“Sexual minority” youth — defined as gay, lesbian and bisexual or not sure — experience substantially higher levels of physical and sexual violence and bullying than their heterosexual peers, according to a new report released today from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a first of its kind study, researchers looked at national data to understand the issues faced by an estimated 1.3 million sexual minority youth and called for “accelerated action to protect the health and well-being of these young people.”
“This is not only the first time in the nation, this is the first time in the world this kind of study has been conducted,” lead researcher Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the CDC, told ABC News.
The study provides the first national estimates of the percentage of high school students who are sexual minorities, defined as gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure. Of the 15,624 participants, two percent identified as gay or lesbian, six percent identified as bisexual and 3.2 percent were not sure of their sexual identity.
Public health officials and other community members will now have data they can use to gain insight into the challenges of these students and help safeguard them from harm, the CDC said.
“If nations are judged by the health and well-being of their children, then what we have here is unacceptable,” Mermin stated. “It is something we should act upon rapidly.”
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