This information was obtained from The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Click here for the results of the National (United States) School Climate Survey from 2005.
Click here to read the results of a GLSEN survey about queer youth.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth report first becoming aware of their sexual orientation at age 10. (1)
The mean age of lesbian and gay youth becoming aware of their first same-sex attraction is 9.7. (2)
"We were picked on. We were called queer and faggot and a host of other homophobic slurs. We were also used as punching bags by our classmates, just for being different." -- college student, remembering high school
97% of students in public high schools report regularly hearing homophobic remarks from peers. (3)
39% of LGBT youth surveyed reported that no one ever intervened when homophobic remarks were made in school. 47% of youth reported that someone intervened only some of the time. Other students were more often reported to intervene than were faculty (82% reported intervention by students, compared to 67% reported for faculty). (4)
53% of students report hearing homophobic comments made by school staff. (5)
20% of secondary school counselors report that counseling a homosexual student concerning gay issues would not be personally gratifying, and do not consider themselves competent in counseling gay adolescents. (6)
41.7% of LGBT youth do not feel safe in their schools because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or Transgender. (7)
"On reflecting about homosexuality, I've learned that: my religious tradition taught me to believe that my son was a sinner; my medical support system taught me to believe that my son was sick; my educational system taught me that my son was abnormal; my legal system views my son and his partner in an unsanctioned relationship without legal rights and protection that are afforded my married daughter; my family, immediate and extended, provided no acknowledgment or support for having a gay relative in its midst; my major communications sources treated homosexuality as deviant." -- father of a gay son
28% of American households consist of married parents with biological children; 7% consist of married parents with children where a father works outside the home and the mother at home. (8)
In 1998 almost a quarter (23%) of children lived with only their mothers, 4% lived with only their fathers, and 4% lived with neither of their parents. (9)
In Philadelphia, 34% of lesbians and 33% of gay men report abuse by family members as a result of their sexual orientation. (10)
26% of adolescent gay males report having to leave home as a result of conflicts with their family over their sexual orientation. (11)
42% of homeless youth self-identify as gay/lesbian. (12)
"I just began hating myself more and more, as each year the hatred towards me grew and escalated from just simple name-calling in elementary school to having persons in high school threaten to beat me up, being pushed and dragged around the ground, having hands slammed in lockers, and a number of other daily tortures." -- a gay male high school student
69% of LGBT youth report experiencing some form of harassment or violence in school. (13)
Students who said they had experienced anti-gay harassment were four times as likely as non-harassed youth to say they had been threatened with or injured by someone with a weapon at school in the past 12 months, and seven times as likely to report having missed at least one day of school in the past month out of fear for their safety. (14)
Heterosexual students who had been harassed because someone believed they were gay were three times as likely as non-harassed heterosexual peers to report having missed at least one day of school in the past month out of fear for their safety. (15)
"Due to societal fear and ignorance, my teachers and counselors labeled my confusion as rebellion and placed me in the category of a troubled discipline problem. But still I had nothing to identify with and no role models to guide me, to help me sort out this confusion, and I began to believe that I was simply alone. A few weeks into my sophomore year, I woke up in a psych hospital after taking my father's camping knife violently to my wrists and hoping for success." -- lesbian student
In Seattle, 35.8% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth, compared to 22.5% of heterosexual youth, reported to be engaging in high-risk or heavy drug use. (16)
Gay, lesbian, bisexual youth are more than four times more likely to have attempted suicide in the past 12 months than their peers. (17)
LGBT youth report chronic stress from anti-gay harassment. In a study conducted among predominantly black and Hispanic gay and bisexual adolescent males, 50% reported stress from being ridiculed for being gay or bisexual. (18)
24% of GLB youth reported getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant. (19)
GLSEN is the largest national organisation in the United States bringing together students, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens from all walks of life, working to end anti-gay bias in schools across the United States.
(1) D'Augelli, Anthony R. & Hershberger, Scott L. "Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth in Community Settings:Personal Challenges and Mental Health Problems." American Journal of Community Psychology,Vol. 21, No.4,1993.
(2) Herdt G and Boxer A, Childrens of Horizons: How Gay and Lesbian Teens Are Leading a New Way Out of the Closet, Beacon Press, Boston, 1996.
(3) "Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth," 1993.
(4) Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), National School Climate Survey, a study conducted among 496 youth across 32 states accessing community-based services, 1999.
(5) "Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth," 1993.
(6) Price, James H. & Telljohann, Susan K. "School Counselors' Perceptions of Adolescent Homosexuals," Journal of School Health, vol. 61, No. 10, 433-438, December 1991.
(7) Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), National School Climate Survey, a study conducted among 496 youth across 32 states accessing community-based services, 1999.
(9) U.S. Bureau of Census, March Current Population Survey, 1998.
(10) Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force. "Discrimination and Violence Toward Lesbian Women & Gay Men in Philadelphia and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," 1996
(11) Remafedi, Gary. "Male Homosexuality: The Adolescent's Perspective," Pediatrics, 1987.
(12) Victim Services/Traveler's Aid, "Streetwork Project Study," 1991.
(13) Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), National School Climate Survey, a study conducted among 496 youth across 32 states accessing community-based services, 1999.
(14) Eighty-Three Thousand Youth, The Safe Schools Coalition of Washington, 1999
(15) Eighty-Three Thousand Youth, The Safe Schools Coalition of Washington, 1999
(16) Eighty-Three Thousand Youth, The Safe School Coalition of Washington, 1999.
(17) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1997.
(18) Study conducted by Rosario M., Rotheram-Borus MJ., Reid H., as appearing in Ryan C.R. & Futterman D. Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling, Columbia University Press, New York, 1998.
(19) The Centers for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Study, 1997.
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