Evidencing a Need: School Counselors' Experiences with Gay and Lesbian Students

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or a variety of reasons, the needs of gay and lesbian students in our nation's schools go largely unnoticed and unmet. Their identity as a minority group is ignored even though in many schools they may be the largest minority. Their status in schools, as in the broader society, can arguably be said to be the unenviable status of most hated group. As one of the few remaining minority groups available who can be victimized with few social consequences, gays and lesbians are fair game for adults, adolescents, and children alike to harass, demean, threaten, and even physically assault. Laws and institutional regulations preclude homosexuals full participation in society-for example, marriage, …