Students in schools with anti-LGBTQ+ policies report more negative experiences such as harassment and physical threats, Trevor Project data shows.

Nearly a third of LGBTQ+ secondary and postsecondary students ages 13 to 24 said they attended a school with at least one anti-LGBTQ+ school policy, such as curriculum restrictions on gender and identity issues, according to a data analysis released by The Trevor Project on Wednesday.

LGBTQ+ students who reported attending a school with at least one anti-LGBTQ+ school policy reported higher rates of negative experiences in school, such as being verbally harassed, receiving unwanted sexual contact or being physically attacked.

For LGBTQ+ students attending a school with at least one adverse policy, 44% said they only attended school sometimes, compared to LGBTQ+ students attending schools with no such policy (38%).

Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws and Policies Across the Country

Eight states have laws censoring LGBTQ+ discussions in the classroom, according to the Movement Advancement Project, which tracks measures on LGBTQ+ issues. Meanwhile, 25 states lack laws protecting students from bullying based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Laws and policies on a number of related issues like facility access and pronoun usage also vary widely by state.

“Many of these policies were only recently implemented and their impact cannot yet be measured,” said the Trevor Project report, which surveyed 18,000 LGBTQ+ youth. Overall, 78% of LGBTQ+ young people reported being enrolled in school at the time of survey administration.

Read the full article about anti-LGBTQ+ school policies by Naaz Modan at K-12 Dive.