According to the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) report entitled “Strength and Silences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in Rural and Small Town Schools,”  students living in rural areas are more likely to feel unsafe in their academic environments then those who live in urban areas.  GLSEN collected information for the study from the 2011 National School Climate survey and documented the experiences of more than 2,300 LGBT students attending schools in rural U.S. regions.

Only 13 percent of rural LGBT students stated school workers  always or most of the time intervened when hearing anti-gay remarks and 27 percent reported having a gay-straight alliance at school, compared to the 53 percent of their urban counterparts.  It was also noted that a rural LGBT student who experienced high levels of victimization and trauma was less likely to plan to go to college than those who were barely bullied at all.  The Huffington Post shares other interesting findings in the report:

• 97 percent of rural LGBT students heard “gay” used in a negative way (i.e., “that’s so gay”) sometimes, often, or frequently in school. 94 percent heard other homophobic language (“dyke” or “faggot”) sometimes, often, or frequently.
• 70 percent of rural LGBT students had regularly had rumors or lies spread about them, significantly more than suburban or urban students (61 percent and 58  percent, respectively).
• Cyber bullying ran rampant in the past year for rural students.  Two in five (40 percent)  regularly experienced it more than suburban or urban students.
• It isn’t just their peers showing ignorance.  A quarter or more of students also had heard school staff make homophobic remarks (25 percent), sexist remarks (30 percent), or negative remarks about someone’s gender expression (35 percent) sometimes, often, or frequently.