A new study by the American Journal of Public Health reveals that 25 percent of gay/lesbian teens and 15 percent of bi-sexual teens are homeless, in comparison to heterosexual teens, which is only at 3 percent.
Here are some of the study’s conclusions:
“Teens with a sexual minority orientation are more likely than heterosexual teens to be unaccompanied and homeless rather than part of a homeless family,” says Corliss. “This suggests that they may be more likely to be mistreated or rejected by their families and more likely to leave home.”
The researchers hope their findings will raise awareness of the vulnerability of GLB youth to homelessness, particularly among school administrators and other professionals working with adolescents. Homeless people are well documented as being at increased risk for victimization, physical and sexual abuse, mental health problems, substance use problems and sexual risk behaviors. These risks are even greater for teens who lack their families’ supervision and support.
The statistics may actually be higher at a national level:
The study has limitations in being done only in Massachusetts, where attitudes toward homosexuality tend to be more favorable, so it possibly underestimates the proportion of GLB youth that are homeless nationally
There’s no easy way to think through these stats. It’s both heartbreaking and complex.
To be sure, there’s much work to be done by churches who know and see these teens in their communities and neighborhoods. They need to love and care for them as representatives of Christ. And we have a gospel that is amazingly fit for the lowly and rejected.
Jesus was rejected by his hometown. His family thought he was out of his mind. One of his closest friends betrayed him. His country-men handed him over to the brutal Gentiles. His closest follower denied he even knew him. And most of all, he was left naked and suffocating on a tree, forsaken by his own Father.
It is only Christ who can identity with forsaken and homeless, gay teens. He was rejected so that they don’t have to be. He was abandoned by his Father, so they could be adopted as sons and daughters.