Just the Facts On

Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth in Schools

Self-Realization

• Gay male adolescents report becoming aware of a distinct feeling of "being different" between ages 5-7; they also report that they did not yet connect this feeling to the issue of sexuality. [1]
• The median age at which lesbian and gay youth become aware that their feelings of "difference" are linked to a same-sex sexual orientation is 13. [2]
• 9% of high school students identify as "gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning." [3]

The School Climate

Student Attitudes

"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 their peers. [4]
• The typical high school student hears anti-gay slurs 25.5 times a day. [5]
• 80% of gay and lesbian youth report severe social isolation. [6]

Staff Attitudes

"I realize that children can be very cruel, but when teachers and adults encourage or do not discourage mean and cruel behavior it makes me angry and very sad." -- a parent of a gay child

• 53% of students report hearing homophobic comments made by school staff. [7]
• 80% of prospective teachers report negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian people. [8]
• 1/3 of prospective teachers can be classified as "high-grade homophobes." [9]
• 52% of prospective teachers report that they would feel uncomfortable working with an openly lesbian or gay colleague. [10]
• 77% of prospective teachers would not encourage a class discussion on homosexuality; 85% oppose integrating gay/lesbian themes into their existing curricula. [11]
• Two-thirds of guidance counselors harbor negative feelings toward gay and lesbian people. [12]
• Less than 20% of guidance counselors have received any training on serving gay and lesbian students. [13]
• Only 25% of guidance counselors consider themselves "highly competent" in serving gay and lesbian youth. [14]
• Teachers fail to intervene in 97% of incidents involving anti-gay slurs at school. [15]
• 78% of school administrators say they know of no lesbian, gay or bisexual students in their schools, yet 94% of them claim they feel their schools are safe places for these young people. [16]

The Family

"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 communication 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. [17]
• 19% of gay men and 25% of lesbians report suffering physical violence at the hands of a family members as a result of their sexual orientation. [18]
• 11.5 % of gay and lesbian youth report being physically attacked by family members. [19]
• 26% of adolescent gay males report having to leave home as a result of conflicts with their family over their sexual orientation. [20]
• 42% of homeless youth self-identify as gay/lesbian. [21]

Anti-Gay Violence and Harassment

"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

• "Homosexuals are probably the most frequent victims [of hate crimes]" in the U.S. [22]
• 45% of gay males and 20% of lesbians report having experienced verbal harassment and/or physical violence as a result of their sexual orientation during high school. [23]
• 19% of gay/lesbian youth report suffering physical attacks based on their sexual orientation. [24]
• 15% of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth have been injured so badly in a physical attack at school that they have had to seek the services of a doctor or nurse. [25]
• 20% of LGB youth report skipping school at least once a month because of feeling unsafe while there. [22]
• 42% of adolescent lesbians and 34% of adolescent gay males who have suffered physical attack also attempt suicide. [21]

Health Issues

"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

• 1 in 5 HIV-positive men were apparently infected during their adolescent years. [28]
• 68% of adolescent gay males use alcohol (26% or more at least once a week); 44% use other drugs. [29]
• 83% of adolescent lesbians use alcohol and 56% use other drugs. [30]
• 31% of LGB students have used cocaine as opposed to 7% of non-LGB students. [31]
• 62% of LGB students smoke as opposed to 35% of non-LGB students. [32]
• 32% of LGB students have gotten pregnant or gotten someone pregnant as opposed to 12% of non-LGB students. [33]
• 30% of gay and bisexual adolescent males attempt suicide at least once. [34]
• Gay and lesbian youth represent 30% of all completed teen suicides: extrapolation shows this means a successful suicide attempt by a gay teen every 5 hours and 48 minutes. [35]
• LGB students are four times more likely to attempt suicide than non-LGB students. [36]

References and Additional Information

* Testimonies are from the public hearings conducted by the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1992. Governor William Weld, R-MA.

1.     Treadway L. and Yoakum J. "Creating a Safer School Environment for Lesbian and Gay Students" in: Journal of School Health, September 1992.

2.     Sears J. Growing Up Gay in the South. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1991.

3.     Seattle Public Schools, "1995 Seattle Teen Health Risk Survey," reprinted in Third Annual Report of the Safe Schools Anti-Violence Documentation Project, 1996.

4.     Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993.

5.     Carter K. "Gay Slurs Abound," in The Des Moines Register, March 7, 1997, p. 1.

6.     Hetrick E., and Martin A. D. "Developmental Issues and Their Resolution for Gay and Lesbian Adolescents" in: Journal of Homosexuality, 1987.

7.     Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993

8.     Sears, James. "Educators, Homosexuality, and Homosexual Students: Are Personal Feelings Related to Professional Beliefs?" in Harbeck, Karen, ed. Coming Out of the Classroom Closet. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1992.

9.     ibid.

10.  ibid.

11.  ibid.

12.  ibid.

13.  ibid.

14.  Price, J. H. and Telljohan S. "School Counselors' Perceptions of Adolescent Homosexuals" in: Journal of School Health, December 1991.

15.  Carter K. "Gay Slurs Abound," in The Des Moines Register, March 7, 1997, p. 1.

16.  GLSEN/Detroit, Bruised Bodies, Bruised Spirits: An Assessment of the Current Climate of Safety for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth in Southeastern Michigan Schools, pp. 31-33.

17.  1990 U.S. Census Report.

18.  Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force, Discrimination and Violence toward Lesbian Women and Gay Men in Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1992.

19.  Hetrick-Martin Institute Violence Report, 1988.

20.  Remafedi G. "Male Homosexuality: The Adolescent's Perspective," in: Pediatrics, 1987.

21.  Victim Services/Traveler's Aid, "Streetwork Project Study," 1991.

22.  U.S. Department of Justice, The Response of the Criminal Justice System to Bias Crime: An Exploratory View, 1987.

23.  National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, "National Anti-Gay/Lesbian Victimization Report," 1984.

24.  Hetrick-Martin Institute Violence Report, 1988.

25.  Seattle Public Schools, "1995 Seattle Teen Health Risk Survey," reprinted in Third Annual Report of the Safe Schools Anti-Violence Documentation Project, 1996.

26.  The Centers for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Education, "The Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey," 1995.

27.  Hetrick-Martin Institute Violence Report, 1988.

28.  Centers for Disease Control figures, 1995.

29.  Hunter J. et al. Unpublished research by the Columbia University HIV Center for Clinical and Behavior Studies, 1992.

30.  ibid.

31.  The Centers for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Education, "The Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey," 1995.

32.  ibid.

33.  ibid.

34.  Remafedi G., et al. "Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth," in: Pediatrics, 1991.

35.  Gibson P. "U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide Report," 1989. See also Remafedi G. Death by Denial: Studies of Gay and Lesbian Youth Suicide (Boston: Alyson Publications, 1995).

36.  The Centers for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Education, "The Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey," 1995.

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