Homelessness Affecting LGBT Youth

In the United States, about 5-10% of the youth population identifies as LGBT. However, almost 40% of the homeless population under 18 is LGBT. While there have been massive strides taken for the LGBT community in recent years, such as same sex marriage becoming legalized and increased visibility in the media, these numbers have not changed. In a country that claims to be at the forefront of modernization, liberty, and equality, gender and sexuality nonconforming youth still face inconceivable levels of housing insecurity. It is not a coincidence that there is such a disparity between the numbers of LGBT kids who are homeless and those who simply exist. This trend shows that homophobia and transphobia are still very much alive in American culture, both blatantly and under the surface.

In the most extreme and stereotypical explanation for this continuing problem, many parents are unaccepting of their LGBT children. According to a study done by the Center for American Progress, the average age for American children to come out to their parents is 13. This is parallel to the average age that LGBT youth become homeless, which is about 13.5. Many sexuality and gender nonconforming children who have non accepting parents are either thrown out of their homes or suffer abuse severe enough to force them to leave. Nearly 70% of all homeless LGBT youth reported family rejection, and more than half also reported suffering abuse at the hands of a family member. Once on the streets, they need resources beyond those offered by shelters and government programs. Many shelters refuse to house trans youth according to their gender identity, turning what should be a refuge into a continuation of their previous nightmare. LGBT youth need additional resources such as counseling, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, and support systems that are not available of many of these shelters. While levels drug and alcohol abuse are disproportionately high among all homeless youth, LGBT youth are 15% more likely to develop an addiction than their cisgender/heterosexual counterparts. This is due to many factors, including possible ostracisation by their families as well as society at large. Additionally, the lack of treatment and support that they receive in shelters only worsens their chances of recovery.

LGBT youth also face more barriers when it comes to getting out of the shelters and off the streets. One in five transgender people in the United States has been discriminated against when seeking a home. There is a lot of social stigma surrounding both homelessness and transgender individuals, which makes finding a reliable home extremely difficult. Even more shocking, over one in ten transgender individuals in the United States has been evicted from their homes for the sole fact of their gender identity. Although the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has set guidelines prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, these rules are often broken. Even if legal action is pursued on the behalf of LGBT youth on the basis of gender or sexuality based discrimination, courts are often biased.

Another institution prohibiting LGBT youth from breaking the cycle of homelessness is mass incarceration. LGBT people are more likely to be arrested for homelessness. This is even more prevalent in the trans community. Both rates are higher for POC. Incomplete education is cited as one of the four main reasons for youth homelessness, and incarceration only serves to prevent LGBT youth from getting the education they need and deserve. Homeless youth are arrested for various petty crimes such as loitering or trespassing (while in reality they were just trying to find a place to sleep) as a temporary solution by the government to “clean up the streets”. In reality, these practices are just perpetuating the cycle of poverty by not allowing a way out. Disproportionately high rates of mental illness is also common among LGBT youth. It is common in the United States for mentally ill people to be put in jails rather than mental institutions where they can actually be treated for their conditions. By doing this, the state perpetuates a problem and hurts a significant proportion of its population.

The system is broken in the way that it handles the problem of homelessness, and a stunningly high proportion of homeless youth under 18 identify as part of the LGBT community. This problem is rooted in society’s ostracization of sexuality and gender nonconforming people, and often takes the form of parental rejection or abuse. Once on their own, LGBT youth are more likely to suffer from addiction, abuse, and undue incarceration, and much less likely to recieve the help they need to break this cycle.

Sources:

Injustice At Every Turn: National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Transgender 101: Terms and Considerations for Officers Of the Court Terminology Gender Non-Conforming: Not Matching Gender Expectations, Such as When a Person’s Gender(n.d.): n. Pag. Sylvia Riveria Law Project. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.

"Housing & Homelessness." National Center for Transgender Equality. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

"Gay and Transgender Youth Homelessness by the Numbers." Center for American Progress. N.p., 08 Feb. 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

Ford, Zack. "STUDY: 40 Percent Of Homeless Youth Are LGBT, Family Rejection Is Leading Cause." ThinkProgress. ThinkProgress, 12 July 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

Maskin, August 11 2014| Michael, August 7 2014| Kaleigh Behe, August 7 2014| Linda Meric, August 6 2014| Sarita Gupta, and August 5 2014| Jennifer Caballero. "No Safe Place: How Cities Are Making It Illegal to Be Homeless." Talk Poverty. N.p., 04 May 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.