Why? We want our young people to know...
- What it is
- How it impacts people's lives
- All the shapes it can take
- How it can change over a lifetime
- That being queer is amazing
Why? We want our young people to know...
- What these things are
- How they impact people’s lives
- All the shapes they can take
- How they can change over a lifetime
- That being TGNC is amazing
See more on intersectionality in the glossary.
- Make sure any information or resources you give young people on sex and sexuality are fully inclusive of and celebratory about LGBTQA+/SGL sexuality.
- Sex, Sexuality & Sexual Health
- I acknowledge that there are so many levels on which an honest and open discussion of pleasure is incredibly challenging in the US, even among adults. Please don't let that stop you.
- 3 Reasons Why You Need to Talk to Your Teens About Sexual Pleasure
- Pleasure: A Container that Holds Multitudes
- Pleasure, consent and more: What I didn't learn in sex ed, and why it matters
- The relevant section of R2T2
- HIV Across LGBTQ Communities
- HIV and All Gay and Bisexual Men (Heads-up: this is a CDC website with offensive commentary from the Trump administration at the top of the page.)
- Homophobia and HIV
- Looking Back: The AIDS Epidemic
Check out this history-focused list for a taste of the history-making people and movements that have helped shape queer and trans (and general) communities today.
- In the opioid crisis, young queer and trans men are navigating risk reduction on their own
- LGBTQ People, Drug Use & Harm Reduction (PDF)
- Practical Steps to Center Trans and Non-Binary People in Harm Reduction Spaces
- Pressure from the inside and out: Why queer and trans people disproportionately suffer from addiction
- Queer and Present Danger: 5 Reasons Why LGBTQ+ People Have Higher Addiction Risk
- Substance Misuse and the LGBTQ+ Community
- Substance Use and Suicide Risk Among LGBTQ Youth
Because, queer and trans joy aside, this is an all-too-real part of our young people's lives.
- Concerns rise over suicide rates of Black transgender and nonbinary youth
- Facts About LGBTQ Youth Suicide
- Gender affirmation is linked to improved mental health. There's no evidence it drives youth suicide.
- 'I realized that I don't want to die': LGBTQ+ people share stories of hope after suicidal ideation
- Preventing suicide in LGBTQ youth
- Suicide Risk and Prevention for LGBTQ People (PDF)
- Supporting Child Well-Being Through Improving Quality of Life for LGBT Youth (PDF)
- LGBTQ youth engaged in 'survival sex' see perks for skipping condoms – survey
- Non-inclusive sex ed puts LGBTQ+ youth at risk
Aside from those 2 articles, i had a shockingly hard time finding sources on this topic that weren't wildly outdated (think the early aughts), an academic study, or an article that included only 1-2 mentions of safer sex.
Below are some facts i've found in previous research i've done.
- Queer and trans young people may have unsafe sex because:
- It feels good.
- It's fun.
- It can bond or strengthen a bond between two or more people.
- It can solidify a relationship.
- It can make a young person feel loved.
- It can affirm one's…
- Gender identity
- Sex assigned at birth
- Sexual orientation
- A young person may…
- Lack information about how sex works, especially when it isn't penis-in-vagina intercourse. So they may believe that what they're doing isn't sex.
- Have the misconceptions that HIV isn't a problem anymore.
- Use it to prove that they aren't who they seem to be (e.g., a masculine, cis girl having sex with a cis boy to prove she's not a lesbian — even if she is, in fact, a lesbian).
- Think, "It won't happen to me," regarding pregnancy, HIV, STIs, and a host of other potential drawbacks to having sex.
- Use it to access clothing, shelter, food, and/or drugs (aka "survival sex").
- Worry that asking a partner to use protection might lead to abuse, breaking up, being kicked out, or other unpleasantness that can cause everything from an argument to risking one's life.
A critical point: adults, as well as teens (and, yes, tweens) who are straight and cis, often have these very same misconceptions. So none of the above is unique to queer and trans young people.
But, really, it's okay to have books that are just fun, too. Stories with queer and trans characters where queerness and transness aren't central to the plot can feel so amazing to read for LGBTQA+/SGL people of all age.
"I'm a trans and queer disabled teen, I have some mental health issues, and am someone who tends to be told to pick a struggle, and is constantly told that I need to get over one and stick to only one issue. Which tends to make me feel like absolute shit."
"I do not have any LGBTQ adults in my life because many queer elders were taken through strategic police violence or the negligence in the HIV epidemic. I am also from a conservative town in which, even if there were queer adults in my life growing up, they were probably not out."
