Data on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Youth
According to the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey GLBTQ are significantly more likely than their peers to face threats, attempt suicide, and take risks. Risk behaviors among GLBTQ youth are directly related to the violence and harassment they often face. However, the work of programs that create safety in schools and communities throughout Massachusetts and an increasing cultural acceptance of GLBT people have contributed to significant improvements in the lives of GLBT youth.
Read the bad news
Read the good news
The Bad News
The most common thing we feel is isolation. We often feel like we’re all alone, especially because there is so little information available and so few places to meet other Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Questioning (GLBTQ) youth.
We are three times as likely as our straight peers to vomit or use laxatives to control our weight. Though eating disorders are more common among females, among Gay Lesbian Bisexual students eating disorders are more common among males.
Nearly one in three of us have used cocaine at least once – compared to one in fourteen heterosexual students who have used cocaine. We are also more than three times more likely to be daily smokers of cigarettes.
We are three times more likely than my heterosexual peers to contract an STD.
We are three times more likely to have been pregnant or to have gotten someone pregnant.
Many of us get kicked out of our homes, and some of us end up on the street. Between 20-40% of homeless youth identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered.
Though we never intended to, many of us survive on the street by exchanging sex for money, food, or shelter. Seventy-three percent of kids on the street engage in survival sex.
We are more than twice as likely as our heterosexual classmates to skip school because we don’t feel safe. Approximately 28% of us drop out of school altogether.
In the past year, one in five gay, lesbian, and bisexual students have been threatened or injured with a weapon at school.
One in three of us have attempted suicide in the past year. Among those of us who have experienced ongoing harassment or violence at school 89% of us will attempt suicide.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth.
Read the good news
In Massachusetts we have formed GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances) in record numbers. In 1993, there were 3 GSAs in our state; as of 2001 there were over 200.
We have organized the Gay/Straight Youth Pride March in Boston every year since 1995. In 2002, more than 5000 youth and supporters attended from all over Massachusetts and New England.
More and more GLBT youth are coming out publicly, providing us with important role models. Kerry Ashforth of Plymouth, MA was named one of “20 teens who changed the world” by People Magazine for her work in supporting GSAs around the country. Jess Dugan, an openly transgendered student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin was crowned Prom King in 2003. Corey Johnson, captain of the Masconomet High School football team, came out to his coaches and teammates to rousing support, and is now speaking out in schools and communities nationwide.
The state network of Alliances of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (AGLYs) has expanded from three groups in 1992 to 17 groups in 2003 and serves as a national model for a number of states working to support GLBT youth.
Since the formation of the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth in 1992, there has been a 45% decline in violence against GLBT youth.
Training for educators and human service providers has made a big difference in how we are treated in schools and communities. GLB students in schools where faculty has been trained in suicide and violence prevention for GLB youth are twice as likely as students in other schools to report feeling supported by teachers and counselors.
Our rate of injection drug use has dropped precipitously since 1995.
Our rate of eating disorders dropped 10 percentage points between 1995 and 2001, even as the rate among heterosexual students remained stable.
Between 1999 and 2001, our rates of STDs dropped more than five percentage points.
Suicide attempts among GLB youth dropped 13 percentage points between 1997 and 2001.
Sources
The 2001 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Advocates for Youth
The Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth
*Some data does not include transgendered youth because the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey does not ask about gender identity.
