The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a groundbreaking study of LGBT-identified young people and a associated study of straight teens that shows large disparities between the two groups, according to a press release.
With more than 10,000 respondents ages 13-17, "Growing Up LGBT in America" is the largest known survey of LGBT teens.
Among the report's key findings:
More than one-half of LGBT youth (54 percent) say they have been verbally harassed and called names involving anti-gay slurs;
Nearly half of LGBT youth (47 percent) say they do not "fit in" in their community while only 16 percent of non-LGBT youth feel that way; and
More than 90 percent say they hear negative messages about being LGBTand 60 percent say those messages come from elected leaders.
When asked to describe their most important problem, straight teens articulated the usual challenges of grades and college and finances. Conversely, LGBT teens' worries were directly related to their identity as LGBT, including non-accepting families and bullying.
"No one would say that growing up LGBT is easy, but this survey is a stark wake-up call to the daily toll that discrimination takes on vulnerable young people," said new HRC President Chad Griffin. "We have a responsibility to change that, because we know all too well that there are real life consequences to inaction."
A full copy of the report is available at www.hrc.org/youth.