Survey highlights inadequate sexual health education for LGBTQ+ teens

Across the United States, children who identify as LGBTQ+ say the sexual health education programs they receive leave them without essential information to make informed decisions about their sexual health — which could force them to seek potentially dangerous advice elsewhere.

Results of a new national peer-reviewed survey show that these young people -; aged 13 to 17 – ; believe that crucial topics regarding sexual orientation and gender identity are omitted from sexual health education programs.

Experts who led the study – published today in The Journal of Sex Researchas people around the world celebrate Pride Month – say adding key elements to school curriculums could “save lives”.

“Exclusion of LGBTQ+ students from school programs may contribute to poor health outcomes among LGBTQ+ youth, and some research is beginning to document these experiences and make recommendations for changes in school curricula.” explains lead author Steven Hobaica, a clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Trevor Project, whose mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ+ youth.

“There is an urgent need to address this neglect and it could save lives.

“Given the current political climate, with legislation that attempts to exclude LGBTQ+ information in schools, we encourage policymakers to continue to fight for LGBTQ+ inclusion in school curricula as a way to prevent health issues for a vulnerable group. »

Of more than 800 survey respondents, most participants reported a lack of LGBTQ+ content in their sexual health education experiences. To learn about sexual health, most used out-of-school sources, including online spaces, friends, and personal experiences of sexual exploration. The authors found that these out-of-school sources are frequently preferred by LGBTQ+ youth; but may lack precision and reliability.

Overall, participants described feeling marginalized by curriculum based on abstinence-only religious approaches, principles or contained oppressive and repressive elements – such as negative remarks about LGBTQ+ people or the complete omission of required LGBTQ+ content.

“LGBTQ+ youth expressed a strong desire to learn more about topics related to their sexual orientation and gender identity, highlighting a critical gap in existing curricula.” says co-author Dr. Erica Szkody, a postdoctoral research associate at Northwestern University’s Lab for Scalable Mental Health.

“Despite the well-known benefits of comprehensive sexual health education, the majority of school-based sexual health education programs in the United States are not comprehensive and exclude LGBTQ+ students.

“Our analyzes highlight the extent of this exclusion.”

The survey also gave LGBTQ+ youth the opportunity to openly share their experiences, as well as recommendations for change, when it comes to sexual health education:

These suggestions included:

• More LGBTQ+ content in sexual health education programs, as well as more details on healthy, diverse relationships (e.g., non-monogamy, polyamory), consent, relationship safety, and communication skills .
• Create safe and supportive spaces, while addressing legitimate fears of a possible increase in harassment, as they had heard students make fun of materials or use discriminatory language during previous implementation.
• Update sexual health educational materials to reflect LGBTQ+ lived experiences, history, and risk factors.
• Create sexual health interventions focused on LGBTQ+ experiences and concerns.
• Improve access to reliable sexual health information.
• Create more accessible sexual health information in other ways, such as online and through mobile apps.

Summarizing their experiences with sexual health programs in the United States, LGBTQ+ study participants left candid responses:

“I wish someone had taught me about gay sex, sexual orientation, and all the other controversial topics that are considered ‘grooming.’ When kids don’t get good sex education, they learn to do in unhealthy ways from other sources like the internet or word of mouth If we teach these topics to children, they will be safer when they become teenagers. they say.

Another added: “I would like others to understand that while knowledge related to anatomy is important, we need sexual (health) education that is relevant in today’s world. This includes education (on) sexual (health) dangers and safety on the Internet (people of the same sex/gender), and education focused on attraction and feelings rather than just one lesson (about) procreation. heterosexual. I would have liked them to take this into account. our real experiences and insecurities.

Another exclaimed: “It’s NOT HARMFUL to talk about gender identity and sexuality with high school students. It SAVES LIVES.”

The authors hope their findings will contribute to a “critical” policy shift to include LGBTQ+ youth in sexual health education, an “often underserved” community.

“By including the voices of LGBTQ+ youth in program design, we can not only provide young people with the knowledge needed to engage in healthy relationships and behaviors, but we can also contribute to a more tolerant and equitable society for years to come,” says Hobaïca.

Although this study incorporated quantitative and qualitative analyzes with a large national sample of LGBTQ+ youth, it had limitations. “Given sample size constraints, we were unable to draw conclusions regarding recommendations from students with specific identities,” explain the authors who say future work could collect similar data from even larger samples for further generalization and comparisons.