The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network released findings from a 2013 survey of LGBT students last week. The report shows that in 2013, before the passage of the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act, LGBT students faced a hostile environment in many Minnesota schools. According to GLSEN, the report demonstrates that “Minnesota schools were not safe for most lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) secondary school students.”

According to the survey, 86 percent said they heard the word “gay” used in a negative way and 82 percent reported regularly hearing homophobic remarks such as fag or dyke. Sixty-one percent heard negative remarks about transgender people.

Twenty-three percent of Students also reported that they heard negative remarks about someone’s gender expression by school staff, another 14 percent heard homophobic remarks from school staff.

Students also heard biased language from school staff: “23% regularly heard school staff make negative remarks about someone’s gender expression and 14% regularly heard staff make homophobic remarks,” the report noted.

72 percent of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation, 28 percent reported physical harassment, and 16 percent reported physical assault. 58 percent reported being verbally harassed because of their gender expression, 22 percent reported physical harassment, and 13 percent reported physical assault.

The recently passed Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act takes aim at some of the inequities found on the survey. For example, “Only 14% attended a school with a comprehensive anti-bullying/harassment policy that included specific protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (see Figure 3),” the report noted. Minnesota’s new anti-bullying law enumerates sexual orientation and gender identity in anti-bullying laws.

Here’s the full report:

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