City schools are coming out of the closet.
On Tuesday night more than 200 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, their families and supporters will take over the city Education Department headquarters at Tweed Courthouse in the city schools’ first-ever LGBT Pride celebration.
The invite-only party caps off a breakthrough year in which a series of firsts made schools a better place for LGBT kids and those around them.
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña called this school year — which ends June 28 — a game-changer for city LGBT students.
“From starting student clubs to hosting parent workshops, I’m incredibly proud of the students, staff and families across the city who are coming together to support and celebrate the LGBT community,” Fariña said.
In January, the city hired Jared Fox as the public schools’ first ever LGBT community liaison in an effort to reduce bullying and improve conditions.
Public schools reported 555 incidents of student harassment on the basis of gender, sexual orientation and sex for the 2014-15 school year. Some believe the problems may be even more widespread.
This year Fox held seminars with more than 1,000 parent coordinators to educate them about how schools can address issues of sexuality and gender with students’ families.
He also met with the leaders of clubs for LGBT students at dozens of schools to teach them how to grow their organizations.