Creating and Sustaining Safe and Inclusive Spaces for LGBTQ Youth: An Exploratory Investigation of the Role of Educational Professionals

Educators can play a critical role in buffering LGBTQ youth from potential victimization. As such, the present study explored the following questions: 1) What are the roles of educators (i.e., teachers, school administrators) with respect to promoting and creating safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ youth; 2) what unique contributions can educators make in nurturing those spaces; and, 3) what barriers do educators face in creating safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ youth? This study used a convergent parallel design mixed-methods approach. Descriptive statistics were gathered from survey results; the interview data was analyzed using thematic analysis in order to generate themes relevant to the research questions. Discussion focuses on the roles of educators and the barriers with respect to providing safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ youth. The paper concludes with empirical and practical implications of the study.