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Contents...
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Table
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Coming Out vs
Staying In...

Dating Frensy

Coming Out vs. Staying In:

A Look Into What LGBT Youth Face

When you look at the LGBTQ+ community, you see a vibrant community of people young and old,
connected by our struggles, our history, our rise to visibility, and even still, our plights today. But today,
its easier than ever to come out of the closet, especially as a member of todays youthbut, is it still
easy for our queer and transgender youth to live in society, even with fast changing ideals, a vast
array of resources in comparison to yesteryear, and the rising empathy of this day and ages generation?
We here at Youth Health wanted to know from a firsthand source, so wew asked you ourselves.
A friend of ours going by Anayathough this is not her actual name, its an alias for her own comfort and protectionis a young woman who lives in the state of California, which is known to be one
of the more liberal and seemingly open areas of the U.S., especially for queer youth. Its known for
fostering the first LGBT Pride Parade in Los Angeles, in the year 1970, the state that elected the first
openly gay mayor of the country in the eighties, and in the last decade or so, Californians founded
the California Legislative LGBT Caucus; an American political organization founded of only LGBTQaligned members of Californias state legislature, to promote the promulgations of laws affirming
rights, safety, and wellness for their community. But behind the gloss and glitter of the California we
see propagating benefits for the community, its hard to face the reality of knowing that things arent
as peachy in the whole of the state.
I live in a really conservative part of central California, Anaya tells us, confiding with us, In
school, I remember never really getting a lot of coverage on it in sex ed, except for maybe like, a few
words about it, but I didnt really realize what a lesbian was until maybe the fifth grade? Its not too
bad, I guess, but when I heard about it, I finally realized what it was that made me so different from
my friends. Why I didnt like boys the same way some of the did, or said they did, why I thought it was
weird that they didnt see me or other girls like that.
Eventually, in high school, I tried coming out to my classmates. Just because of the fact that I lived
in a really religious area made it so that I got bullied really intensely. Told that I would burn, that I was
broken. That something was wrong with me. Eventually, my parents found out, she confides in us,
sullen and heartfelt over our Skype interview, and they kicked me out. Ive been couch-hopping ever
since. In and out of shelters. I can barely keep a job or a place to live, but Im staying with a good
friend in a more accepting area right now, so I guess things are looking up a little. But still, what upsets me the most is that Im not the only one that this has happened to. Im not the only victim of this.

The statistics on bullying and harassment against queer youth in schools alone
are staggeringly high enoughand though they may be diminishing in years to
come, it is still a problem that too many children and teenagers under the queer
umbrella face. With studies from Hazden Publishing, in their organization Violence Prevention Works!, its been brought to light that one-third of students in a
nationally representative study disclosed that students in their school are bullied
for their perceived or actual sexual orientation, and that a mammoth 78% of
LBGT, or thought to be, students are bullied in their communities or schools.
And even more tragic, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless,
20% of LGBT youth are homeless; and 10% of the nations youth openly identify
themselves as a part of the LGBT community, like Anaya.

Anaya
herself

While homeless youth typically experience severe family conflict as the primary reason for their homelessness, LGBT youth are twice as likely to experience
sexual abuse before the age of 12, their statistics also read. LGBT youth, once
homeless, are at higher risk for victimization, mental health problems, and unsafe
sexual practices. 58.7% of LGBT homeless youth have been sexually victimized
compared to 33.4% of heterosexual homeless youth. It is also stated that youth
of the LGBTQ+ community are seven times more likely to become a victim of
sexual assault and battery while homeless, and that they are also at a higher
chance of committing suicide in a situation of homelessness, as well.
You dont even have to be out for it to happen to you, says Marco, another
friend of ours under a pseudonym to keep him safe at school, work, and other
local areas. Ive been in the closet for so many years; Im about to graduate high
school, and I know that in my heart I want to come out. But ever since I knew I
was transgender, I knew I couldnt tell my family, or my friends.
But Marco isnt the only one feeling isolated; many transgender kids are either
forced into the closet, mislabelled out of ignorance, or are the targets of verbal,
physical, sexual or emotional violenceand once a month, in the United States,
a transgender person is reported as the victim of murder.
Marco is a transgender man living in Georgia; like Anaya, he no longer lives with
his family. While trying to complete his GED, he lives with a partner, at the same
time, trying to make enough money to transition. Right now, hes only out to a select group of people in a new town: his partner who he lives with, his only sister,
who was kicked out of the house for coming out as pansexual to their parents,
and a handful of friends.
But despite the violence he and others in the community face, Marco says he
still has hope; hes bright eyed when he talks about the future despite not only
being denied further testosterone treatments until he can find a psychologist recommending it, but bottom surgery to mesh with recent top surgery, and help him
fit into his body without feeling dysphoric.
I think things are going to get better. Not just for me, but for the whole queer
and trans community. Things arent the best they could be right now, obviously,
but were getting there. We can get there. I dont know how long itll take, but I
know we can get there, he muses, Its terrible to wait, even though it feels like
this is all weve been able to do, while we get beat down, killed, our rights taken
away. And its depressing as hell to face that reality, knowing our lives like that.
But the hope that things can be so much better...thats the thing that sustains me
through all of this. Thats what keeps me going through the day, and waking up in
the morning.

Marco
himself