NCFY Recommends: New Survey of LGBT Youth Gives Snapshot of Their Experiences

A new report from the gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign shows that when it comes to being bullied, feeling accepted and having optimism for the future, there are large disparities between lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth and their straight peers.

For "Growing Up LGBT in America," HRC surveyed 10,000 LGBT teens ages 13 to 17 and about 500 straight teens. Key findings include:

• Nearly half of LGBT youth say they do not “fit in” in their community. Only 16 percent of straight youth feel that way.
• While 4 out of 5 LGBT youth believe they will be happy one day, only about half of them believe they can be happy if they stay in their city or town.
• When asked about their most important problem, many straight teens talked about grades, college and money. LGBT teens’ tended to face stressors related to their identities, such as bullying and their families accepting them.

There's likely to be a connection between HRC's findings about how LGBT youth feel about their lives and recent research suggesting that LGBT youth are more likely than their straight peers to run away or be kicked out.

You can find the full report on HRC's website.

More About LGBT Youth

NCFY's written about how youth workers can serving LGBT youth with open arms. We've also linked to videos that give tips for serving LGBT homeless youth and summarized research about preventing and responding to homelessness among this group of young people.

What are YOU doing to better serve LGBT youth? Post a message on our Facebook page or send us a Tweet.