Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/tag/lgbtq/page/4/)
NEW YORK — Despite the strides that the LGBTQ community has made in the United States over the last year, LGBTQ youth still have a way to go in having equitable juvenile justice and foster care systems as well as combating homelessness.
WASHINGTON — A coalition of national advocacy organizations is calling for stronger relationships between racial justice and LGBTQ groups to help dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.
If the U.S. Supreme Court has declared gay marriage to be part of the fundamental rights of privacy, speech and expression for all American citizens, does that signal the acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals?
For the juvenile justice and child welfare courts, the answer is decidedly “No.”
Since he was 16, Ivan Cabrera has been spending time at New Alternatives, a drop-in center for 16- to 24-year-olds who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — and homeless. He goes there almost every Sunday for a free meal, HIV testing and a talk with other clients and caseworkers.
Cabrera calls the people there his family.
Males remain a largely invisible population within the dialogue on sex trafficking.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are twice as likely as other youngsters to be detained in a juvenile detention facility for status offenses, experts said.
Young LGBTQ residents tell stories of New Orleans' darker side that affects their lives.
Alhough gay and transgender youth make up just 5 to 7 percent of the overall national population, LGBTQ youth represent up to 15 percent of the total juvenile justice population, according to a report by the Center for American Progress. And that may be a conservative estimate, experts say.
The lack of culturally relevant services and possible racial discrimination all pose hindrances to LGBTQ young people's healthy development and success.
Alyssa Rodriguez, a male-to-female transgender teen, sued New York’s Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) in 2006 over her treatment while in their custody.