OUT for Safe Schools®
About the Program
The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s OUT for Safe Schools® program transforms school campuses into communities of support and safety for LGBTQ+ students. By implementing OUT for Safe Schools®, your school district or educational agency is mobilizing allyship for LGBTQ+ students, helping them feel comfortable in and thrive at school. Staff who wish to participate in the Campaign can wear the OUT for Safe Schools® badges displaying their willingness to talk to students and parents about LGBTQ concerns. This lets students know that “safe spaces” aren’t limited to the classroom but extend to anywhere there is an adult who is wearing this badge. This will spread the reach of the visibility campaign to the areas where the most incidents of victimization occur: on the playground, during lunch time, and in school hallways.
Supporting LGBTQ+ identified youth and adults to be OUT and thriving on school campuses across the country.
A key feature of the OUT for Safe Schools® campaign is that it is initiated and implemented through district, county, or state offices of education. For school staff and community members to truly feel supported wearing the OUT for Safe Schools®’ badge, we believe that it is critical for them to know that they have full backing from their local administration shown by safe and supportive polices, culture, and practices. For this reason, badges are only distributed to adults that are part of participating OUT for Safe Schools® districts.
Program’s History: In 2013, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, in partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), introduced the OUT for Safe Schools® Campaign to encourage school staff to publicly identify as supportive LGBTQ+ allies in their school communities. In 2015, with the help of GSA Network and the Safe and Supportive Schools project, the campaign went national and was introduced to nine other major districts across the country, including: New York Department of Education, DC Public Schools, DC office of the Superintendent, Chicago Public Schools, Duval County Public Schools, San Diego Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District.
OUT For Safe Schools® is supported by a generous grant from Toyota.
