For Gay and Transgender Teens, Will It Get Better?

Interesting article by Jenna Wortham over at the New York Times.

She points to a recent study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The survey covers 15,600 American students, grades nine through 12:

It confirmed what had long been suspected but was perhaps lost in all the excitement over the gains being made: that sexual-minority youth still face challenges their straight peers do not. Teenagers who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual — they make up about 8 percent of the high-school population, or roughly 1.3 million students — suffer from substantially higher levels of harassment and physical and sexual abuse than those who identify as straight.

In spite of the amazing progress made for LGBT rights during the last year, LGBT teenagers are much more likely to be bullied at school.

(Most of the numbers refer to non-heterosexual students. The gender identity-dimension is not covered in the same way.)

CDC is working to evaluate several approaches to suicide and other violence prevention in youth. Programs being implemented and evaluated focus on a number of factors, including school-based social and emotional learning, individual problem solving skills, and community mentorship and other support systems.

Animation by Jessica Tang. Emoji: Apple.