Political attacks on queer youth have increased exponentially in the last few years, shedding light on the persistent challenges and discrimination our younger community faces in society. While progress has been made in terms of legal recognition and social acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals, this demographic continues to experience disproportionately high rates of violence, harassment and discrimination, particularly among young people.
Social media platforms provide a virtual space where harassment and discrimination can occur anonymously and without repercussion. LGBTQ+ youth are frequently targeted online with hateful messages, threats and doxxing (publishing private information about an individual on the internet), exacerbating feelings of isolation and vulnerability. The Trevor Project surveyed 28,524 13-to-24-year-old LGBTQ+ people, and the results were shocking: 36% of queer and trans youth said they don’t expect to live to 35.
Other studies have been completed, showing LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience bullying and harassment — one done by the Sandy Hook Promise said LGBTQ+ people are more than twice as likely to be a victim of gun violence than their cisgender and straight peers. In addition, nearly 20% of all hate crimes are motivated by sexual orientation and/or gender identity bias. Almost 30% of transgender youth have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, compared to 7% of cisgender youth, and 43% of transgender youth have been bullied on school property, compared to 18% of cisgender youth.
Moreover, the intersectionality of identities further compounds the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth. Those who belong to marginalized racial or ethnic groups have disabilities, or come from low-income backgrounds and may experience heightened levels of violence and discrimination due to the overlapping forms of prejudice they encounter.
“This is likely due to increased levels of stress and having more negative experiences in comparison to their peers, which over time, can lead to the accumulation of minority stress and mental health concerns,” explained Steven Hobaica, Ph.D., a research scientist at The Trevor Project. “For example, research has consistently identified that specific identities, such as transgender and nonbinary youth, bisexual youth and those who have multiple marginalized identities, report higher rates of both stressful life events and mental health problems than their peers, which may help explain these findings.”
The U.S. Dept. of Justice released a report in Jan. 2020 titled “Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth is Violence Prevention,” which revealed queer and trans youth experience less violence and experience better life outcomes if they have “safe, stable. nurturing relationships.”
A place in Charlotte working to build those safe, stable, nurturing relationships for the area’s queer children and teens is Time Out Youth. The organization was established in 1991 as a place where LGBTQ+ youth could go and receive “support, advocacy and opportunities for personal development and social interaction,” according to the organization’s website.
“We all probably can think back to our middle or high school days and think about our support system, the supportive people in our lives,” Community Engagement Manager Haeley Robinson said in an interview with Qnotes. “That is incredibly important to, specifically, LGBTQ young people because they’re able to share their experiences and get validation if they have that support system … I think that’s so important.”
Robinson works directly with community organizations and partners via Time Out Youth’s programming on how to support LGBTQ+ kids. But in the last year, the nonprofit had to shift its approach to accommodate anti-LGBTQ+ legislation put in place by North Carolina’s General Assembly.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights, also known as SB 49, was officially signed into law last August. The bill, which has been compared to Florida’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law, prohibits instruction related to gender identity and sexuality in grades K through 4 and will notify parents when students want to change their names or pronouns. Time Out Youth used to work with school districts in Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas to provide resources and workshops on how to support queer students, but Robinson said in a post-SB 49 world, schools were wary of getting involved again.
“Sometimes bills happen, and they can be incredibly vague, incredibly scary, incredibly stigmatizing, and educators and students are the folks that it is truly impacting,” Robinson said. “I always say our young people are spending most of their awake time in schools, and if they’re experiencing harm in those spaces, most of their time being awake is harmed. So we want to make sure that we are flipping that and making sure that schools are as inclusive as possible while working within the parameters of SB 49.”
Elissa Miller is the Communications Director for Time Out Youth. She said in the last year demand for workshops has increased since SB 49’s passage.
“Last year [we] did 32 community trainings, 474 individual consultations and, in total, 1,897 people either attended a training or a presentation that was hosted by Time Out Youth or that Time Out Youth was a part of,” Miller said. “So there are lots of lots of people … in the community that do want to have this information [and] want to be supportive, while also having to comply with these bills that have just been imposed upon them.”
Safe, affirming spaces for queer youth are crucial in ensuring their success. Time Out Youth has several programs and groups for various identities within the LGBTQ+ community in order to meet the needs of all youth the center serves. Robinson and Miller both expressed that when there are established affirming spaces for queer youth, the likelihood of violence and deteriorating mental health in these kids decreases.
“We want to make sure that everything we do is to make sure our youth are having a good time and are able to step away from spaces where they may not be able to be out or be able to be affirmed or welcomed,” Robinson said. “It’s just beautiful … just seeing Time Out Youth as a space that allows our young people to just step away from whatever else externally is happening and make sure that they are supported.”
Miller gave some examples of events the center holds for queer youth to give them affirming experiences, some of which include a queer prom, Lavender Graduations and more.
“Last year, we saw 1,600+ drop in sign-ins here — that’s people coming to the center, whether that’s to access housing services, counseling services, or a fun social event here,” they explained. “So we really are trying our very best and working our very hardest to make sure people know even if school is not a safe space for you, if the world is not a safe space for you, Time Out Youth can be that space for you.”
Addressing the increase in violence against LGBTQ+ youth requires a multifaceted approach involving legislative action, community support and education reform. Fostering empathy, understanding and acceptance within communities is crucial for challenging and dismantling the harmful attitudes and stereotypes that perpetuate violence against LGBTQ+ youth.
The best way to get rid of the stigma: remind LGBTQ+ youth their identity as queer, trans and/or gender-nonconforming is worth embracing.
“Being queer is a gift. Being queer is a joy, it’s a community connection, and that is something we’re celebrating,” Miller said. “The goal is when you come into Time Out Youth, you have those adults that you can have an affirming experience and relationship with.
“Whether that’s your counselor that you’re coming in to see for counseling, maybe it’s one of our housing staff that’s helping you receive housing, maybe it’s just someone that’s at the front desk, a volunteer or one of our staff members who greets you and welcomes you into the center. When you come in here, you have a support system that’s there for you.” ::