Teen Campaign: It's hard
LGBTQ Youth
Queens Pride House is passionate about working with other direct service organizations to meet the needs of LGBTQ youth and their families in our borough. We know that LGBTQ youth are victims of stigmatization, harassment, and violence at rates that far surpass their heterosexual peers. This oppression in schools, at home, and in their community leaves LGBTQ youth at a major disadvantage and leaves them much more susceptible to issues like depression, substance abuse, and suicide.
Studies have shown that LGBTQ youth are three times as likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers! Family acceptance is also a major issue for LGBTQ youth. It is estimated that over 40% of homeless youth in the United States identify as LGBTQ, this is an issue that has reached epidemic proportions in our country and yet it’s an issue which is very rarely discussed.
At Queens Pride House we believe that part of ending the epidemic is educating parents of LGBTQ youth. As part of this commitment we have placed ads in English and Spanish in popular newspapers encouraging parents to reach out for support.
After placing the first round of ads we received a number of calls from parents who were struggling to accept their child’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. An example that really stuck with all of the QPH staff was a phone call we received just before Christmas. It was late afternoon, when we got a call from a mother who was absolutely distraught and in tears because just a few moments earlier her fifteen year old son had told her that he was gay.
Even though she was uncomfortable with this information and didn’t know what she was going to do she remembered having seen our ad in the paper a few weeks previously and thought that maybe we would be able to help her. This family’s story ended positively; we were able to connect the mother with Latino– PFLAG and her son with Generation Q.
We know that the epidemic of LGBTQ youth homelessness, violence and harassment can’t be changed with a few newspaper ads, but we also know that having these dialogues about the real crisis facing our youth is an important step and one that is changing the lives of youth and families in our community.
