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Transitions
Volume 14, No. 4, June 2002
This Transitions is
also available in [PDF] format.
Stressors in the Lives of GLBTQ Youth
By Meg Earls, Grants Manager,
Advocates for Youth
In the United States, GLBTQ youth often lack positive role models and face
serious problems in a largely homophobic society. Numerous studies indicate
that societal
homophobia increases GLBT youth's risk for substance use, dropping out of school,
homelessness, sexual risk-taking, and attempting suicide. Youth-serving professionals
owe all the young people in their programs the opportunity to build
their skills and self-confidence and to succeed; but many professionals are
unaware of the risks faced by GLBTQ youth.
GLBT youth realize
their sexual orientation early in life.
- Research suggests that sexual orientation may be determined during
childhood. Many GLBTQ individuals report a feeling of being "different" from
an early age.4 Prospective studies with adolescents show
gay males and lesbians self-identifying at about age 16.5 Anecdotal
evidence also suggests that many transgender youth have felt, from
an early age, uncomfortable with their biological gender and/or expected
gender role.6
- The age of coming out may be dropping as increased access to information
and services for GLBTQ youth, particularly in urban areas, provides
greater opportunities for self-affirmation and socialization.5
Openly identifying
as GLBT may mean rejection by family, friends, and peers at school.
- After coming out to their family, or being discovered, many GLBT youth
are thrown out of their homes, face physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse,
or become the focus of family disfunction.2
- GLBT youth face hostility and violence at school. In one nationwide survey,
over 83 percent of GLBT students reported verbal harassment while 90 percent
of the youth said that other students never or rarely intervened. Forty-eight
percent of GLBT youth of color reported verbal harassment on the basis of
both orientation and ethnicity. Seventy-four percent of transgender students
reported sexual harassment. Over 21 percent of all GLBT youth reported being
punched, kicked, or injured with a weapon because of their sexual orientation
while 42 percent reported being shoved or pushed.7 GLBT students
are three times more likely than heterosexual students to miss school because
they feel unsafe.1
GLBTQ youth
of color are often at disproportionate risk for abuse, suicide, and
HIV infection.
- In one survey, 61 percent of GLBT youth of color reported being victims
of violence from family, and 40 percent, from peers and strangers; 41 percent
of females and 35 percent of males had attempted suicide.2
- In one recent study of young men who have sex with men (YMSM), 16.9 percent
of men of mixed race/ ethnicity who reported black background were HIV-infected.
HIV prevalence was also higher among African Americans, men of mixed or other
race/ethnicity, and Hispanics than among Asian American/Pacific Islanders
or whites (14.1, 12.6, and 6.9 percent versus 3.0 and 3.3 percent, respectively).8
Research suggests
that societal homophobia results in high rates of suicide and suicide
attempts, substance abuse, and risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted
infections (STIs).
- Numerous studies establish clear links between a youth's sexual orientation
and the likelihood of attempting suicide. In a recent survey, GLB and questioning
students were more than twice as likely, and gay and bisexual males were
nearly four times as likely, as their heterosexual peers to have attempted
suicide.9
- A study of public high school students found that GLB students reported
far more use of crack cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and inhalants than did
their heterosexual peers. GLB students were also more likely to report cocaine
use before age 13 than were their heterosexual peers.10
- In one recent study, during the previous six months 90 percent of YMSM
had sex with at least one man, and 23 percent had sex with at least five
men. Overall, 41 percent reported unprotected anal sex.8
If thrown out
of their homes, many GLBT youth face life-threatening situations
living on the streets.
- Estimates vary, but service providers agree that GLBT youth make up a
large and disproportionate share of homeless youth (25 to 40 percent).5
- In efforts to survive on the street, homeless youth often engage in survival
sex and are at increased risk for rape, beatings, and STIs, including HIV.2
Click here to view the endnotes.
Transitions (ISSN 1097-1254) © 2002, is a quarterly publication of Advocates for Youth—Helping young people make safe and responsible decisions about sex. For permission to reprint, contact Transitions' editor at 202.419.3420.
Editor: Sue Alford
Click here to view the Publications Catalog and/or
to order this publication.
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