LGBT Youth: Reconciling Pride, Family, and Community
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LGBT YOUTH:
RECONCILING PRIDE, FAMILY,
AND COMMUNITY
by NANCY J. KNAUER*
INTRODUCTION
The recent advancements in marriage equality have prompted many
commentators to declare that the struggle for LGBT rights has been won.' As the
United States stands on the edge of marriage equality, LGBT individuals now enjoy
an unprecedented level of support and acceptance. LGBT-identified youth,
however, continue to experience high levels of harassment, family rejection,
bullying, homelessness, violence, and isolation.2 Accordingly, when so much
energy and resources are committed to the cause of marriage equality, it is essential
to redouble our efforts to reach some of the most vulnerable members of the LGBT
community-its youth.
One consequence of these increased levels of acceptance has been a
significant decrease in the age when individuals come out or first identify as
LGBT.3 Aided by the internet and the availability of online communities and virtual
connections, the average age of coming out is now between thirteen and fourteen.4
Unlike prior generations, today's LGBT youth do not have to spend years thinking
* 1. Herman Stem Professor of Law and Director of Law and Public Policy Programs, Temple
University Beasley School of Law. I would like to thank Temple University Beasley School of Law and
especially Dean JoAnne E. Epps, for supporting this symposium, LGBT Youth: Reconciling Pride,
Family, and Community.
1. See e.g. David Von Drchlc, How Gay Marriage Won, TIME, Mar. 28, 2013, available at
http://swampland.timc.com/2013/03/28/how-gay-marriage-won/ (declaring victory after the cases were
argued before U.S. Supreme Court); David Crary, Gay Rights Victories in 2013 Pile Up, HUFF. POST
(Nov. 5, 2013), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/gay-rights-victories-2013 n 4217854.html;
Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, Victories Roll On, But Is The Battle For Gay Rights Over?, WASH. POST, Feb.
28, 2014. Some commentators had begun to declare victory in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling.
See, e.g., LINDA HIRSHMAN, VICTORY: THE TRIUMPHANT GAY REVOLUTION (2012).
2. See generally Human Rights Campaign, Growing Up LGBT in America: HRC Youth Survey
Report Key Findings (2012) available at http://hrc-asscts.s3-website-us-cast-
I.amazonaws.com//files/assets/resourecs/Growing-Up-LGBT-in-America-Report.pdf (last visited Aug.
31, 2014).
3. JASON CIANCIOTrO & SEAN CAHILL, LGBT YOUTH IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS 3 (2012) ([Y]outh
first become aware of their sexual orientation between eleven and thirteen and come out to others at
around fifteen.).
4. The Family Acceptance Project reports that the average age is 13.4. Caitlyn Ryan, Helping
Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Children, NAT'L CTR. FOR
CULTURAL COMPETENCE (Fall/Winter 2009), http://nccc.georgetown.cdu/documents/LGBTBriefpdf
(last visited Aug. 31, 2014). See also Benoit Denizet-Lewis, Coming Out in Middle School, N.Y. TIMES
(Sept. 23, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27out-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r-0.
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LGBT Youth: Reconciling Pride, Family, and Community
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