In a study of young lesbians, 83 percent had used alcohol, 56 percent had
used other drugs, and 11 percent had used crack or cocaine in the three months
preceding the study, according to the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies.
Susan Baker, who was an honor student and yearbook editor at Glencoe High School
in Hillsboro, Oregon, suffered verbal abuse and isolation when other students learned
of her sexual orientation during her senior year. "My girlfriend and I were harassed at
great length by the young men," Baker recalls. "They'd yell 'dyke' at us. My very, very
best friend totally dissed me. She couldn't handle it."
Baker attributes the hostility of her classmates to the turmoil caused by their
own emerging sexuality and their attempts to sort out sexual roles and relationships.
The Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide
published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports this
view. "Nowhere are the harshly negative attitudes towards homosexuality
more pronounced than in junior (high) and high school,"
the report notes. "Homosexuality and gender
nonconformity are threats to many youth as an easy target for
their fears and anxieties about being 'normal.'"
Many young lesbians and the adults who assist them
agree that schools are unsupportive and unsafe for sexual'
minorities. Rosalind Lund, a teacher at Glencoe High School,
says sexual minority students "really do get a hard time in
subtle ways." Teachers, she says, need to stand up for sexual
minority youth. "I, personally, have taken a strong stance for
my gay and lesbian youth. A teacher can't be passive."
While schools and the society they reflect have taken
a stance against racism and the harassment, violence, and
discrimination it breeds, most have not taken a similar
position against homophobia. "School staff need to recognize
that homophobia is illegitimate, just like sexual harassment
or racism," Baker says. "Teachers and administrators need to
be highly aware that there are sexual minority kids out there
and be available to talk in a nonjudgmental fashion. They need
to stand up for kids and respect who they are."
Coming to terms with a gay, lesbian, or bisexual
identity is tough enough for European Americans. But kids of
color often endure even greater stigma and isolation than
their white peers because many ethnic
communities are less tolerant of same-sex relationships than
the dominant culture.
Gay and lesbian kids of color are 12
times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual youth
(as compared with two or three times for all gay and lesbian
youth), according to the Report of the Secretary's Task Force
on Youth Suicide.
Rachel Ebora's mother accused her of turning her
back on her Filipino heritage when she came out as bisexual
at age 18. Ebora, who works as a labor organizer, became aware
of her attraction to females when she was an elementary student
at a Catholic girls school. "The typical Filipino daughter thing
to do is to have a boyfriend and be engaged to be married," Ebora
says.
Within that environment, Ebora says, she often keeps her sexual
identity to herself, fearing the ostracism and even physical
danger that could threaten her or her family if she were more
open.
HIV/AIDS A Growing Problem
Myndi Giedt, who helps lead the Portland support group
Awakenings, estimates that 90 percent of
the kids who come through her group drink and/or use other
drugs. Of those, 50 percent to 60 percent "could have a
problem," she says. Along with the risk for drug abuse comes
the risk for HIV/AIDS. While the risk of AIDS for gay
males has been clearly established and is widely known,
the risk to lesbians has not been adequately addressed.
"Most of the education around safer sex and
HIV/AIDS is focused toward men," Giedt says. "We're not
talking to young lesbians, saying, 'Protect yourself.' We're
only talking to young gay men."
Young gay and lesbians' involvement in the sex industry
as dancers or prostitutes also increase the risk of HIV/AIDS
and other sexually transmitted diseases.
In Oregon's Sexual Minority Youth: An At-Risk
Population, the Task Force on Sexuality Minority Youth
notes: "Gay and lesbian youth are often thrown out of their
homes by their families when their homosexuality is discovered.
Given the frequent dramatic rise in family conflicts upon learning that a child is homosexual, adolescents often run away from home.
Notes Shala Moaydei of the Urban League: "The kids I
have met were homeless as soon as they came out, and in order to
have some money, the first thing they did was to sell themselves or get
involved with drug dealers."
While some kids leave home because of conflicts with parents
over sexual identity, others choose the street because it offers
freedom and diversity. "The street is more than just a place you
get dumped onto when you're turned out from your home," says E.
Ann Hinds of VOICES (which stands for Voices of Individual and
Community Empowerment from the Street). "It's also a place that
you want to come to in order to find someone like you or someone
who might be able to give you support or at least understand or accept
you."
A longer version of this story appeared in the Oregon
Girls Advocate, Fall 1994. 
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lot of kids are terrified the first time
they visit one of the five Portland-area support groups for sexual minority youth. Group
leaders tell stories of kids lingering in front of the building or peeking through the door
on meeting nights before finding the courage to go in. Other kids slip inside the building and
dart out again, or call on the phone only to hang up when someone answers.
