New Research on LGBT Youth: Studying Lives in Context

Title: New research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: Studying lives in context

By: Horn, S. S., Kosciw, J. G., & Russell, S. T.

In: Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 38, issue 7 (2009)

"In this collection of articles, authors cover a range of topics that contribute to our understanding of the lives of LGBT youth in context. Not surprisingly, several studies focus on the experience of harassment and victimization (e.g., Almeida et al. 2009). The last decades have seen notable attention to concerns for LGBT students; several of the articles included here focus on understanding and explaining the elevated rates of victimization and bullying that LGBT youth experience at school. Of these studies, the articles here extend work in this area by exploring the context within the school environment that may systemically support anti-LGBT behaviors to occur. Kosciw et al. (2009) examine key community and school characteristics that may predict (or even foster) a hostile school climate for LGBT students. Birkett et al. (2009) and Chesir-Teran and Hughes (2009) examined school-based, ecological factors that affect the school experience for LGBT students. In addition to these articles that aim to understand the context of victimization, another describes the ways that student participation and activism through gay-straight alliance school clubs can be a proactive response to a context that may be characterized by hostility, but through which empowerment can be achieved (Russell et al. 2009)."