Times. Enforcement of the Obama administration guideline has been blocked by a nationwide injunction. It’s up to states and local school districts to set bathroom policy, a joint letter from the Justice and Education departments said. DeVos issued a statemen

Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity?, which will be introduced at some British primary schools, is — surprise! — causing controversy, writes Ian Miles Cheong on Heat Street. Some are saying “no” to the book, which will be distributed by a government-funded organization, Educate and Celebrate, for use in primary schools. Written by CJ Atkinson, a self-described “trans advocate,” the book aims to teach children as young as seven about gender identity and is told from the poin