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Understanding and Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth

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If I found out that my daughter or son was lesbian or gay, I would have ... youth have limited opportunities for typical dating and intimacy exploration. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Understanding and Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth


1
Understanding and Supporting Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Youth
2
Overview
  • Developing self-awareness
  • Understanding sexual orientation, identity, and
    behavior
  • Key settings for adolescent development
  • Coming out
  • Coming out as a teen
  • Coming out as a family
  • Understanding risk and resilience

3
Resources
  • Manual
  • Overview of key topics
  • References for further reading
  • Resources
  • Information on LGBT youth LGBT issues
  • For LGBT youth
  • For family members

4
Learning objectives
  • Knowledge
  • Definitions / terms
  • Developmental settings and processes
  • Health risk and resilience
  • Skills
  • Recognize developmental challenges
  • Apply knowledge when evaluating outcomes for LGBT
    youth
  • Values
  • Personal awareness of ones values, and the
    contributions they make in ones work with youth
  • LGBT-appropriate (supportive) work with youth

5
Personal Attitude Assessment
6
Personal Attitude Assessment
  • I would be comfortable knowing that my childs
    third grade teacher is gay.
  • If I found out that my daughter or son was
    lesbian or gay, I would have difficulty telling
    other people.
  • Im comfortable working with men who wear womens
    clothing.
  • Im comfortable working with women who wear mens
    clothing.
  • I would feel comfortable dating a bisexual person.

7
Personal Attitude Assessment
  • I should be informed if a co-worker is
    transsexual.
  • I am more comfortable with lesbians than gay men.
  • It would not bother me at all if someone thought
    I were gay.
  • If a colleague told me that s/he was lesbian/gay,
    Id feel we had much less in common than we had
    had previously.
  • I have had people tell me they were lesbian/gay.

8
Personal Attitude Assessment
  • Indifference
  • Tolerance
  • Acceptance
  • Affirmation
  • Advocacy

9
What do we know about LGBT youth?
10
Limitations of Research
  • Previous studies have focused on
  • Youth who self-identify themselves as lesbian,
    gay, or bisexual
  • Youth who report sexual activity with the same
    sex
  • Youth who report attractions to or relationships
    with the same sex
  • There has been virtually no past research on the
    risks faced by transgender youth.

11
Understanding LGBT Youth
Sexual behavior
Sexual identity
Sexual orientation
12
Understanding LGBT YouthDiscussion
13
Ethnic and Racial Minority LGBT Youth
  • Race and ethnicity influences religion, family
    structure, and language.
  • I can be all aspects of me. I can be Chicano.
  • I can be male and I can be queer all at once,
  • I dont have to compromise.
  • I dont have to censor myself.
  • I dont have to edit what I say.
  • I can just be myself.

14
Ethnic and Racial Minority LGBT Youth
  • Ethnic and racial minority LGBT youth are often
    faced with the challenge of managing multiple
    stigmatized identities.
  • I think to myself, youre Filipina, you cant
    be gay.

15
Ecological perspectives Contextualizing risk and
resilience
Environment
Faith
Young Person
School Peers
Family
Youth programs
Media
16
LGBT Youth the Internet
  • The Internet has opened up information, support,
    and resources for LGBT youth.
  • The Internet has also created new potential
    dangers for LGBT youth.
  • Educate young people about wise and effective
    uses of the internet.
  • Encourage youth to use caution
  • Encourage youth to filter the information that
    they share with others while online

17
Exercise Coming Out
18
Coming Out
  • And it was really nice to be able to go through
    the whole process and it wasnt until I felt
    comfortable with myself as a person that I
    started coming out.
  • Coming out is more than self-disclosure of sexual
    orientation it is a process of self-acceptance
    of homosexuality as a positive aspect of ones
    identity.

19
Coming Out
  • Coming out is typically a stressful experience
    for LGBT youth
  • They may fear rejection from friends or family
    members
  • They may fear physical harm or violence
  • They may fear abandonment financial harm
  • To maintain family ties, LGBT youth often try to
    conceal their sexual identities from their
    families

20
Coming Out
  • Usually, youth come out to a sibling prior to
    coming out to parents.
  • Coming out to parents is often precipitated by
    powerful feelings of fear, anxiety, and shame.
  • Many parents undergo a lengthy grievance and
    acceptance process after disclosure.

21
Coming Out Developmental Models
  • Sensitization
  • Identity confusion
  • Identity assumption
  • Commitment

22
Coming Out Developmental Models
  • Characteristics of coming out
  • It is a process that progresses and unfolds over
    time
  • Stigma and discrimination significantly impact
    positive identity development
  • It includes increasing acceptance of sexual
    identity over time
  • It includes disclosure to others

23
Coming Out Family Issues
  • Most families experience an adjustment period
    during which family relationships may be
    strained.
  • Most families ultimately adjust to having a gay
    or lesbian family member.
  • It is important to help young people manage the
    conflict between their desire to come out and the
    implications of coming out for their safety and
    well being.

24
Parental/Family Reactions
Disclosure of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Identity
Disbelief Denial Guilt Anger Sadness Mourning of
Heterosexual Life Goals
Reframing
Rejection Ambivalence
Acceptance
25
Coming Out as a Family Issue
  • Family members experience their own coming out
    process.
  • Family members typically come out to someone
    whom they fill emotionally close and secure to
    first.
  • Coming out may also operate as a professional
    issue.

26
Understanding Risk
  • Adolescence is a time of growth and transitions
    that can be a potentially stressful for every
    teen.
  • LGBT youth carry the stigma of being regarded as
    the other in terms of their sexuality.

27
Emotional Health
  • Some LGBT youth are vulnerable to emotional and
    mental health disorders.
  • I found that I was starting to be aroused by
    people of the same sex and because of this I
    started hating myselfat that time I was
    determined to turn myself straight.

28
Emotional Health
  • Mental health concerns of LGBT youth include
  • The development of their sexual identities
  • Coming out
  • Fear of discovery
  • Family conflicts
  • Conflicts within their relationships
  • Substance use or abuse
  • Depression
  • Anxiety

29
Violence
  • Boys engaging in same-sex behavior
  • threats of physical violence,
  • threats or injuries with a weapon at school, and
  • fights that resulted in a need for medical
    attention
  • Youth who report same-sex romantic attractions
  • extreme forms of violence and
  • witness violence
  • ? to ½ of LGBT youth are victimized while
    attending school

30
Violence
  • LGBT youth that experience victimization and
    alienation may suffer from chronic stress or
    become suicidal or inflict self-harm.

31
Suicide
  • Sexual orientation has been identified as a risk
    factor for adolescent suicide.
  • Sexual minority youth are more than twice as
    likely than their heterosexual peers to attempt
    suicide.
  • Suicide attempts among LGBT youth often follow
    the awareness of sexual orientation.

32
Suicide
  • Key risk factors for suicide include
  • Hopelessness
  • Depression
  • Substance abuse
  • The recent suicide or attempted suicide of a
    close friend or family member
  • Victimization

33
Suicide
  • Activities and events that can alleviate some of
    the risk factors associated with suicidality
    include
  • Coming out
  • Developing and maintaining relationships with
    others within the gay and lesbian community
  • Becoming active in social, political, or
    religious groups that support LGBT youth
  • Developing and maintaining other sources of
    social support
  • Maintaining positive self-esteem

34
Substance Use and Abuse
  • Alcohol and substance use and abuse are important
    health concerns for LGBT adults and youth.
  • Substance abuse may be most prevalent among
    bisexually-identified youth, particularly young
    women.

35
Substance Use and Abuse
  • LGBT youth report using alcohol, narcotics, and
    marijuana for many of the same reasons that their
    heterosexual peers do
  • Recreation
  • To relieve tension
  • To express their independence
  • To feel more self-confident
  • To feel more powerful or adequate
  • To numb feelings of depression

36
Substance Use and Abuse
  • Unless underlying emotions of shame, stigma,
    identity confusion, isolation, stress, and
    self-hate are adequately worked through, the
    adolescent may continue to experience relapses of
    chemical dependence.

37
Sexual Risk
  • Sexuality is a positive and healthy dimension of
    normal adolescent development.
  • LGBT youth need to be aware of sexual risks and
    what they can do to protect themselves.
  • LGBT youth have limited opportunities for typical
    dating and intimacy exploration.
  • LBGT youth may be more likely to make unhealthy
    choices concerning sexual risks, such as HIV,
    STDs and pregnancy.

38
HIV/AIDS
  • Most HIV/AIDS prevention education is
    developmentally inappropriate for LGBT youth
  • Most assume heterosexuality.
  • Few HIV/AIDS prevention education courses
    address issues of safer sex among lesbian youth.
  • Most do not spend adequate time fostering LGBT
    youths feelings of efficacy in preventing
    HIV/AIDS infection.
  • Most occur as a single isolated curriculum.

39
Pregnancy
  • It is estimated that about 1 in 3 LGBT youth will
    report at least one pregnancy by the time they
    reach adulthood.
  • Several studies have found that LGBT youth are
    twice as likely to become pregnant or father a
    pregnancy in comparison to their heterosexual
    peers.
  • There is a misconception that lesbians are not at
    risk for HIV or pregnancy.
  • Lesbian and bisexual teens report
  • more frequent heterosexual sex
  • more incidences of heterosexual sex without the
    use contraception

40
Sexual Assault Trauma
  • Many studies have reported that LGBT adolescents
    are at high risk for violence, assault, abuse,
    and trauma.
  • One national study found that 50 of lesbians
    ages 17-24 reported having been raped or sexually
    assaulted.

41
Health Care Needs
  • Basic health care concerns of LGBT youth include
  • Confidentiality
  • Respect
  • Well-informed care
  • Open-minded

42
Resilience
  • The strengths that LGBT youth develop as a result
    of the added challenges that they face.

43
Resilience among LGBT Youth
  • Effective self-regulation
  • Effective problem solving skills
  • Coping skills
  • Help-seeking behaviors
  • Self-esteem and self-acceptance
  • Relationships with caring adults
  • Supportive families, peers and/or teachers
  • Involvement in the LGBT community
  • Support from LGBT peers
  • Intrinsic motivation

44
Resilience Worksheet
  • Caring and support
  • High expectations for success
  • Opportunities for participation
  • Positive bonds

45
10 Steps for Creating a Supportive Agency
Environment
  • Acknowledge LGBT youth among clients
  • Educate your coworkers
  • Use gender-neutral language
  • Use LGBT words in appropriate context
  • Have visible LGBT cues
  • Be prepared to change the agency culture
  • If a client comes out, acknowledge it and talk
    about it
  • Distinguish between sexual identity and gender
    identity
  • Research the LGBT resources in your community
  • If you are LGBT, consider coming out

46
Action Planning
47
Summary
  • Sexual orientation, identity, and behavior
  • Key developmental settings
  • Coming out
  • Risk
  • Resilience
  • Self-awareness
  • Knowledge
  • Skills
  • Values

48
  • Indifference
  • Tolerance
  • Acceptance
  • Affirmation
  • Advocacy

49
LGBT Symbols
?
  • Lambda symbol of unity among the Greeks
  • Pink Triangle used by the Nazis to signify
    homosexuals
  • Rainbow Flag created in 1978 for San Francisco
    Pride

?
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