For youth struggling with sexual identity, support could make a life-or-death difference

As the program coordinator of Outright/ Lewiston-Auburn and a member of Maine’s LGBTQ Youth Commission, I commend the Community Little Theatre for choosing to present “The Laramie Project.”

More important, I pray readers realize the issues addressed in this play haven’t disappeared in the age of “Will and Grace and openly gay-identified celebrities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth in our communities continue to live with the homophobia and hateful bias that lead to the death of Matthew Shepard.

A 2005 national school climate study conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found LGBT students are three times as likely as non-LGBT students to say they don’t feel safe at school. Ninety percent of LGBT students surveyed have been harassed or assaulted during the past year.

My 10 years of work with LGBTQ youth mirrors these statistics. I frequently talk to young people who are afraid to attend school because they are harassed in bathrooms, hallways and on school buses. I’ve known several who were sexually assaulted in an attempt to “make them straight.”

I have worked with many youth who feel unsafe at home, where they are verbally abused by family members. These stories echo Maine statistics. Of 200 homeless Maine youth surveyed for the 2005 Maine Homeless Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2005, 25 percent were self-identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual. In other words, not only are young people harassed in the place where they should feel most safe, they are often forced to leave.

It’s been more than 20 years since Charlie Howard was drowned in the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor by three teens who thought Charlie was gay. But it’s been less than two years since the Poland home of a lesbian couple was destroyed by two adolescent boys.

I haven’t personally known any young people who have been the victim of brutal crimes like these, , but I know some who made attempts on, or took their own lives, because they felt too unsafe and unloved to continue living.

In fact, according to the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program report of 2005, the risk for suicide among LGBTQ students is much higher than those who are heterosexual – four times higher for young males. The report’s executive summary states: “Bullying, harassment, and discrimination toward sexual and cultural minorities also stigmatize specific groups, and keep them from seeking help.”

Can you imagine being so afraid to ask for help that you become suicidal?

Outright/ Lewiston-Auburn is a program of Western Maine Community Action, with the mission to create safe and supportive environments for gay, lesbian, bisexual and questioning youth. This is invaluable work, but it’s a huge job, and we are the only program in the tri-county area working specifically with, and for, LGBTQ youth.

For some youth, contact with Outright may mean feeling better about themselves and their chances for success in life. For others, it’s the difference between life and death.

Does this seem like overstatement? After listening to a young person talk about the names she’s been called on the street, finding a safe place for a 15-year-old to sleep after his parents threw him out for “coming out” and reading the obituary of a healthy 17-year-old who died suddenly and unexpectedly, I can say it is not.

Outright/Lewiston-Auburn works hard to provide ways for LGBTQ youth to feel safe and accepted: weekly drop-ins, school-related activities and social events, and one-on-one support. We also constantly work to make educational and support services available to educators and others who are essential to creating a safe community.

Could the events that inspired The Laramie Project happen here? We all desperately hope not. But if we lack a cohesive support system for all our children, could it be just a matter of time?

Everyday, my work reminds me that lack of safety for LGBTQ youth is real, continuing, and needs to be remembered and addressed by every one of us, in order to lessen the likelihood that this time will ever come.

I encourage anyone with questions about Outright/ Lewiston-Auburn and the work we do to contact us. I also encourage you to step forward and help us ensure the continued safety of all our children.

Penny Sargent, of Poland, is the program coordinator for Outright/ Lewiston-Auburn. E-mail her at [email protected]. Community Little Theater’s “The Laramie Project” runs Jan. 24-27 at the Great Falls Performing Arts Center in Auburn. For more information, call 783-0958.