LGBT kids more likely to be kicked out of school, study finds
Mon. December 13, 2010 11:53 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
New Haven, Conn. -
A new study has found that lesbian, gay and bisexual children and teenagers are much more likely to be punished by school officials than straight kids.
The study, published in the journal "Pediatrics," found that LGBT kids are 40 percent more likely than heterosexual children to be expelled, stopped by police, and arrested as juveniles.
"Non-heterosexual youth suffer disproportionate educational and criminal-justice punishments that are not explained by greater engagement in illegal or transgressive behaviors," conclude the Yale University authors. "Understanding and addressing these disparities might reduce school expulsions, arrests, and incarceration and their dire social and health consequences."
The study, published in the journal "Pediatrics," found that LGBT kids are 40 percent more likely than heterosexual children to be expelled, stopped by police, and arrested as juveniles.
"Non-heterosexual youth suffer disproportionate educational and criminal-justice punishments that are not explained by greater engagement in illegal or transgressive behaviors," conclude the Yale University authors. "Understanding and addressing these disparities might reduce school expulsions, arrests, and incarceration and their dire social and health consequences."