Reclaiming Public Education for All

For LGBTQ+ students, the back-to-school season now means bracing against attacks on their identities, their histories and their very right to be seen in the places they are supposed to feel safest.

Across the country, we’re witnessing a coordinated movement to erase LGBTQ+ people from public education. Classroom libraries are being stripped of books with queer characters. Teachers are being silenced under threat of discipline for affirming their students’ pronouns. Laws are being passed to require parental notification if a child comes out at school. And all of this is happening while extremist lawmakers attempt to rewrite what inclusion means — what education means.

This is no accident. This is a strategy.

These attacks are designed to push LGBTQ+ youth out of sight, out of curriculum, out of safety. And they represent some of the most consequential threats to queer and trans existence we’ve seen in a generation. But we know this: the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program is not backing down. In fact, we’re stepping up.

Fighting Back in the Classroom

What happens in schools shapes how young people see themselves — and each other. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program has spent more than 15 years working alongside educators and families to create classrooms where every child can learn, grow and thrive.

Our training is more than a one-time session — it’s a sustained commitment to equity. We go beyond the basics to ensure educators know how to recognize and respond to bias-based bullying, how to support transgender and nonbinary students and how to create learning environments where every child feels safe and seen.

In 2025, we expanded our reach even further — with new e-learning modules, community education resources and a growing network of Welcoming Schools Ambassadors: trained educators, school staff and community members who bring our work to life in their own schools and districts.

Welcome Schools Ambassadors are empowered change agents. They host workshops, lead book readings, facilitate trainings and speak out at school board meetings. At a time when LGBTQ+ students are being silenced, these ambassadors are turning up the volume.

Because inclusion is not an elective. It is essential.

Censorship in the Classroom Is the New Frontline

Across the country, classrooms have become the epicenter of a campaign to censor LGBTQ+ lives. From banning books with queer and trans characters to scrapping inclusive lessons and promoting parental opt-outs, extremists are trying to control not only what students learn — but who they’re allowed to be.

Let’s be clear: Censorship is not about safety — it’s about control.

When LGBTQ+ content is treated as controversial, it tells queer and trans students that their existence is “inappropriate.” It sends the message that their families don’t belong at school events, that their identities should be hidden and that their history isn’t worth teaching.

The results are chilling. Districts preemptively pull inclusive books. Teachers are told to avoid “sensitive topics.” Students stop seeing themselves reflected in what they learn. Families are made to feel unwelcome.

What begins as curriculum censorship quickly becomes cultural erasure. And the harm is real.

Welcoming Schools is meeting this moment head-on. We’re working with some of the largest school districts in the country, educators and families to resist censorship, protect inclusive education and uphold the right of every child to be reflected in the classroom. Because LGBTQ+ students don’t just deserve to survive school — they deserve to belong in it.

Securing Inclusion Through Representation

This fall, over 22,000 school board seats will be on ballots across the country. These races are being strategically targeted by anti-LGBTQ+ extremists who understand the power school boards hold over curriculum, policy and student safety.

Welcoming Schools is proud to partner with the School Board Integrity Project to meet this moment with action. Together, we’re preparing parents, educators and community leaders to run for office, organize their neighbors and hold school boards accountable to the values of equity and inclusion.

Because these seats matter.

When school boards remove LGBTQ+ content from the classroom, they’re not just erasing books — they’re erasing truth, safety and representation. But when boards lead with equity, fund gay-straight alliances and invest in inclusive training, they become forces for transformation.

We’re working with communities that are not backing down. They are organizing, running and reclaiming their power — fighting for a future where LGBTQ+ students are not hidden, but celebrated.

Our Students Are Watching

No matter our background or ZIP code, race, gender or sexual orientation, we want our children to have an education that helps them understand the world, treat others with dignity and develop the courage to do what’s right. LGBTQ+ students deserve to see themselves reflected in their education. And all students deserve the opportunity to learn about people different from themselves.

The effort to erase LGBTQ+ people from schools isn’t just about curriculum — it’s about power. It’s about who gets to define what is teachable and whose lives are worthy of acknowledgment.

We will not allow queer and trans existence to be treated as optional.

Despite the relentless attacks, hope endures. We see it in educators who refuse to compromise. In school leaders quietly protecting their students. In parents testifying with fierce love. In students organizing walkouts and rebuilding GSAs with pride and purpose.

We’re not asking for tolerance. We’re claiming what every student deserves: a safe, inclusive and affirming education.

Your Support Makes It Possible

We cannot do this work without you. The HRC Foundation's supporters make it possible for Welcoming Schools to respond rapidly, train deeply and build infrastructure that lasts.

As this new school year begins, we ask you to take action:

Because the attacks aren’t slowing down — but neither are we. Together, we will defend the right to be seen, to be safe, to be taught and to be free.

Support Welcoming Schools and defend LGBTQ+ inclusion in our schools today.