Estimates have been floating around recently that up to 40 percent of the up to 1.6 million homeless youth in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Well, a new study (PDF alert) by the Williams Institute confirms this estimate. The study is a compilation of surveys of 354 youth shelters. From the study:
LGBT youth comprise approximately 40% of the clientele served by agencies represented in the sample:
- Among both homeless and non-homeless clients, 30% identified as gay or lesbian and 9% identified as bisexual
- 1% of homeless and non-homeless clients were identified as “other gender” but at least another percent of the total clientele were transgender youth who were identified on the survey as either male or female
- Nearly all agencies (91%) reported using intake forms to track the demographic information of their clients, including information on sexual orientation and gender identity; around 30% of agencies use staff estimates to approximate the number of LGBT youth. Given that youth may not be willing to self-identify as being LGBT when initially presenting for services, these data may underestimate the proportion of LGBT youth served by homeless youth providers.
The leading cause? You probably guessed it: family rejection.
To be precise, 68 percent of homeless LGBT youth clients have experienced family rejection, according to the survey respondents. Furthermore, 54 percent have experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse within their families.
Here are the top five reasons for LGBT youth homelessness, according to the survey:
Even more disturbing is this:
While family rejection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was the most frequently cited factor contributing to LGBT homelessness, over 40% of the agencies do not address these family-based issues. However, agencies were more likely to conduct family-based work if they served LGB homeless youth under the age of 18:
- 75-80% of providers who served clients under age 18 indicated that they are doing family acceptance-related work, compared to 46-51% of providers who work with LGBT clients who were predominantly age 18 or older
Many LGBT youth, primarily older youth, are in shelters that do not work on family acceptance issues, despite this being the top reason the youth are on the streets in the first place. The study notes that the reason for this is mainly the lack of local, state, and federal funds. In the meantime,
as ThinkProgress notes, the bigots are unleashing ads designed specifically to scare parents and make them fear the LGBT community. We have the Religious Right to partially thank for this massive number of homeless LGBT youth. Conservative "family values" in action. And they say we LGBT people are the ones who are a danger to kids.
Many are noticing these frightening statistics, including Cyndi Lauper, who has launched the Forty to None Project to raise awareness of and combat LGBT youth homelessness. From the mission statement:
After a year of development, we are proud to launch the result of our extensive research – the Forty to None Project – the first national program to focus solely on youth homelessness and its impact on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young people. The Forty to None Project is committed to doing all it can to help to bring an end to this epidemic, and reduce the disproportionate percentage of gay and transgender youth who are homeless from 40% to none.
In the coming months and years, the Forty to None Project will unveil and execute an extensive set of programs and initiatives around the areas of education, advocacy, empowerment, capacity building, and inclusion. In the immediate future, the program will focus primarily on raising public awareness, engaging society to be a part of the solution, advocating on behalf of gay and transgender homeless youth on Capitol Hill, and empowering those whom the issue affects most deeply, young homeless people themselves, to overcoming the obstacles and realize the futures they deserve.
So there's that. But what this study shows is that so, so, so much more work needs to be done. As much as Forty to None will help, these statistics cry out for attention from the local, state, and federal governments. These findings also underscore why it's so imperative to counter and ultimately defeat the Religious Right on this issue. We're not only fighting for our rights--we're fighting for LGBT kids to find acceptance at home.