Bullying in Schools
Towards Sexual Minority Youth
Kris Varjas
Brian Dew
Megan Marshall
Emily Graybill
Anneliese Singh
Joel Meyers
Lamar Birckbichler
ABSTRACT. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and inter-
sex (GLBTQI) youth, and those perceived to be GLBTQI, face extensive
verbal and physical bullying in schools. Although increasing attention
has been made at examining the safety concerns of sexual minority
(GLBTQI) youth, there remain important gaps in the literature as well as
significant sampling limitations. This article seeks to identify and re-
spond to research gaps by: (a) reviewing existing literature about the
causes and risk factors associated with homophobic bullying; (b) re-
viewing existing literature about the consequences associated with the
victims of sexual minority bullying; (c) identifying the limitations to re-
search procedures and methodologies that have been used to investigate
Kris Varjas (E-mail: kvarjas@gsu.edu), Brian Dew (E-mail: cpsbjd@langate.gsu.
edu), Megan Marshall (E-mail: cpsmlm@langate.gsu.edu), Emily Graybill (E-mail:
Emily.graybill@gmail.com), Anneliese Singh (E-mail: nanakikaur@yahoo.com), Joel
Meyers (E-mail: cpsjjm@langate.gsu.edu), and Lamar Birckbichler (E-mail: lbirckbichle@
gmail.com) are all affiliated with Counseling & P.sychological Services, Georgia State
University, P.O. Box 3980, Atlanta, GA 30302-3980.
Funding for this work was provided through a grant from the Society for the Study
of School Psychology (SSSP). Additional funding was received from Georgia State
University's College of Education Educational Research Bureau (Principal Investiga-
tors Varjas, Dew, and Meyers).
Journal of School Violence, Vol. 7(2) 2008
Available online at http://jsv.haw6rthpress.com
© 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J202v07n02 05 59