GLBTQ Facts Sheet

GET THE FACTS: GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, AND QUESTIONING YOUTH

• Gay youth often feel isolated.
• The average high school student hears 25 anti-gay slurs daily at school.
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide than other youth. 1
• 41.7% of GLBTQ youth do not feel safe in their school. 2
• 28% of gay teens drop out of school annually – three times the national average. 2
• Transgender youth are often victims of harassment and violence.
• 69% of GLBTQ youth report experiencing some sort of harassment or violence. 2
• 99.4% of GLBTQ youth report hearing homophobic remark from other students. 2
• 36.6% (one-third) of these youth report hearing homophobic remarks from faculty or school staff. 2
• 41.7% of youth from the Northeast report being uncomfortable talking to any school staff member about GLBTQ issues. 2
• 43% of high school students claim that their schools do not discuss homosexuality in the classroom. 3
• 100% of the youth that come to Center Lane say they wished they knew more gay and lesbian youth.

1National Mental Health Association
2Sexual Information and Education Council (SIECUS) – from SIECUS Fact Sheet: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Issues, April/May 2001
3!OutProud!, The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth
The !OutProud!/ Oasis Internet Survey of Queer and Questioning Youth, 1997
(www.outproud.org/survey/research.html)