Researchers and service providers have repeatedly identified that LGBTQ children and youth, as well as those believed to be LGBTQ, are at significantly higher risk for a range of negative experiences. LGBTQ children and youth are more likely to:

• experience verbal abuse;
• be threatened with or experience physical violence;
• misuse substances such as drugs and alcohol;
• drop out of school;
• be homeless;
• develop mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety;
• and, to attempt and successfully commit, suicide.

These negative experiences are not a part of being LGBTQ. Instead, they happen because of society’s negative attitudes and beliefs, which discriminate against and marginalize members of LGBTQ communities.

Unlike ethnocultural minority children and youth, LGBTQ youth can’t always rely on their parents and community members for support when they experience discrimination or harassment. LGBTQ children and youth rarely come from LGBTQ families and they therefore may not have access to the support and understanding of those closest to them. LGBTQ children and youth typically experience discriminatory events in isolation.

In fact, depending on the attitudes expressed by their parents, peers, or communities, LGBTQ children and youth may live in fear of being “discovered”. This fear of discovery can take a toll on the emotional and physical well-being of LGBTQ children or youth.

Attitudes towards the LGBTQ communities vary within Waterloo Region and there remains a need for formal support services for these children and youth. OK2BME is committed to providing support and leadership in areas critical to the positive development of LGBTQ children and youth and their families.