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9 Battles The LGBTQ Community In The US Is Still Fighting

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9 Battles The LGBTQ Community In The US Is Still Fighting

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Published: June 20th, 2017
Publisher: Colleen Curry

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9 Battles The LGBTQ Community In The US Is Still Fighting

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Here are some of the battles for LGBTQ equality that are still being fought across the country.

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Published: June 28th, 2017
Updated: June 26th, 2020
Publisher: History.com Editors (not specified)

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The Early Gay Rights Movement

In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, founded in Chicago the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights organization in the United States. During his U.S. Army service in World War I, Gerber was inspired to create his organization by the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, a "homosexual emancipation" group in Germany.

Gerber's small group published a few issues of its newsletter "Friendship and Freedom," the country's first gay-interest newsletter. Police raids caused the group to disband in 1925-but 90 years later, the U.S. government designated Gerber's Chicago house a National Historic Landmark.

The Pink Triangle

The gay rights movement stagnated for the next few decades, though LGBT individuals around the world did come into the spotlight a few times.

For example, English poet and author Radclyffe Hall stirred up controversy in 1928 when she published her lesbian-themed novel, The Well of Loneliness. And during World War II, the Nazis held homosexual men in concentration camps, branding them with the infamous pink triangle badge, which was also given to sexual predators.

Additionally, in 1948, in his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, Alfred Kinsey proposed that male sexual orientation lies on a continuum between exclusively homosexual to exclusively heterosexual.

The Homophile Years

In 1950, Harry Hay founded the Mattachine Foundation, one of the nation's first gay rights group. The Los Angeles organization coined the term "homophile," which was considered less clinical and focused on sexual activity than "homosexual."

Though it started off small, the foundation, which sought to improve the lives of gay men through discussion groups and related activities, expanded after founding member Dale Jennings was arrested in 1952 for solicitation and then later set free due to a deadlocked jury.

At the end of the year, Jennings formed another organization called One, Inc., which welcomed women and published ONE, the country's first pro-gay magazine. Jennings was ousted from One, Inc. in 1953 in part for being a communist-he and Harry Hay were also kicked out of the Mattachine Foundation for their communism-but the magazine continued.

In 1958, One, Inc. won a lawsuit against the U.S. Post Office, which in 1954 declared the magazine "obscene" and refused to deliver it.

The Mattachine Society

Mattachine Foundation members restructured the organization to form the Mattachine Society, which had local chapters in other parts of the country and in 1955 began publishing the country's second gay publication, The Mattachine Review. That same year, four lesbian couples in San Francisco founded an organization called the Daughters of Bilitis, which soon began publishing a newsletter called The Ladder, the first lesbian publication of any kind.

These early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a form of mental disorder in 1952.

The following year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order that banned gay people-or, more specifically, people guilty of "sexual perversion"-from federal jobs. This ban would remain in effect for some 20 years.

Gay Rights in the 1960s

The gay rights movement saw some early progress In the 1960s. In 1961, Illinois became the first state to do away with its anti-sodomy laws, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality, and a local TV station in California aired the first documentary about homosexuality, called The Rejected.

In 1965, Dr. John Oliven, in his book Sexual Hygiene and Pathology, coined the term "transgender" to describe someone who was born in the body of the incorrect sex.

But more than 10 years earlier, transgender individuals entered the American consciousness when Christine Jorgensen came out as a trans woman, following gender confirmation surgery.

Despite this progress, LGBTQ individuals lived in a kind of urban subculture and were routinely subjected to harassment and persecution, such as in bars and restaurants. In fact, gay men and women in New York City could not be served alcohol in public due to liquor laws that considered the gathering of homosexuals to be "disorderly."

In fear of being shut down by authorities, bartenders would deny drinks to patrons suspected of being gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drinks but force them to sit facing away from other customers to prevent them from socializing.

In 1966, members of the Mattachine Society in New York City staged a " sip-in "-a twist on the "sit-in" protests of the 1960s-in which they visited taverns, declared themselves gay, and waited to be turned away so they could sue. They were denied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Julius, resulting in much publicity and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor laws.

The Stonewall Inn

A few years later, in 1969, a now-famous event catalyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall Riots.

The clandestine gay club Stonewall Inn was an institution in Greenwich Village because it was large, cheap, allowed dancing and welcomed drag queens and homeless youths.

But in the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn. Fed up with years of police harassment, patrons and neighborhood residents began throwing objects at police as they loaded the arrested into police vans. The scene eventually exploded into a full-blown riot, with subsequent protests that lasted for five more days.

Christopher Street Liberation Day

Shortly after the Stonewall uprising, members of the Mattachine Society split off to form the Gay Liberation Front, a radical group that launched public demonstrations, protests and confrontations with political officials.

Similar groups followed, including the Gay Activists Alliance, Radicalesbians, and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR).

In 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, New York City community members marched through local streets in commemoration of the event. Named the Christopher Street Liberation Day, the march is now considered the country's first gay pride parade. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pink Triangle into a symbol of gay pride.

LGBTQ Political Victories

The increased visibility and activism of LGBTQ individuals in the 1970s helped the movement make progress on multiple fronts. In 1977, for instance, the New York Supreme Court ruled that transgender woman Renée Richards could play at the United States Open tennis tournament as a woman.

Additionally, several openly LGBTQ individuals secured public office positions: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, City Council in 1974, becoming the first out American to be elected to public office.

Harvey Milk, who campaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, became the San Francisco city supervisor in 1978, becoming the first openly gay man elected to a political office in California.

Milk asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that represents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pride. Baker designed and stitched together the first rainbow flag, which he unveiled at a pride parade in 1978.

The following year, in 1979, more than 100,000 people took part in the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

Outbreak of AIDS

The outbreak of AIDS in the United States dominated the struggle for gay rights in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report about five previously healthy homosexual men becoming infected with a rare type of pneumonia.

By 1984, researchers had identified the cause of AIDS-the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV-and the Food and Drug Administration licensed the first commercial blood test for HIV in 1985. Two years later, the first antiretroviral medication for HIV, azidothymidine (AZT), became available.

Gay rights proponents held the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987. The occasion marked the first national coverage of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power), an advocacy group seeking to improve the lives of AIDS victims.

The World Health Organization in 1988 declared December 1 to be World AIDS Day. By the end of the decade, there were at least 100,000 reported cases of AIDS in the United States.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

In 1992, Bill Clinton, during his campaign to become president, promised he would lift the ban against gays in the military. But after failing to garner enough support for such an open policy, President Clinton in 1993 passed the " Don't Ask, Don't Tell " (DADT) policy, which allowed gay men and women to serve in the military as long as they kept their sexuality a secret.

Gay rights advocates decried the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, as it did little to stop people from being discharged on the grounds of their sexuality.

In 2011, President Obama fulfilled a campaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12,000 officers had been discharged from the military under DADT for refusing to hide their sexuality. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was officially repealed on September 20, 2011.

Gay Marriage and Beyond

In 1992, the District of Columbia passed a law that allowed gay and lesbian couples to register as domestic partners, granting them some of the rights of marriage (the city of San Francisco passed a similar ordinance three years prior and California would later extend those rights to the entire state in 1999).

In 1993, the highest court in Hawaii ruled that a ban on gay marriage may go against the state's constitution. State voters disagreed, however, and in 1998 passed a law banning same-sex marriage.

Federal lawmakers also disagreed, and Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Clinton signed into law in 1996. The law prevented the government from granting federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage certificates from other states.

Though marriage rights backtracked, gay rights advocates scored other victories. In 1994, a new anti-hate-crime law allowed judges to impose harsher sentences if a crime was motivated by a victim's sexual orientation.

The Matthew Shepard Act

In 2003, gay rights proponents had another bit of happy news: the U.S. Supreme Court, in Lawrence v. Texas, struck down the state's anti-sodomy law. The landmark ruling effectively decriminalized homosexual relations nationwide.

And in 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law a new hate crime act. Commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act, the new law extended the reach of the 1994 hate crime law.

The act was a response to the 1998 murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, who was pistol-whipped, tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die. The murder was thought to be driven by Shepard's perceived homosexuality.

In 2011, President Obama fulfilled a campaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12,000 officers had been discharged from the military under DADT for refusing to hide their sexuality.

A couple of years later, the Supreme Court ruled against Section 3 of DOMA, which allowed the government to deny federal benefits to married same-sex couples. DOMA soon become powerless, when in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, making gay marriage legal throughout the country.

Transgender Rights

One day after that landmark 2015 ruling, the Boy Scouts of America lifted its ban against openly gay leaders and employees. And in 2017, it reversed a century-old ban against transgender boys, finally catching up with the Girl Scouts of the USA, which had long been inclusive of LGBTQ leaders and children (the organization had accepted its first transgender Girl Scout in 2011).

In 2016, the U.S. military lifted its ban on transgender people serving openly, a month after Eric Fanning became secretary of the Army and the first openly gay secretary of a U.S. military branch. In March 2018, President Donald Trump announced a new transgender policy for the military that again banned most transgender people from military service. On January 25, 2021-his sixth day in office-President Biden signed an executive order overturning this ban.

Though LGBTQ Americans now have same-sex marriage rights and numerous other rights that seemed farfetched 100 years ago, the work of advocates is far from over.

Universal workplace anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQ Americans is still lacking. Gay rights proponents must also content with an increasing number of "religious liberty" state laws, which allow business to deny service to LGBTQ individuals due to religious beliefs, as well as "bathroom laws" that prevent transgender individuals from using public bathrooms that don't correspond to their sex at birth. Additionally, several states have passed legislation targeting transgender youth (and, in Texas, their parents), preventing them from competing in school-sponsored athletics that correspond with their gender identity and accessing gender-affirming medical care.

Gay Marriage Legalized

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and the first legal same-sex marriage was performed on May 17, 2004-a day when seventy-seven other couples across the state also tied the knot.

Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer wed in Ontario, Canada in 2007. The State of New York recognized the residents' marriage, but the federal government did not. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her estate to Windsor; since the couple's marriage was not federally recognized, Windsor didn't quality for tax exemption as a surviving spouse. Windsor sued the government in late 2010 in United States v. Windsor. Months later, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Barack Obama administration would no longer defend DOMA.

In 2012, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that DOMA violates the Constitution's equal protection clause, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments for the case. The court ruled in favor of Windsor.

Gay marriage was finally ruled legal by the Supreme Court in June 2015. In Obergefell v. Hodges, the plaintiffs-led by Jim Obergefell, who sued because he was unable to put his name on his late husband's death certificate-argued that the laws violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy sided with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately making gay marriage legal across the nation on June 2015. The ruling read, in part:

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

On December 13, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law. The law requires that individual states recognize same-sex and interracial marriages that were lawfully performed in other states.

Sources

How WWI Sparked the Gay Rights Movement: Smithsonian.

First gay rights group in the US (1924): Chicago Tribune.

Chicago's Henry Gerber House Designated a National Historic Landmark: U.S. Department of the Interior.

Harry Hay, Early Proponent of Gay Rights, Dies at 90: The New York Times.

Transgender: Transgender Studies Quarterly.

American Psychological Association.

LGBT Rights Milestones Fast Facts: CNN.

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The gay rights movement in the United States began in the 1920s and saw huge progress in the 2000s, with laws prohibiting homosexual activity struck down and a Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

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Published: Jan. 19th, 2013
Publisher: ABC News

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Transgender at 11: Listening to Jazz Jennings | 20/20 | ABC News

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Jazz Jennings talks life as a (transgender) teen

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Jazz Jennings talks life as a (transgender) teen

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Published: June 6th, 2016
Publisher: Jaleesa M. Jones

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Jazz Jennings is your average teenage girl, except she happened to be born in a boy's body.

The transgender teen - who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria at age 3 and appeared on at age 6 - has since raised the visibility of trans youth through her TLC docu-series, (Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET) and her work as a youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign. But her new memoir, Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen (Crown), sees the 15-year-old getting more personal than ever. We spoke with Jazz about the book, which hits shelves Tuesday.
Q: You co-wrote a children's book, I Am Jazz, in September 2014. What made you want to do a memoir next?
A: I Am Jazz was more for children to understand what it means to be transgender, but with Being Jazz, I wanted to get the universal message across that we are all just people and we have to live our lives authentically.
Q: What are the biggest misconceptions about the trans community that you were looking to debunk?
A: One of the biggest is that people think it's a choice, but it's not. It's the way we were born.

Another misconception is that it's all about what's between your legs rather than what's between your ears. Being transgender isn't a medical transition. It's a process of learning to love yourself for who you are. And the last is this: A lot of people think I was too young to transition. I was 2 years old when I first started expressing myself but from the start, I knew I was a girl. And I think most children out there just know - whether they gravitate toward Barbies rather than trucks - they know.
Q: In an ideal world, how would we handle gender?
A: I wish everything was gender neutral. I wish we weren't separated by boundaries like pink and blue and little things like that. I wish we could choose how we express ourselves without hate.
Q: How does it feel to see public figures addressing discrimination and standing in solidarity against laws like House Bill 2?
A: The hate is real, and it's not just people hiding behind their computers. Now, it's politicians. But the fact that so many people are rallying in support of the transgender community means so much. Look at the Obama administration - they've put out a directive (on the use of bathrooms by transgender students), telling states they can't discriminate against kids on the basis of gender identity. So many people are finally understanding that this is not OK.
Q: You've been called brave for speaking on trans issues but in your book, you admit that you were privileged to have the resources and support that you had. What would be your advice to trans kids who don't have that?
A: Those are the people with true courage. I'd tell them to stay strong and keep moving forward... and know that one day things will get better. And I'd also tell them to try to find one peer, one adult, one person in your community that you can be yourself around.

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Jazz Jennings talks 'Life as a (Transgender) Teen'

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The 15-year-old's book hits shelves Tuesday, one day before her show's Season 2 premiere.

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Published: Not Specified
Publisher: Lots of people (it's a collection of videos

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Schools Struggle to Support LGBTQ Students

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Schools Struggle to Support LGBTQ Students

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Author: Emelina Minero
Date: April 19th, 2018

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Pinning Roddy Biggs against a locker, a student whaled on him, giving him a black eye, fracturing his eye socket, and bruising his ribs. It wasn't a lone incident for Biggs, who came out as gay to his Tennessee high school when he was a freshman.

"I didn't really do the best in school because of it," recalls Biggs, now 23, who says homophobic slurs, death threats, and shoves were commonplace. "I had depression and panic attacks and all that stuff along the way."

Biggs can still remember the teachers who ignored the bullying or simply said, "That's not cool," and walked away. But there were also the educators who tried to help, like the science teacher who took him to the principal's office after he was beaten and sat with him for more than an hour during class time. Oftentimes, though, the best efforts of teachers were stymied by district or state regulations that stopped them from doing much more.

"Most of the educators wanted to help, but did not know how or were limited in what they could do," says Biggs, referring to Tennessee's lack of legislation preventing the bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) students. Tennessee is one of 32 states that do not have such protections in place.

The researchers surveyed nearly 2,500 teachers and students across the country and found that teachers were less comfortable intervening with bullying due to sexual orientation and gender identity than with bullying based on race, ability, and religion. And while 83 percent of educators felt that they should provide a safe environment for their LGBTQ students-by displaying visible symbols of support or disciplining students for using homophobic language, for example-only half had taken action to do so, according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an organization that helps K-12 schools create safe environments for LGBTQ students.

Teacher Intervention Reported by Students

This lack of support for LGBTQ students stems from a variety of causes.

Some teachers reported feeling uncomfortable talking to their students about sexuality due to their beliefs or perceptions about what's appropriate-often conflating sexual orientation with sex-while others felt pressure from administrators or parents to keep tight-lipped. And a lack of professional development on how to address LGBTQ issues and bullying has left teachers ill-equipped to establish LGBTQ-inclusive cultures or to identify anti-LGBTQ behaviors and harassment. Meanwhile, the emergence of highly politicized issues like allowing transgender students to use bathrooms aligned with their identity has raised the LGBTQ profile nationally, but made constructive dialogue harder.

The Need for Training

For Loretta Farrell Khayam, a high school math teacher in Northern Virginia, the hesitation to support LGBTQ students reflects a simple lack of training.

"We've had no guidance from administration on how to handle students transitioning," said Khayam, who wants to help a transgender student at her school. "I'm not a young, hip teacher. I don't know what to say or do. It would be nice to hear from our administration-both school and district level-what we as a school and a school system will do to support these students."

While there has been an increased interest in training educators on topics like inherent bias and equity and inclusion, these trainings often do not include LGBTQ issues because most school systems aren't requesting it, according to educators and advocacy groups. And when teachers have asked for training, some report that they've faced reluctance from administrators who said they need to focus on other priorities.

Melissa Joy Bollow Tempel said she encountered pushback when she wanted to start including professional development on gender identity in the training she provided as a culturally responsive teacher-leader in the Milwaukee Public Schools district. Bollow Tempel had to go outside the district to receive training herself, and her offers to share what she had learned were repeatedly resisted.

Even within the 18 states with anti-bullying laws aimed at protecting both sexual orientation and gender identity, and within "blue bubbles" like California, both discomfort and neglect are common, according to Vincent Pompei, director of the Youth Well-Being Project at the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the U.S. Pompei noted that attendees at a recent training in Southern California couldn't differentiate sexual orientation from gender identity.

Students Taught an LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum

"Educators still have a tremendous amount of worry around LGBTQ inclusion-they fear parent or community pushback, and are uncertain if they'd be supported by school or district leadership if they took action," Pompei said. "We say students need to see visible signs of a safe space, but educators also need to know that their administration supports them and will have their back if a parent or community member with anti-LGBTQ views complains."

Avoidable Struggles

When LGBTQ students feel the lack of staff support at school, the impact can be substantial.

Students Hearing Biased Language at School

"My middle school didn't have any procedures, and my teachers didn't know what to do," reflects Miles Sanchez, a ninth-grade bisexual and transgender student in Colorado. Sanchez says he repeatedly went to administrators to ask them to establish policies to protect LGBTQ students from bullying. "I feel like a lot of my struggles could have been avoided if educators were trained in dealing with bullying for all types of students," he said.

The problem is not restricted to students.

Teachers like Hanan Huneidi, a 7th- through 12-grade teacher for at-risk students in the Bay Area, California, says she feels that if she includes LGBTQ content in her lessons, staff and students assume she's trying to push a particular agenda because she's gay. Huneidi says she has at times avoided the topic because she doesn't always want to "automatically be the representative of all gay things."

Last year, a frustrated Huneidi told colleagues they needed to "carry the torch too" in disciplining students for using homophobic hate language, which is against school rules.

Creating a Safe Space

To address the need for more awareness, organizations like Gender Spectrum and History UnErased are providing professional development and support for K-12 classrooms. Resources provided by these organizations include lesson plans, workshops, and guides.

And some districts, like the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, Wisconsin, are embedding professional development directly into their schools. The district has a staff social worker in charge of LGBTQ-specific staff training and family support, and last year the district adopted the LGBTQ professional development program Welcoming Schools.

As part of the program, district staff members-including school psychologists, social workers, and teachers-received training so they can coach their colleagues on topics like embracing family diversity and preventing bias-based bullying. The district also hosts parent and student panels to share LGBTQ students' experiences with staff, and community events, like readings of children's books with LGBTQ characters.

But according to LGBTQ advocates, it doesn't take a top-down approach to make a difference in students' lives-help can come from a single educator.

Sometimes it's as simple as putting up safe space signs, or a sign that says a classroom or school is welcoming of all identities; reprimanding a student who uses the phrase "that's so gay"; or reading a book with an LGBTQ protagonist. Small changes from one person can often lead to bigger ones from more.

Dan Ryder, a teacher at Mount Blue High School in Farmington, Maine, said he's personally seen change happen slowly over the nearly two decades that he's worked at his school. He remembers the days of "don't ask, don't tell" and the widespread use of homophobic slurs. Now, he says, students in the school's tech program are making signs to affix to new gender-neutral bathrooms of their own accord.

"I'm doing my best to show them that even though I may be a straight, cis, married white male, we are all fairly complex beings that change over time and have experiences that may unite us more than we realize," he says of his own efforts to help students. "Often we just need someone to say, 'Hey, you are who you are. I get it. It's OK by me. And I want to be helpful to you in whatever way that means for you.'"

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Schools Struggle to Support LGBTQ Students

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Recent research finds the majority of teachers want to help LGBTQ students but don't always know how.

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Author: Youth.gov Writers
Date: Not Specified

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Sexual orientation and gender identity/expression are important aspects of a young person's identity. Understanding and expressing sexual orientation and gender and developing related identities are typical development tasks that vary across children and youth. For example, some youth may be unsure of their sexual orientation, whereas others have been clear about it since childhood and have expressed it since a young age. Expressing and exploring gender identity and roles is a part of normal development. The process of understanding and expressing one's sexual orientation and gender identity is unique to each individual. It is not a one-time event and personal, cultural, and social factors may influence how one expresses their sexual orientation and gender identity.

There is currently no universally-accepted acronym inclusive of all youth who are not heterosexual and/or express their gender in diverse ways. The commonly-used acronym - LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, or another diverse gender identity) - refers to the communities included in the "LGBTTTQQIAA" acronym (see Figure 1). This youth topic primarily uses "LGBTQ+" as an inclusive term for simplicity, except when describing research studies explicitly focused on more narrowly-specific communities. See Key Terms and Concepts to learn more about each of these communities.
Figure 1: Communities included in the "strong LGBTTTQQIAA" acronym
Resiliency and Protective Factors

Research on LGBTQ+ youth has focused on the risk factors and disparities these young people experience compared with youth who are not LGBTQ+. However, more recently there has been research on resiliency and protective factors, which offers a strength-based focus on LGBTQ+ youth well-being. For instance, LGBTQ+ youth who have access to spaces that affirm their sexual orientation and gender identity report lower rates of attempting suicide and experiencing supportive environments.

Several factors that can help improve outcomes for LGBTQ+ young people include:

Addressing LGBTQ+-related stigma, discrimination, and violence

Building on the strengths of LGBTQ+ youth

Fostering supports such as family acceptance and safe, affirming environments in schools and other settings

Federal and local policies and practices increasingly acknowledge and focus on the experiences and needs of LGBTQ+ youth. Numerous national advocacy and other organizations are also giving greater attention to LGBTQ+ youth in their work. Fostering safe, affirming communities and youth-serving settings such as schools for all youth requires efforts to address the challenges described here. At the same time, it is also important to acknowledge and build on the strengths, resilience, and factors that protect LGBTQ+ youth from risk, such as connection to caring adults and peers and family acceptance. Parental support of sexual orientation and gender expression provide uniquely strong benefits to positive well-being and mental health in young adulthood and are related to higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts.

Young people who identify as LGBTQ+ can experience various challenges because of how others respond to their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. This is also true for youth who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, or may be perceived as LGBTQ+ or gender variant by others. In a 2021 survey of nearly 35,000 LGBTQ+ youth, 75 percent reported having experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at least once in their lifetime. These negative experiences include high rates of physical and emotional bias and violence; rejection by schools, employment, and communities because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression.

Research shows that due to these challenges and the associated stress, LGBTQ+ youth are at risk for negative health outcomes and are more likely to attempt suicide, experience homelessness, and use illegal drugs These issues may also contribute to anxiety, depressive symptoms, and feelings of isolation. Youth who express their gender in ways that vary from societal expectations for their perceived sex or gender are at risk for high levels of childhood physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. They are also at risk for school victimization. As a result, they may have poorer well-being than lesbian, gay, and bisexual peers whose gender expression is more closely aligned with societal expectations.

Resources

Health Considerations for LGBTQ Youth
This website provides information on protective factors and data related to health risks and sexual minority youth, as well as related resources.

Practice Brief 1: Providing Services and Supports for Youth Who Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, or Two-Spirit (LGBTQI2-S)(PDF, 8 pages)
This practice brief outlines key information for working with and providing culturally and linguistically competent services to LGBTQI2-S youth.

References
1 Poirier, Fisher, Hunt, & Bearse, 2014
² Poirier, Fisher, Hunt, & Bearse, 2014
³ Poirier, Fisher, Hunt, & Bearse, 2014
⁴ The National Trevor Project, 2021
⁵ Day, Ioverno, & Russell, 2019
⁶ American Association of School Administrators et al., n.d.; National Association of School Nurses, 2003; National Association of School Psychologists, 2006
⁷ Shilo & Savaya, 2011; Sheets & Moor, 2009; Ryann et al., 2010; Snapp et al., 2015; Russell & Fish, 2016
⁸ Gender variant youth are not necessarily LGBT. In fact, any youth who does not fit typical social expectations for his or her mannerisms, behavior, or choice of clothing based on birth-assigned gender, for example, can be considered "gender variant." This does not mean the youth is lesbian, gay, or bisexual - or identifies as a gender different from what he or she was assigned at birth (i.e., transgender).
⁹ The National Trevor Project, 2021 (45 percent of this sample were youth of color, and 38 percent were transgender or nonbinary.
¹⁰ Hunter & Schaecher, 1987; Reis, 1999; Reis & Saewyc, 1999; Ray, 2006; Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009; SAMHSA, 2014
¹¹ Roberts, Rosario, Corliss, Koenen, & Austin, 2012
¹² Toomey, Ryan, Diaz, & Russell, 2010
¹³ Rieger & Savin-Williams, 2012

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Sexual orientation and gender identity/expression are important aspects of a young person's identity. Understanding and expressing sexual orientation and gender and developing related identities are typical development tasks that vary across children and youth. For example, some youth may be unsure of their sexual orientation, whereas others have been clear about it since childhood and have expressed it since a young age.

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Date: unspecified
Author: the CDC and their authors

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Positive environments are important to help all youth thrive. However, the health needs of LGBTQ+ Youth can differ from their heterosexual peers. On this page, find resources from the CDC, other government agencies, and community organizations for LGBTQ+ Youth, their friends, educators, parents, and family members to support positive environments.

Because some LGBTQ+ Youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience bullying or other aggression in school, it is important that educators, counselors, and school administrators have access to resources and support to create a safe, healthy learning environment for all students.

American Psychological Association (APA) Resources:

Because some LGBT Youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience bullying or other aggression in school, it is important that educators, counselors, and school administrators have access to resources and support to create a safe, healthy learning environment for all students.

Some LGBT Youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience bullying or other aggression in school. It is important that educators, counselors, and school administrators have access to resources and support to create a safe, healthy learning environment for all students.

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lesbian gay bisexual and transgender (lgbt) health

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Resources for LGBT youth as well as friends, family, and school administrators to support LGBT youth.

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Date: 2018 (day and month not said)
Author: HRC.org Writers

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HRC Foundation and the University of Connecticut released the largest-of-its-kind survey ever of more than 12,000 LGBTQ teenagers across the nation, revealing in distressing detail the persistent challenges so many of them face going about their daily lives at home, at school and in their communities.

The more than 12,000 respondents, ranging in age from 13 to 17, and from all 50 states and Washington D.C., participated in the online 2017 LGBTQ Teen Survey. It found that these teenagers are not only experiencing heartbreaking levels of stress, anxiety and rejection, but also overwhelmingly feel unsafe in their own school classrooms. LGBTQ young people who participated in the survey also made crystal clear that supportive families and inclusive schools are key to their success and well-being.

HRC and researchers at the University of Connecticut found that:

Seventy-seven percent of LGBTQ teenagers surveyed report feeling depressed or down over the past week;

Ninety-five percent of LGBTQ youth report trouble sleeping at night;

LGBTQ youth of color and transgender teenagers experience unique challenges and elevated stress -- only 11 percent of youth of color surveyed believe their racial or ethnic group is regarded positively in the U.S., and over 50 percent of trans and gender expansive youth said they can never use school restrooms that align with their gender identity;

More than 70 percent report feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness in the past week;

Only 26 percent say they always feel safe in their school classrooms -- and just five percent say all of their teachers and school staff are supportive of LGBTQ people;

Sixty-seven percent report that they've heard family members make negative comments about LGBTQ people.

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HRC Foundation and the University of Connecticut released the largest-of-its-kind survey ever of more than 12,000 LGBTQ teenagers across the nation, revealing in distressing detail the persistent challenges so many of them face going about their daily lives at home, at school and in their communities.

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Research: LGBTQ Discrimination Widespread in US

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Research: LGBTQ Discrimination Widespread in US

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Author: Kate Sosin
Date: Oct. 16, 2020
Perspective: the author is LGBT, so they experience some of the things mentioned in the article

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Author: Roman Stubbs
Date: July 18, 2020
Perspective: The transgender people of the world are still missing a lot of rights, and it should be fixed.

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Author: Lee Nacozy
Date: Jan. 24, 2018
Perspective: Gay marriage rights are very vulnerable. they were gained in court and could be lost in court

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Transgender Student Wins Court Ruling on School-Bathroom Use

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Transgender Student Wins Court Ruling on School-Bathroom Use

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Author: Jess Bravin
Date: Aug. 26, 2020
Perspective: Schools that block students from using the bathroom that corresponds with their identity is a law violation.

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'Double Discrimination': In French Soccer, Being Female and LGBTQ

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'Double Discrimination': In French Soccer, Being Female and LGBTQ

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Author: Colette Davidson
Date: Nov. 18, 2019
Perspective: French soccer isn't very friendly to women and LGBT players.

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Most Americans Believe LGBTQ People Are Legally Protected  from Discrimination. They're Not.

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Most Americans Believe LGBTQ People Are Legally Protected  from Discrimination. They're Not.

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Author: Joshua Bote
Date: Oct. 29, 2020
Perspective: the LGBT community isn't given as much rights and liberties as people ,ay think

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The Multimillion-Dollar Christian Group Attacking LGBTQ+ Rights

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The Multimillion-Dollar Christian Group Attacking LGBTQ+ Rights

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Author: Jessica Glenza
Date: Mar. 3, 2020
Perspective: the ADF group is protesting that gendered sports should be made fair by not letting transgender competitors play.

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States Weigh Measures to Stop Transgender Athletes from Competing in Women's Sports

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States Weigh Measures to Stop Transgender Athletes from Competing in Women's Sports

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Author: Jacob Gershman
Date: Jan. 7, 2020
Perspective: More states are adopting Idaho's law which bans transgender people from competing in gendered sports.