Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens punished unfairly: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDDec 6 2010

A new study says that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) teens and young adults, especially females are punished more often by school and criminal authorities than are straight youngsters. According to Yale researchers Kathryn Himmelstein and Hanna Bruckner, this increased punishment is not always due to more rule-breaking or law-breaking. Ms. Himmelstein, now a high school math teacher in New York City, began the study after spending time working in the juvenile justice system during a leave of absence from college. She noted this trend during her tenure and started this work as her senior thesis at Yale.

Himmelstein said, “LGB kids are being punished more often than heterosexual kids by police, courts, and school officials - and that is not because they are misbehaving more… We controlled for what kids were doing to elicit punishment, and we found that LGB youth were excessively punished.”

For the study they analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of teens in grades 7 through 12 in 1994 to 1995. The study involved more than 15,000 participants who were interviewed again in 2001-2002, when they were 18 to 26 years old. They were asked about nonviolent misdeeds like lying to parents, alcohol use, shoplifting and vandalism, as well as more serious crimes like using a weapon, burglary or selling drugs.

Punishments enquired about included expulsion from school, being stopped by police, arrested before or after turning 18, or convicted in juvenile or adult court. They also answered a set of questions about their own rule- and law-breaking behavior. Their sexual preferences were also noted whether they identified themselves as anything other than 100% heterosexual (in which case they were counted as LGB).

Results showed that LGB teens were between 25% and 300% more likely than their heterosexual peers to have experienced punishment. Himmelstein said, “The differences are most striking for non-heterosexual girls, who are about two to three times more likely to be punished… We don’t have a clear idea of why, but the juvenile justice system has historically played a role in policing girls’ sexuality.”

Tumaini Coker, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles who has studied the special health challenges of LGB teens but was not involved in this study said, “This study adds to our understanding of the increased risks to their health and well-being that LGB youths face.” Another LGB health researcher Caitlin Ryan, director of the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University also said that Himmelstein study mixes together youths who are questioning their sexuality with those who are fully LGB-identified. Ryan added, “Probably what is happening in this study is they pick up young people who are experienced as different from others, and that may be because of their gender nonconforming behaviors… One way a person responds to that is by acting out. This may bring that child to the attention of authorities.”

Coker from her previous work adds that being harassed at school and by authorities can have powerful harmful effects on LGB youths’ future health. Ryan from previous work added that the biggest health issues for LGB teens lie inside their families. Ryan’s Family Acceptance Project for the past many years has been conducting extensive interviews with the entire families of ethnically diverse LGB youth and their families. They identified more than 100 ways in which families express acceptance or rejection of an LGB family member.

The Himmelstein study appears in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics.