This report was written by Michael Bochenek, counsel to the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, and A. Widney Brown, advocacy director of the Women's Rights Division, based on information the authors gathered during visits to California, Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Utah between October 1999 and October 2000. Melanie Breen, Rook Campbell, Sam David, Derek R. Henkle, Tejal Jesrani, Rachel Lanzerotti, Kerry McArthur, Shalu Rozario, and Sadie Zea Ishee provided additional research assistance.

Lois Whitman, executive director of the Children's Rights Division; Regan Ralph, executive director of the Women's Rights Division; Michael McClintock, deputy program director of Human Rights Watch; and Wilder Tayler, legal and policy director, edited the report. Pamela Bruns, California director for Human Rights Watch; David Buckel, senior staff attorney, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; Allyson Collins, Human Rights Watch senior researcher; Joanne Csete, Children's Rights Division researcher; M.K. Cullen, director of advocacy, Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); Kate Frankfurt, a consultant and former advocacy director for GLSEN; John Green, Human Rights Watch director of operations; John F. Sherwood, Jr., teacher,Waverly Middle School, Lansing, Michigan; and Saman Zia-Zarifi, Human Rights Watch academic freedom director, also reviewed and commented on the manuscript. Pamela Bruns, Adam Greenfield, Rona Peligal, and Robert Peterson helped secure development support for this research. Sobeira Genao, Fitzroy Hepkins, Veronica Matushaj, and Patrick Minges provided production assistance.

We wish to express our deep appreciation, above all, to the many courageous and resilient youth who spoke with us, particularly the members of our youth advisory committee. This report would not have been possible without their willingness to share their experiences with us. The names of all of the youth we interviewed have been changed to protect their privacy.

David Buckel; Kate Frankfurt; Shannon Minter, staff attorney, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), San Francisco; and Gretchen Noll, National Network for Youth, Washington, D.C., were instrumental in helping us formulate the scope of this research project. We also received early advice and input from Cynthia Brown, former program director of Human Rights Watch; Rea Carey; Melisa Casumbal, National Youth Advocacy Coalition, Washington, D.C.; Arthur Coleman, Esq.; M.K. Cullen; Michael Kaplan, National Youth Advocacy Coalition, Washington, D.C.; Gara LaMarche, Open Society Institute, New York; Jennifer Middleton, staff attorney, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), New York; John Spear, director of field services, GLSEN, New York; and Hector Vargas and Blake Cornish, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Washington D.C.

Susan Fineran, assistant professor, Boston University School of Social Work; Ramona Faith Oswald, assistant professor of family studies, Department of Human and Community Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne; Virginia J. Mahan, doctoral candidate, Texas Tech University; Caitlin Ryan, director of policy studies, Research Institute on Sexuality, Social Inequality and Health, San Francisco State University; and Stephen T. Russell, assistant cooperative extension specialist, University of California, Davis, shared their unpublished research with us.

In addition, we are grateful to the members of the advisory committees for the Children's Rights and Women's Rights Divisions, the Human Rights Watch California Committee (South), and the Human Rights Watch Young Advocates for their input on this project.

In the course of our field research, we were assisted by the following individuals and organizations: Katrina Avila, director, Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Youth, Boston; Jerry Battey, Eagles Academy, Los Angeles; Brenda Barron, assistant field director for southern organizing, GLSEN, Atlanta; Kirk Bell, assistant field director for western organizing, GLSEN, San Francisco; Dr. Roberta Benjamin, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD); Steve Bewsey, director of homeless and housing services, Lifeworks, Austin, Texas; Brent Boultinghouse, Project 10, Los Angeles; David Bowden; Ralph T. Bowden, Jr., Esq.; Julie Browne, crisis line coordinator, Community United Against Violence (CUAV), San Francisco; Conni Champagne, Speakers Bureau coordinator, CUAV, San Francisco; Chattahoochee Valley Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Columbus, Georgia; Emma Cherniavsky, associate California director, Human Rights Watch, Los Angeles; Adam Christian, Human Rights Watch, Los Angeles; Brian Chue, executive director, Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC), San Francisco; Stephen Clark, legal director, ACLU of Utah, Salt Lake City; Chris Coggins, Macon Pride, Macon, Georgia; Judy Colbs, PFLAG, Atlanta; Larry Crane, development director, Youth First Texas, Dallas; Heather G. Daims, principal, Fairfax High School, LAUSD; Betty Dotts, PFLAG, Lubbock, Texas; Emma Dumont, Human Rights Watch, Los Angeles; Linda Ellis, executive director, Youth Pride, Atlanta; Bill Farrick, North Shore Alliance of Gay/Lesbian Youth, Beverly, Massachusetts; Fenway Community Health Center, Boston; Tina Fernandez, program director, Orange County Human Relations, Santa Ana, California; Michael Ferrera, clinical director of group homes, Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services (GLASS), Los Angeles; Scott Fitzmaurice, Cape and Islands Gay and Straight Youth Alliance, Hyannis, Massachusetts; J. Robert Force, Esq., Human Rights Watch Young Advocates, Los Angeles; Jill Francis, Cathedral of Hope MCC, Dallas; GLSEN, Kansas City; GLSEN Utah, Salt Lake City; WesGiles, Gay and Lesbian Community Center, San Antonio, Texas; Carol Gnade, executive director, ACLU of Utah, Salt Lake City; Kevin Gogin, director, Support Services for Sexual Minority Youth, San Francisco Unified School District; Michelle Golden, Boston Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, Boston; Gail Goodman, executive director, Out Youth, Austin, Texas; Janet Glass; Anna Gregory, board member, Dimensions, San Francisco; Louis Harvey III, Anti-Violence Project, L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, Los Angeles; Richard Haynes, executive director, New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project; Steven Hicks, co-chair, GLSEN, Los Angeles; Elle Hills, Macon Pride, Macon, Georgia; Matt Humphrey, Athens GLBT Youth Support Group, Athens, Georgia; Christine Hwang, staff attorney, NCLR, San Francisco; Robert M. Ivancic, executive director, Youth First Texas, Dallas; Cristal Jang, Support Services for Gay and Lesbian Youth, San Francisco Unified School District; Pamela K. Johnson, executive director, Men of Color Against Aids, Roxbury, Massachusetts; Jaron Kanegson, TransYouth, Berkeley, California; Mike Kennedy, Larkin Street Youth Center, San Francisco; Joseph Kosciw, research program manager, GLSEN, New York; Caroline Laub, director, Bay Area Gay-Straight Alliance Network, San Francisco; Camille Lee, teacher, Salt Lake City School District; Carol Lee, volunteer coordinator, L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, Los Angeles; Julie Leinert, Catholic Charities of the East Bay, Oakland, California; Asha Leong, program manager, Youth Pride, Atlanta; Robin Levi, advocacy director, Women's Institute for Leadership Development in Human Rights, San Francisco; Vern Lewis, Georgia Equality Project, Atlanta; Anne Lundbom, youth services coordinator, CUAV, San Francisco; Gerald P. Mallon, Green Chimneys Children's Services, New York; Dion Manley, FTM International, San Francisco; Terry Maroney, staff attorney, Urban Justice Center, New York; Ronnie Mendoza, Lifeworks, Austin, Texas; Sandy Miller, Out Adolescents Staying in Schools (OASIS), Long Beach, California; Carla P. Moniz, youth coordinator/outreach worker, Boston Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, Boston; Alex Night, Lambda GLBT Community Services, El Paso, Texas; Seana O'Farrell, member services coordinator, Bay Positives, San Francisco; Nancy Otto, ACLU of Northern California, San Francisco; Felicia Park-Rogers, director, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, San Francisco; Julie Parker, Human Rights Watch Young Advocates, Los Angeles; Robert Peterson, Human Rights Watch, Los Angeles; Carol Petrucci, Houston Area Teenage Coalition of Homosexuals (HATCH), Houston; Merle Price, LAUSD; Eric A. Pliner, Learning Support Services, Massachusetts Department of Education, Malden, Massachusetts; Jennifer Rakowski, CUAV, San Francisco; Patrick Rauber, Eagles Academy, Los Angeles; Andrea Reece, youth counselor, Franklin Community Action Corporation Youth Programs, Greenfield, Massachusetts; Eli Reyna, community building program coordinator, Orange County Human Relations, Santa Ana, California; DianeRitchie, Esq; Gail R. Rolf, coordinator, Project 10, Los Angeles; Joe Salvemini, OASIS, Los Angeles; Victor Sanchez, Bienestar, Los Angeles; Christine Sartiaguda, GLASS, Los Angeles; Steve Scarborough, staff attorney, Southern Regional Office, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Atlanta; Jack Siebert, GLSEN, San Francisco; Zak Sinclair, youth leadership coordinator, LYRIC, San Francisco; Sierra Spingarn, Queer Youth Leadership Project at LYRIC, San Francisco; Anne Stanton, executive director, Larkin Street Youth Center, San Francisco; Erik R. Stegman, GLSEN, Whittier, California; Kate Stern, coordinator for the Safe Schools Initiative for GLBT students, Boston Public Schools; Becky Thompson, director, The Walt Whitman Community School, Dallas; Erik Travis, GLSEN, Los Angeles; Luis Torres, co-chair, GLSEN Orange County; Clayton Vetter, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah; Shawna Virago, domestic violence client advocate and hate violence victim advocate, CUAV, San Francisco; Ofelia Virtucio, Aqua, San Francisco; Vitaly, staff attorney, Legal Services for Children, San Francisco; John Volpe, director, Green Chimneys Children's Services Gramercy Residence, New York; Wendy Weaver, teacher, Nebo School District, Utah; Shannan Wilber, staff attorney, Youth Law Center, San Francisco; Paula Wolfe, Gay and Lesbian Center, Salt Lake City; Rob Woronoff, director of LGBT services, Home for Little Wanderers, Boston; Doug Wortham, GLSEN Utah, Salt Lake City; Manson Yew, Human Rights Watch Young Advocates, Los Angeles; and Caprice Young, LAUSD Board of Education.

In addition, we thank those who asked not to be named.

Grants and other support from the Susan A. and Donald P. Babson Fund, the Paul and Edith Babson Fund, the David Bohnett Foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr., Fund, the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Leo Model Foundation, The New York Community Trust-The Paul Rapoport Fund, the Snowdon Foundation, and An Uncommon Legacy Foundation and Barbara Dobkin made this investigation possible.

Butch 
A common term used to describe both males and females who act and dress in stereotypically masculine ways. This term has traditionally been used as a pejorative term to refer to lesbians who do not conform to traditional notions of femaleness.

Closeted 
The experience of living without disclosing one's sexual orientation or gender identity (also referred to as being "in the closet").

Coming Out 
Becoming aware of one's sexual orientation or gender identity and beginning to disclose it to others. A person may be selectively "out" in some situations or to certain people without generally disclosing his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. "Coming out" is a process that takes place over time, in some cases over many years.

Femme 
A common term used to describe both males and females who act and dress in stereotypically feminine ways. This term has traditionally been used as a pejorative term to refer to gay men who do not conform to traditional notions of maleness.

Gay 
Attracted to a person of the same sex. This term is sometimes used to refer only to males who are attracted to other males, but it may also be used as a synonym for the more clinical term homosexual.

Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) 
A student club for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight (heterosexual) youth.

Gender expression 
All of the external characteristics and behaviors that are socially defined as masculine or feminine, including dress, mannerisms, speech patterns, and social interactions.

Gender identity 
A person's internal, deeply felt sense of being male or female (or something other than or in between male and female).

Heterosexual 
Attracted exclusively to the opposite sex (also referred to as being "straight").

Homosexual 
Attracted to a person of the same sex. Most lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in the United States prefer the more contemporary terms lesbian and gay.

In the closet 
The experience of living without disclosing one's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Intersex 
The term used for the approximately one in two thousand people who are born with sexual anatomy that mixes male and female characteristics or is otherwise atypical.

Lesbian 
A female who is attracted to other females.

LGBT 
A common abbreviation for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender." The abbreviation may include a Q, for "questioning," or occasionally two Qs, for "queer and questioning."

Out 
The experience of living openly as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individual. There are many degrees of being "out"; for example, one may tell one's friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, or the public. 

Queer 
Often used as a slur to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, the term queer has been reclaimed by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in the United States-particularly by youth-as an expression of pride in one's sexual orientation and gender identity.

Questioning 
Uncertain of one's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sexual Orientation 
One's attraction to the same sex, the opposite sex, or both sexes.

Straight 
Attracted exclusively to the opposite sex (also termed "heterosexual").

Transgender
One whose identity or behavior falls outside of stereotypical gender norms. This term is often shortened to "trans."

Transitioning
In the process of bringing one's appearances and body into alignment with one's gender identity through dress, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery.

Transsexual 
One who has undergone sex reassignment surgery so that one's physical sex corresponds to one's gender identity. Female-to-male transsexual (FTM) people were born with female bodies but have a predominantly male gender identity; male-to-female transsexual (MTF) people wereborn with male bodies but have a predominantly female gender identity.

U.S. School Grades 
Elementary school is composed of grades one through six with students of ages five through twelve. 
Middle school is composed of eighth and ninth grades with students aged twelve through fourteen. 
High school is composed of freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years with students aged fourteen through eighteen.