In 2010 we saw some long-overdue attention given to the extreme challenges facing young LGBT people. Tragically, this attention was prompted by the alarming number of youth suicides and well-publicized cases of anti-gay violence that captured media attention in the United States and reverberated in many other countries. These cases unfortunately represent the tip of the iceberg—violence, isolation, depression, suicide and homelessness are serious problems for our young people, particular for youth of color and those mired in poverty.
The rights to housing, education, security, bodily integrity and to share in and create culture are all guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and yet LGBT youth everywhere face violations of these rights. Countless young people around the world have shared with IGLHRC stories about being mistreated by family members, school and health-care officials, police and other authorities.
While so many U.S. politicians and celebrities are communicating to LGBT youth that it gets better, we must not forget the plight of LGBT young people outside of the U.S., who face challenges that are simultaneously all too familiar and vastly different.
In 2009 in Belize, Jose Garcia, a 19-year-old student secondary school was threatened with expulsion because Jose "acts like a girl" and "dresses effeminately." Transgender and gender-questioning youth in schools almost everywhere are subjected to discrimination, physical and verbal abuse and they are often forced to wear uniforms or clothes that do not match their gender identity.
In Lithuania, a new law criminalized the distribution of information about sexual orientation through any medium to which children have access, depriving young people of vital information about their health and lives. The law was modified after significant international outcry, but another proposed law would now make make an offense the "promotion" of homosexuality—thus preventing pride marches—under the same rational of protecting minors.
In Uganda, girls and young women who are rumoured to be lesbian, or who visibly violate gender stereotypes are often expelled from schools or denied school fees by family. The proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently being debated in Uganda would worsen this situation by making schools and families culpable under law for not reporting young LGBT people to the police.
And in Jamaica, as 2010 drew to a close, a university student was savagely beaten by his colleagues after being lured into an intimate conversation with a classmate who was posing as gay.
While organizations that serve LGBT youth in the U.S. are often underfunded and under attack by the religious right, at least they exist. In the Global South, where LGBT movements are younger, dedicated youth programs are rare. In fact, LGBT centers are often hesitant to serve the needs of young people for fear of being accused of pedophilia and 'recruiting' youth into homosexuality. Young LGBT people are then unable to access the critical health, legal, and psychosocial services they need. Facing this discrimination—which is compounded by sodomy laws in 76 countries around the world and the failure of most countries to provide protections for transgender people— young LGBT people are among the most marginalized groups in the world.
Over the past few years IGLHRC has documented human rights violations against young people in Cameroon, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Nigeria and beyond. As an organization committed to building a diverse and empowered global LGBT movement, IGLHRC works closely with the most marginalized members of our community—young people, elders, transgender people, sex workers, and those affected by HIV.
Just last month, United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, "Stigma and discrimination will end only when we agree to speak out. That requires all of us to do our part. To speak out—at home, at work, in our schools and communities. To stand in solidarity."
To stand in solidarity with LGBT youth, we must address the unique ways they are affected by homophobia and transphobia; we must acknowledge that they face discrimination and abuse just as LGBT adults; and more than anything, we must listen to them. Some young people can't afford to wait until it gets better. They need help now.
Cary Alan Johnson is the executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
