Remembering LGBTQ Youth of Color When Talking About Bullying
The National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) recently held its second annual LGBTQ Youth Awareness Week (Oct. 25-29) in an effort to counteract the widespread and misleading image of hopelessly anguished LGBTQ youth in lieu of the recent pattern of suicides.
“Make it Better" and "It Gets Better" campaigns have garnered national efforts to provide hope and support to LGBTQ youth. According to a 2009 report by Health and Human Development organization,“a variety of studies indicate that lesbian, bisexual and gay youth are nearly one-and-a-half to three times more likely to have reported suicidal [thoughts] than non LGB youth” and that “LGB youth are nearly one-and-a-half to seven times more likely to have reported attempting suicide.”
Earlier this month, the deaths of college students Tyler Clementi and Raymond Chase within one week of each other, ignited a stream of renewed consciousness within the celebrity circuit. Celebrities like Oprah and Dr. Phil devoted their shows to discussions on LGBT youth anti-gay bullying while openly gay stars like Dan Savage, Ellen DeGeneres, and Neil Patrick Harris contributed to the new upsurge of viral campaigns that spoke out against gay youth suicide.
The constant portrayal of suffering and despaired LGBTQ youth by media is a troublesome image for LGBTQ advocate groups like NYAC. In their press release, they asked everyone to “focus on LGBTQ youth not only as victims, but also as people who are changing the world.” They also call on media to do their part in putting an end to the continued biased coverage that highlights only “one side of being an LGBTQ youth.”
Some blame the nonstop negative coverage for creating the idea of an epidemic of LGBTQ teen suicide, but say there is no scientific evidence to back this assertion up.
In an interview with NPR’s Robert Siegel last week, Ritch Savin-Williams, a developmental psychology professor at Cornell University, spoke out against the widespread notion of an epidemic, saying and that “attention to the issue may be stigmatizing the majority of LGBTQ youth who are, in fact, just as happy as their straight peers.”
“When we look at the wide population of youth who identify as gay…it appears to me when I look at the data that they’re actually just as healthy and just as resilient, and just as positive about their life as straight youth,” Savin-Williams said. “The other issue is that, as we get a more representative sample of youth who identify as gay who have same-sex attractions, what we discovered is that difference begins to narrow considerably. So, do we emphasize this kind of difference, group difference? Or do we begin to say, well, actually it's not quite as bad as we have portrayed it to be, or at least how the medical sciences, the mental health providers and research, and the public policy people have said?”
Whether or not there is scientific evidence to conclude these tragedies are an epidemic, the fact is that the futures of these bright and talented individuals were cut short when they did not have to be. It is sad to know that in 2010, when we have all been lead to believe that this nation has come a long way in our acceptance of the LGBTQ community—there are youth so hopeless that they feel they cannot turn to the many organizational resources available to them.
It's nice to see events like “Spirit Day,” which was held on Oct. 20, take place or see openly gay celebrities tell their stories of “hope” and “triumph” not just when they’re releasing an album or a book. Still, I have to wonder about another group that is suffering just as much—if not more with the challenges of coming out and acceptance: LGBTQ youth of color.
Statistics from a number of studies show that LGBTQ youth of color are disproportionately affected by police brutality and homelessness. A report by the Center for American Progress on LGBTQ and Transgender homelessness in New York City reported that, “Among homeless youth who identified as gay, 44 percent were black,” and that blacks account for 62 percent of transgender youth homeless population in NYC.
A recent article inPsychology Today highlighted a study that recounts the experiences of both and black and white parents whose children identified as LGBTQ:
However, black parents were less likely than their white counterparts to report that they “mourned the loss of a normal life for their children when they initially learned they were gay. Considering the elevated risk for poverty, illness, and incarceration faced by blacks, such a "normal" life was perhaps less a sure thing all along. White parents might be more likely to take for granted that their sons and daughters would achieve a middle-class family lifestyle, while blacks may not perceive that their children are promised the same opportunities for success. In light of the previously cited risks, black parents might be more concerned with issues of survival-such as avoiding jail, poverty, and violence. Parents of black gay and lesbian youth knew that their children would be facing a double stigma-one related to race and the other to sexual orientation, and understandably, this worried them
It is time for more young activists to demand that these mainstreamed LGBT rights campaigns become more accessible to LGBTQ youth of color. Groups that promote helping LGBT youth should be aware of the compounded issues in being both a person of color and a member of the LGBTQ community. We have to hold these campaigns responsible for not just advertising catchy slogans but actually inciting real action for change.
Jessica Strong is a staff writer for Campus Progress.
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