Position Statement
Children and adolescents deserve to live free from harassment and antagonism due to their sexual orientation. A group of concerned citizens (hereafter referred to as “steering committee”) in the Hickory metropolitan area are exploring the opportunity to create a positive social support network for the area’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (hereafter referred to as “LGBT”) youth. The steering committee’s vision is to build a social support structure for LGBT youth with a twofold purpose. First, implement a safe social outlet offering self-esteem, physical care, and self-awareness education. Second, offer intervention services such as a crisis hotline and temporary safe housing for at-risk LGBT youth.
Unfortunately, the support and service needs of LGBT youth are unique and are not being addressed by traditional local youth organizations. These youth present a convenient target for discrimination in many venues including schools, malls, churches, and other social arenas (The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 2001). In 1995, Advocates for Youth reported that over 50% of organizations serving youth in the nation at that time believed they did not have the needed services or resources to educate or support LGBT youth. Sadly, not much has changed over the ensuing fifteen years, especially in average sized cities in the US.
Rationale
Research indicates that today’s LGBT youth are more visible within our school systems and communities. For example, in a typical class of 30 students, eight (27% of the class) will be directly affected by homosexuality of self, one or more siblings, or one or both parents (Campos, 1996). As societal attitudes toward homosexuality have moderated, more and more youth are revealing their sexual orientation at younger ages. A majority of students in a Harris Interactive survey (2005) admitted knowing gay, lesbian or bisexual students, and slightly more than one-third of teachers acknowledged knowing a student with same-sex orientation. LGBT students face the same issues all young people do regarding self-awareness, identity, emerging sexuality and relationships (Dube, 1999). Social awareness of LGBT individuals comes from various media sources and changing social mores that are, to some extent, positive and affirming. But, today’s youth are often ostracized because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Without traditional family, religious or educational organizations to provide appropriate and sympathetic peer groups, LGBT youth end up feeling isolated and alone. With the growing acknowledgement that LGBT youth exist, however, is the concurrent requirement that their needs be met with resources similar in scope to those allocated to support other youth groups in their communities.
Traditional support networks, such as family, peers, and religious groups, are often unavailable to LGBT youth. The networks that normally provide a sense of community and a level of social support to children and adolescents instead reject and alienate LGBT youth because of their sexual orientation. Remafedi (1987) reported that 50% of gay and lesbian youth indicate that their parents reject them due to their sexual orientation. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study (1989) reported that 26% of gay and lesbian youth are forced to leave home because of conflicts over their sexual orientation.
When facing these crisis situations, LGBT youth need access to emergency housing. Numerous youth who express to their parents that they are gay or are questioning their sexual orientation are ordered immediately out of their homes. In fact, approximately 40% of homeless youth across the nation identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual (D’Augelli, 2002). These crisis situations are not unlike the discrimination experienced by unwed mothers prior to the 1970’s, but with a main difference -- the condition does not self-terminate after nine months.
The need for emergency housing is compounded by the fact that without a peer group, or as a member of a sexual minority, other sources of potential housing may not be available to LGBT youth. These children can easily find themselves homeless, on the streets, and subject to predators from any number of fronts.
The lack of a minimal educational foundation affects not only self esteem, but also any individual’s ability to self-support and become an employable, contributing member of society in the future. Nationally, approximately 28% of gay and lesbian youth drop out of high school because of discomfort (due to verbal and physical abuse) in the school environment (Remafedi, 1987). Discrimination aimed at LGBT students is the key. A 2003 national study of LGBT students found that almost 80% of the student respondents reported hearing remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school. Similar studies have shown that on average an LGBT high school student hears anti-gay slurs as often as 26 times each day, whereas faculty intervention occurs in only about three percent of the cases (Harris Interactive Survey, 2005 & 2007). D’Augelli (2002) reported that on average, 27% of gay and lesbian youth have been physically hurt by another student. Lambda Legal (2010) reports that gay youth are almost five times more likely than non-gay students to skip school because they feel unsafe which contributes to a drop-out rate of approximately one-third of LBGT students.
The social cost of inadequate support for LGBT youth is reflected through substantially increased numbers of incidents of suicide and depression. Gay and lesbian youth are two to six times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth. Sadly, over 30% of all reported teen suicides each year are committed by gay and lesbian youth (Savin-Williams, 2002). Obviously, the impact on family, friends and society overall must not be overlooked either. The steering committee believes that providing a support group that will address many of the issues faced by LGBT youth in the Hickory metropolitan area has the potential to help identify and direct those with issues of depression and suicidal ideations toward appropriate help.
Local Impact
Conservatively, it is estimated between five to ten percent of American students are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 2001). In Catawba County, North Carolina, this translates to between 1360 to 2721 youth who are likely facing LGBT-related issues in our local community. The stigma, bullying, and violence aimed at our LGBT youth is resulting in physical and mental harm to our children and the trend is growing. Even our local physicians are reporting an increase in the number of gay and lesbian adolescents seeking treatment in their practices.
In one instance, a 14-year-old male sought treatment after having been physically assaulted at school when he revealed his sexual orientation to a lifelong friend. The boy was so badly beaten that the doctor, who had treated him since birth, did not recognize him.
A second individual, a 17-year-old male, confided to his physician that he had engaged in sexual activity with over 60 individuals of all ages since receiving his driver’s license a year earlier at age 16. The young man was not only being treated for a sexually transmitted disease but was also threatening suicide.
Another 17-year-old boy experienced legal problems -- another risk LBGT youth may face. The young man met and dated another boy who indicated that he was 15 years old when he was, in fact 12. The date eventually led to a physical relationship after which the younger boy experienced regret and reported the matter to police. A detective came to the school, questioned the older boy without his parents or an attorney present, coerced him into giving a written statement, and arrested him on the charge of rape. He was given court appointed counsel who was not sympathetic and sought to pressure him to enter a plea of guilty to the lesser charge of sodomy, which carried a penalty of five years probation and listing on the sex offender registry for a period of 10 years thereafter.
After seeing this increase in LGBT youth in his practice seeking treatment, our local physician recruited a group of community leaders to assess the opportunity to develop a socially positive support venue for LGBT youth in our community. After forming a steering committee, the group of community leaders assessed the magnitude and relevance of local LGBT youth-related issues. This assessment indicates that our youth are, in fact, without appropriate resources and that there is a lack of traditional social guardians in families, churches, or schools to help these young men, women and transgendered individuals. In addition, there are no support services available for LGBT youth. The creation of a social support structure to allow them to meet and interact, while at the same time obtain mentoring and support from understanding and competent adults will help address many of these issues and direct them toward more positive self development.
Intervention
Many larger US cities have formed effective LGBT focused social support networks. The local steering committee met with representatives from both Charlotte and Greensboro to understand the methods they are employing to meet the needs of LGBT youth in their communities. The representatives confirmed that problems experienced by LGBT youth are somewhat universal in both urban and rural environments. The primary difference in implementing the peer support group concept appears to be availability of resources, not interest or identification of the need to offer services. Obviously, larger metropolitan areas have more resources available than smaller cities and towns.
Creation of a positive social support structure for LGBT adolescents by supportive adults to help guide the process will fill this void in our community. For those in need, the availability of a peer group guided by supportive and qualified adults will allow the dissemination of educational information and direction to appropriate resources without the fear of retribution. Short term housing, medical or other care can be given when necessary in order to minimize adverse effects and reduce costs to the system by addressing situations before they become overwhelming.
Benefit
Society as a whole incurs substantial expense because of the failure to support and mentor LGBT youth. Costs associated with drug addiction and suicide rates of LGBT youth significantly exceed that of the population as a whole (D’Augelli, 2002). The healthcare costs of physical abuse, failed suicide attempts, depression, substance abuse, and other afflictions can, to some extent, be addressed and avoided through the use of affirming peer groups, especially in rural areas where other LGBT resources are not readily available. A group such as ours can provide a positive social structure for at-risk LGBT adolescents.
Costs associated with the failure to provide services to LGBT youth are significant. Recognizing that education is essential in changing attitudes, positive role models afforded through affirming peer organizations will help not only local youth, but non-LGBT individuals at risk of exposing themselves and/or their employers to liability through either intentional or unintentional acts.
Conclusion
The needs of LGBT youth continue to grow. As this minority becomes more visible due to changing social perceptions, it is important that their needs be met as appropriately as the needs of other youth groups. The absence of traditional support mechanisms such as family, church, and school makes it even more important that alternate structures be created to provide not only peer counseling, but mentoring from appropriately qualified adults.
As the support structure becomes available, the ability to self-counsel and otherwise form relationships will work to the benefit of our youth, thus increasing their self-confidence and providing increased educational information to allow them both the resources and courage to make decisions that are better informed and better serve their self interests. In the long run, this will reduce costs to society associated with the statistically higher levels of depression, suicide attempts, substance abuse, physical violence and sexually transmitted disease that such youth currently experience.
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