Study: Gay teens face harsher punishment by schools, courts than straight teens

A first-of-its-kind study released this week by the American Academy of Pediatrics confirms what some LGBT advocates say they have known for years: gay teens face harsher punishments in schools, courts and by the police than their straight counterparts.

The study, which covered more than 15,000 teens over the course of eight years, showed that despite the fact that LGBT teens were less likely to commit mild to moderate crimes, they were up to three times more likely to face punishment by school officials and the judicial system.

The study suggests that officials are less likely to take into account factors like maturity level when punishing LGBT teens and are more likely to ignore bullying that gay students receive from their straight peers. The study also says when LGBT teens ask for help after they engage in risky behavior, it is more likely they’ll be punished for it.

For LGBT and human right advocates in San Francisco, the study spotlights what was backed only by anecdotal evidence before.

“That’s the stuff we’ve been seeing over time,” said Eric Martinez, the youth program director for the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center. “And this research is showing that this is not happening anecdotally, it’s happening systematically.”

Martinez said LGBT teens are frequently bullied in school and when seeking help, they can potentially come across unsupportive teachers. Once that happens, he said, they often fall through the cracks and end up facing punishments.

He said the study will force officials to not only look at this problem, but also look at the way people see “trouble teens” in a new light.

“We’ll look at the root before we react,” he said.

Sarah Belton, equal justice fellow and staff attorney at the city’s Human Rights Commission, said the organization has seen serious incidents with students harassing their LGBT peers and schools condoning hate. She said when these teens don’t find support in school they often stop going.

“Once they’re not at school, a lot of things can fall from that,” Belton said.

Not only do LGBT teens face harsher punishments, but they also are often the targets of violence.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s latest hate crime statistics, crimes based on sexual orientation accounted for 18.5 percent of all single-bias incidents in 2009. While many view San Francisco as a “progressive” city, it does not mean this type of discrimination against teens doesn’t happen.

Martinez said local LGBT youth still face high suicide rates, thoughts of suicide as well as harassment by others.

“Gay issues are still happening in San Francisco schools,” he said.

The issues have prompted Martinez’s center to act and provide accessible resources for bullied gay teens who might otherwise end up harming themselves or others.

The center, Martinez said, works with school officials to schedule a LGBT studies class for San Francisco high school students, supports LGBT and allies clubs in schools and develops anti-homophobia workshops.

Belton said that the San Francisco Unified School District is moving away from a punitive model of addressing LGBT issues and there are a number of organizations working to prevent this kind of harassment. But, she said, what it comes down to is changing the school environment through an open dialogue with schools and gay teens — something that takes time.

“I think it’s just important to just talk about it in the open and not ignoring it,” she said, “And pretending these things don’t happen in San Francisco and the Bay Area, because they do.”

Contact Lizeth Cazares at lcazares@californiabeat.org.