Youth Resource

The Gay and Lesbian Times is running a two -part series called Coming Out in Adolescence. The first part includes segments about coming out at younger ages, the death of Lawrence King, gender expression, and using the internet to find information and resources.  Important reading!

The Black AIDS Institute published its report Left Behind -  Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic to coincide with the International AIDS Conference in August, but I happened to attend a presentation of their findings on Thursday, and I wanted to share them with anyone who hasn’t seen the report yet.

The report poses the interesting question:  What if Black America were its own country?

It would be almost as big as South Africa. It would have more residents with HIV/AIDS than 7 of the 15 developing countries that receive aid from the United States to combat HIV. In large cities like New York City, Detroit, and Washington DC, HIV and AIDS rates would rival those in sub-Saharan countries including Kenya and Uganda. For men, HIV prevalence approaches that of the Sub-Saharan region.

The report shares other appalling statistics on prison, poverty, and unequal access to resources.  The report expresses particular concern for young black men who have sex with men - the number of these young men who have HIV has almost doubled since 1993.  Yet young African American men and women actually have LOWER risk behaviors than young whites - they are not more likely to have sex at a young age or have multiple partners.

The report goes on to address theories as to why this would be; address the epidemic in specific populations;  and urges the government to more fully fund efforts to combat the epidemic.

They also recommend a National Strategic AIDS Plan which would be for the US what PEPFAR is for developing countries - a source of funding and a plan for action.  Many groups support this, while others feel that a huge, bureaucratic effort is not the most efficient way to fight a generalized epidemic.

Crossposted on Amplify

I went to two research presentations this week and I thought I would just share what I learned there.

The first was the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN)’s presentation of their 2007 National School Climate Survey.

GLSEN researchers surveyed over 6000 young people who self-identified as GLBTQ to learn about their experiences in school and if they had experienced discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender expression.

• 86.2% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 44.1% reported being physically harassed and 22.1% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 73.6% heard derogatory remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school. Over 90 percent heard “gay” used in a negative way frequently or often.
• More than half (60.8%) of students reported that they felt unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation, and more than a third (38.4%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression.
• About 61 percent of students who experienced harassment did not report it because they feared no action would be taken or the situation would become worse if they reported.  Of those who did report, 31% said the school did nothing in response.

Researchers also point out that these statistics haven’t improved much since 1999, the first year of the survey.  They recommend safe spaces at school and GSA’s as one solution.  They also urge bullying laws that specifically address harassment  - they shared research that showed that GLBTQ students at schools with blanket, non-specific anti bullying laws experience as much harassment as students with no bullying laws at all.

It was an interesting and sobering session.  GLSEN’s leader and founder, Kevin Jennings, observed that people tend to think things just get better over time, but they don’t - unless we all work for change. 

How’s the climate in your school, campus, or neighborhood?

Crossposted on Amplify

Welcome to the new YouthResource blog!  Here you will find news and commentary about current issues and events that affect GLBTQ youth. You may see entries by Angel, YouthResource manager; Emily, YouthResource blogger; or any of the Peer Educators who write the articles on the rest of the site. 

But we also want you to participate!  We welcome your thoughts, comments, and news tips.  What’s going on in your community?  Was there an interesting or troubling story about GLBTQ issues in your local news? If the mainstream media is missing news that affects us, we want to know - email angel@mail.advocatesforyouth.net .

We also urge you to comment on entries - tell us what you think about what’s going on out there!  To start with, we pose a question:  What is the most important issue facing GLBTQ youth today?  Leave an answer in comments!

We are very excited to get the YR blog off the ground. We can’t wait to hear from you, and we want to keep the conversation going.  So make sure you keep checking back – or just subscribe to the RSS feed.  Thanks and see you at the YouthResource blog!