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 Gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents have a difficult time in today's culture deciding whether to come out to family, friends and other students at school. They have to evaluate their safety, their comfort level in discussing their sexual orientation, and how to set boundaries with people re: what they will and will not discuss. If they're outed by someone else, safety and comfort level can be completely decimated. Then bullying and/or teasing by others at school comes into play, and these teens can quickly become suicidal. Frequently, adults who know about the bullying do nothing to stop it.
If the teen is transgender and outed at school or with friends, the bullying and/or teasing tends to escalate more quickly and more severely.
A recent survey of over 6000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth done by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found that over 86% reported being harassed with 44%
reporting being either shoved, pushed, kicked, or injured with a weapon
due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Research shows that such harassment can have a devastating effect on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teen's mental health and their risk of committing suicide. This also means that LGBT adults are prone to depression, anxiety, frequent suicidal thoughts and low self-esteem.
For more information and to help decrease bullying of LGBT youth, please contact national organizations
such as the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN, P.O. Box 3084,San Diego, California 92163, (619) 685-2872; Email: glsensd@yahoo.com, website: http://chapters.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/sandiegocounty/home.html) and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG, http://www.pflag.com, (888) 398-0006) for information and technical support on how to establish
such groups as well as how to advocate for LGBT students in school settings.
Therapy can also help with bullying. Sue Boyd, LCSW can help teens and parents to find ways to decrease bullying in school and to cope with the emotional fall-out of that bullying. Sue also specializes in decreasing suicidal thoughts. Please call or email for more information or to schedule a session.
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