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Philadelphia LGBTCommunity Assessment
A focus on LGBT youth
August 30, 2007Funded by the City of Philadelphia The Philadelphia FoundationJohn F. Street, Esq., Mayor Andrew Swinney, PresidentLoree D. Jones, Managing DirectorDivision of Social ServicesJulia Danzy, DirectorPhiladelphia Department of Public HealthCarmen I. Paris, Commissioner
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................3
 
BACKGROUND......................................................................................................................3
 
DATA FROM THE YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEY AND 2000 US CENSUS.................5
 
SEXUAL ORIENTATION OF YOUTH IN PHILADELPHIA.....................................................7
 
Summary of demographic data from 2000 Census and the 2004 PHMC SEPA Household Health Survey....12
 
FOCUS ON CURRENT SERVICES TO LGBT YOUTH BY LGBT-SPECIFIC AGENCIES..13
 
Focus on agency youth in the schools............................................................................................................................36
 
Focus on Transgender youth...........................................................................................................................................39
 
Summary of key themes from LGBT youth-serving agency data:...........................................................................43
 
FOCUS ON GOVERNMENT SERVICES FOR LGBT YOUTH.............................................45
 
Department of Public Health..........................................................................................................................................45
 
Department of Behavioral Health..................................................................................................................................45
 
Department of Human Services (DHS).........................................................................................................................46
 
Office of Emergency Shelter and Services (OESS).....................................................................................................48
 
Department of Recreation...............................................................................................................................................48
 
School District of Philadelphia.......................................................................................................................................48
 
Police Department............................................................................................................................................................48
 
Summary of Agenda for Government Agencies..........................................................................................................49
 
UNDERSTANDING THE LGBT YOUTH COMMUNITIES: PERSPECTIVES FROM KEYINFORMANTS AND LGBT YOUTH THEMSELVES............................................................49
 
FOCUS ON THE LGBT YOUTH WHO CONGREGATE IN THE WASH WESTNEIGHBORHOOD................................................................................................................56
 
RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................62
 
Appendix 1: Top issues of concern identified by LGBT Youth in focus groups....................................................66
 
Appendix 2: Street Intercept Survey Results...............................................................................................................67
 
Appendix 3: Street Intercept Survey Results: Transgender Responses Only........................................................73
 
Appendix 4: Transgender Case Study Report.............................................................................................................76
 
Appendix 5: Street Intercept Survey Instrument.......................................................................................................79
 
Appendix 6: List of Open-Ended Responses regarding a recreational space for LGBT youth...........................81
 
 
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Introduction
The Philadelphia LGBT Assessment is a project funded by the City of Philadelphia and thePhiladelphia Foundation to assess the size, composition, and needs of the diverse LGBT populationsof Philadelphia. In 2005-2006, the Assessment focused on the broad LGBT populations by reviewingexisting data from the PHMC Household Health Survey and from the 2000 U.S. Census. The analysisof these data was published in the Assessment’s first year report.
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This report recommended thatadditional research be completed into LGBT subpopulations, including LGBT youth. At a presentationof the LGBT Assessment’s results to Mayor John F. Street and his senior staff, the Mayor requestedthat the City seek to better understand the needs of LGBT youth, particularly relating to how cityagencies and community based organizations could best provide services. Finally, the PhiladelphiaLGBT Youth Coalition, a group of LGBT youth-serving organizations, recommended that the City of Philadelphia support additional research into the needs of LGBT youth in the City.Philadelphia’s Managing Director Loree D. Jones and Division of Social Services Director JuliaDanzy identified funds to support the LGBT youth study, which would include 1) a review of available LGBT youth-serving agency data, 2) focus groups with LGBT youth, and 3) key informantinterviews. Finally, the project would seek to better understand how the City and its community-basedorganizations might better serve the many LGBT youth who congregate in the City’s WashingtonWest neighborhood.Assistant Managing Director Michael S. Hinson, Jr. organized a team of researchers to conduct thiswork. Chris Bartlett, MA, a local community organizer and researcher, and Heather Batson, BA, of Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC), who had conducted the overall LGBTassessment, returned to complete the key informant interviews and agency data review, respectively.Kevin Trimell Jones, MEd, an experienced researcher in LGBT communities based at the Universityof Pennsylvania HIV Prevention Research Division, conducted the focus groups with LGBT youth.This report presents the results of this study of the population of LGBT youth in Philadelphia.
Background
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) youth in Philadelphia are a broad class of individuals, both in terms of their sexual behaviors and identities, and their age. As with other LGBT individuals,the identity of LGBT youth would include a number of possible characteristics:
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the individual’s possible self-identification of his or her sexual orientation,
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his or her homosexual behavior,
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his or her attraction to a person of the same gender,
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and/or perceptions of others about any of these characteristics.Given the complexity of youth identity in general, and with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity specifically, it is impossible to generalize about the experience of all youth who mightappropriately fall under this category. It is possible, however, to estimate the size of this population,and show how general trends in youth demographics are likely to relate to LGBT youth. Thesegeneral data help to give a general sense of the population city-wide.Building upon this general frame, we will use five strategies to collect information on particular segments of the LGBT youth population of Philadelphia, and the services provided for them. At the
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The Philadelphia LGBT Community Assessment Final Report, October, 2006.
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