Back To School I'm HERE Badge Easily Identifies Safe and Supportive Educators

The I'm HERE Safe Person/Safe Place Badge is designed for students to easily recognize educators who are safe and affirming individuals. Educators who voluntarily wear the badge do so to self-identify that they are safe and affirming to LGBTQ+ youth and their allies. Students often feel alone and isolated, especially in the school setting. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 54% of LGBTQ+ youth are battling symptoms of depression, compared to 29% of non-LGBTQ+ youth.

With the unprecedented rise in anti-LGBTQ+ laws, policies, hate speech, and systemic discrimination, students need to know who they can speak to if they are being bullied, threatened, or harassed or can get age-appropriate answers from someone they trust. Further research conducted by HRC finds that 31% of LGBTQ+ youth, 43% of transgender youth, and 40% of questioning youth have been bullied at school, compared to 16% of their non-LGBTQ+ peers. According to the Trevor Project, many students lack access to affirming spaces, with only 55% of LGBTQ+ youth reporting that their school is LGBTQ+ affirming and only 37% saying that their home is LGBTQ+ affirming. The I'm Here badge is designed to address this need in our schools.

The I'm HERE Safe Person/Safe Place Badge is an easy way for students to identify a trusted adult who is there to listen to them, acknowledge them, and support them when others won't. The QR code located on the back of the badge leads educators to an online toolkit that houses resources from leading LGBTQ+ organizations. The QR code is intended for educators to easily find resources for their own education on many LGBTQ+ issues.

To join the more than 95,000 educators who have self-identified as a safe person visit www.nea-lgbtqc.org.

The NEA LGBTQ+ Caucus works to provide educators, education support professionals, and students with safe schools free of anti-LGBTQ+ bias and intolerance, and to provide sound education programs for all students. The mission of the NEA-LGBTQ+ Caucus is to eliminate institutional discrimination, homophobia, and transphobia, monitors and participates in the development of NEA policies and activities, providing resources and fostering better communication among educators, students, and communities.