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Many gay youth are miserable due to the harassment they face everyday. | Source: Shutterstock
The Los Angeles Times reports that despite the progress made recently in regards to gay rights (President Obama has repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and come out in support of gay marriage, for example), gay youth are the most likely to report harassment and overwhelmingly report being unhappy in general.
The study says that half of all gay youth reported being harassed at school, as opposed to about 25 percent of non-LGBT teens. Similarly, twice as many homosexual teens reported being physically assaulted than heterosexual teens. Guys, this is horrifying!
Not surprisingly, then, fewer than half of the gay youth surveyed felt accepted by their peers and communities, with 63 percent of them saying they would have to move to another city or town to feel welcome. Do you know how hard it is to feel like an outsider in your own hometown? Gay youth in the survey were also over twice as likely to experiment with drugs or alcohol as their hetero peers. This is likely due, at least in part, with gay youth trying to escape and suppress the pain they’re feeling because they’re so tormented, not only by their peers, but also by themselves.
A heartbreaking case in point? In addition to feeling the need to leave their hometowns, many gay youth feel like they have to leave their own homes. A lot of the teens surveyed didn’t feel accepted by their own families. As a result, many gay youth are “out” more at school than at home. This lack of crucial and important acceptance plays a huge role in someone’s outlook on life in general and may explain further why so many reported being unhappy, with one respondent telling a story of how he lived on the street because he felt like he had no place to go.
Aside from with one another, many gay youth find support systems online. It's a start, but more needs to be done. | Source: Shutterstock
Perhaps if bullies and people ignorant enough to think people choose to be gay saw this report, they’d change their tunes. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “You know what? I want to get beat up in the hall at school today. I want people to call me names at lunch. I want to have to hide my identity from my dad.” No one wants that and no one deserves that.
And if you are one of the girls or guys out there who feels sad, scared, lost, or just plain out alone? There’s help. The Trevor Project is amazing and has counselors on hand to talk to you at 866-488-7386. They even have an online chat program where you can type instead of talking if that’s easier for you.
One silver lining to this extremely dark cloud? Many gay youth in the survey reported finding safe havens online (like at Gurl!) where they were free and unafraid to be themselves. We just need this virtual freedom, acceptance, tolerance, and security to extend to the rest of the world–and ladies, it starts with you!
Do you agree that gay youth are less likely to be happy? Have you or a friend ever been harassed or bullied because of your sexuality? Tell us in the comments.
Are You Being Bullied? Here’s Help.
One of the only things I like about my school is that most people can accept gay people. It is really no big deal where I go to school. It is awesome.
I havn’t even come out yet and I get bullied… people always have ‘assumed’ I am lesbian, and I am not. I’m bi, and proud of it. But my family is extremely blunt about their stance on LGBT… and I always worry about coming out. Either way, no one should be bullied. It hurts like hell.
You go girl! Sorry just liked your speech and jam royalty not against gay peaple my sammie and Craig ate like best friends Craig is the gay one and I would never judge they are just people
It’s horrible how LGBTs in general get disciminated against for their sexuality! Luckally, my mom grew up being best friends with a guy who ended up being gay, so I’ve always been supportive, but I see your point stephi. Where i wentr to school there weren’t many physical bullying, as we were preached about telling about bullying, to were I had even been in a meeting with the police because of a fake report on a “bully report” ( used to report bullying without informing anyone but guidence). So we might try to teach students not to bully, i think there will always be bullying, no matter what happens and hopefully we can stop the major forms of it, but it won’t stop until world peace kicks in.
Stephi,
That’s not why Glee kicked off the country guy. ‘Cute’is a matter of opinion, I personally thought that both Maxfield and Tyler should have been kicked off — not because Tyler’s a tranny and Maxfield isn’t, but because I didn’t like their vocal ability. I’m straight, and just graduated junior high a few weeks ago. I had to switch schools because I was being bullied, and I got bullied at the newer school for being a supporter of LGBT rights. Basically, we know bullying happens to everyone everywhere, and I think that there ARE anti-bullying movements for EVERYONE. We need to stop going to the self-pity corner and go out to help other kids who are getting bullied, as well.
I’ve been called every name in the book, locked in a locker, and many more things. But so have other people, it’s not just you. Step up and look around to see that the lgbt community isn’t “more priviledged”. Let’s think about it. Do your parents look at you in disgust when you say you love osmeone of the opposite gender? Will it be legal for you to marry who you want to marry in the future? It’s terrible that you are being bullied, but other people are bullied, as well. They need acknowledgement. So please stop sitting around complaining about how lgbt youth are more protected from bullying, and find a way to stop the bullying with other people you know. Or GOOGLE some anti-bullying sites and stuff. Come on. I know you can do it.
That’s a little harsh
They get everything handed to them. They shouldn’t be miserable. They can’t be bullied now, and the gay writer for Glee kicked the cute country guy off so the tranny could stay. There are all these acts and propositions that cater to them, and they want to be equal but they end up being more privileged from the rest of the youth because they have different sexual interests. THEY’RE STILL PEOPLE, they’re still human. It shouldn’t make a difference and by pushing for these “rights”, they are getting the upper hand and we are NOT equal. It doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to say is that they’re not different creatures. I’m straight, and I’ve been bullied every day too without asking for it. I am a high-school graduate afraid to talk to my peers because of the way I’ve been treated in the past. I’ve “learned” to stay out of everyone’s way if I didn’t want pizza thrown at my face and I’ve been called every name in the book. I’ve been to the emergency room with internal bleeding because someone kicked me so hard near my kidney. LGBT youth are not the only ones who get bullied. I have nothing against these people but goodness, what about the rest of us? Anti-bullying movements need to protect everyone.
I think what you are saying is so ignorant. Did you not read this article? You sound like a paranoid person. They don’t get everything handed to them because if they did they wouldn’t have to fight for their right to live peacefully like everyone else without getting harassed.
On the other hand, I am so very sorry that you have been bullied through life, I have too. That being said, you need to take a stand and talk to someone. If you need or want help search for it. Find someone you can talk to or do things that make you happy.
I think you’re missing the point. No one’s saying that hetrosexual kids don’t get bullied, or that we shouldn’t worry about them. The point is that LGBT+ teens get bullied way more often than hetronormative teens.
Also, the LGBT+ community does not get everything handed to them, and have every right to be miserable. People get beaten to death for being a Gender/Sexual minority. They get kicked out of their homes, and are constantly verbally, emotional, and physically attacked. Just because sometimes they are shown more on TV than in real life doesn’t mean they’re being catered to.
It’s awful that you get bullied, and that you’ve been to the hospital because of it. But that doesn’t mean that LGBT+ bullying isn’t bad. Truth is, lots of the time LGBT+ youth who are bullied are ignored. People don’t talk about it in real life half as much as they do on the internet.
To be honest, I find your comment extremely ignorant. I’m very sorry you’ve suffered through bullying, and I’m not saying that only LGBT kids get bullied. I was harrassed before and after I came out, (and I’m not one of the obviously gay types. Everyone was surprised.) so case in point. People can be downright mean, and that’s never okay. But we do not, by any means, have everything handed to us on a platter. It wasn’t until last year that we could even serve in the military openly, gay marriage is still illegal in most states- with some like NC still cracking down-, and I have yet to find a single public school who happily teaches gay sex ed. We have to completely fight for our own in a largely intolerant society. So what if Glee has gay writers? Glee advocates strongly for gay right because NOBODY ELSE DOES. They kicked off the “cute country guy” because for once, they wanted to give gays some equal treatment. I’m not a fan of Glee, but if they do anything right, it’s the way they embrace everyone no matter their gender, religion, race, or personality. We do not have any sort of “upper hand”. There has never been a gay president, there are laws put in place in many places that persecute gays, and you can bet that the “acts and propositions” “catering” to us are just being put in place now because we have been DENIED the rights you take for granted. All the fuss is made over them because while you have always been able to do basic, human things like get married, have kids, serve your country, or work with the Boy Scouts, we have NEVER been able to. By pushing for these rights, we are trying to become equal- not setting ourselves above. You’re damn right that we’re still people. Shouldn’t we deserve to be treated the same as everyone else? Is it too much to ask for a little media attention? Should we just hunker down and go back to the days were homosexuality was means for persecution, whack medication, and electroshock therapy? Absolutely not. It’s shows like Glee and all the fuss over LGBT acts that is setting us ahead. Maybe one day we’ll be equal. But for now, it’s people like you who are holding us back. Anti-bullying movments do protect everyone. This article pertains to gay bullying. If you don’t have pride, at least let the rest of us.