Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens singled out for punishment

Eurekalert.org ^ | 12/06/2010 | Kathryn Himmelstein / Staff

[Abathar]

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are about 40 percent more likely than other teens to be punished by school authorities, police and the courts, according to a study by Yale University researchers. Published in the January 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics, the study is the first to document excessive punishment of LGB youth nationwide.

"We found that virtually all types of punishment—including school expulsions, arrests, juvenile convictions, adult convictions and especially police stops—were more frequently meted out to LGB youth," said lead author Kathryn Himmelstein, who initiated the study while she was a Yale undergraduate. The research was supervised by Hannah Brueckner, professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course at Yale.

The study was based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and included about 15,000 middle and high school students who were followed for seven years into early adulthood. The study collected details on participants' sexuality, including feelings of sexual attraction, sexual relationships and self-labeling as LGB. Add Health also surveyed participants about how frequently they engaged in a variety of misbehaviors, ranging in severity from lying to parents, to using a weapon. Add Health included detailed questions about school expulsions and contacts with the criminal justice system.

Himmelstein, who now teaches math at a public high school in New York City, said that adolescents who identified themselves as LGB were about 50 percent more likely to be stopped by police than other teenagers. Teens who reported feelings of attraction to members of the same sex, regardless of their self-identification, were more likely than other teens to be expelled from school or convicted of crimes as adults.

"Girls who labeled themselves as lesbian or bisexual were especially at risk for unequal treatment," said Himmelstein. "They reported experiencing twice as many police stops, arrests and convictions as other girls who had engaged in similar behavior. Although we did not explore the experiences of transgender youth, anecdotal reports suggest that they are similarly at risk for excessive punishment."

The study showed that these disparities in punishments are not explained by differences in the rates of misbehavior. In fact, the study showed that adolescents who identified themselves as LGB actually engaged in less violence than their peers.

"The painful, even lethal bullying that LGB youth suffer at the hands of their peers has been highlighted by recent tragic events," Himmelstein notes. "Our numbers suggest that school officials, police and judges, who should be protecting LGB youth, are instead singling them out for punishment based on their sexual orientation. LGB teens can't thrive if adults single them out for punishment because of their sexual orientation."

Brueckner added, "The study provides the first and only national estimates for over-representation of LGB youth in the criminal justice system. We simply did not have any good numbers on this before. We need more research on the processes that lead to this to help us identify ways to make our institutions more equitable with respect to policing all youth, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation."

Citation: Pediatrics Vol. 127, 1 (January 1, 2011)

[Rebelbase]

Not a chance of bias in that researcher.

/s

[albie]

“Maybe it’s because they’re 40% more likely to perceive themselves as victims...”

...that and they’re 40% more sensitive to things like someone cutting them off in the lunch line. A ball hitting them in “dodge ball”. An “F”.

[Hulka]

Whine more, and from what I have observed, exaggerate and lie more.

[jimmyo57]

How does a cop know you are queer before he stops you? How does he know after he stops you, unless you tell him?

My questions exactly!

[aruanan]

"Girls who labeled themselves as lesbian or bisexual were especially at risk for unequal treatment," said Himmelstein. "They reported experiencing twice as many police stops, arrests and convictions as other girls who had engaged in similar behavior. Although we did not explore the experiences of transgender youth, anecdotal reports suggest that they are similarly at risk for excessive punishment."

Uh huh, it's the rainbow, the = sign, and the transgendered unicorn bumperstickers, right? The more likely cause is that kids who engage in high risk behavior, who consciously see themselves in opposition to societal norms, are more likely to exhibit behavior that will get them noticed and stopped by cops. Besides, bumperstickers aside, how would the cops know that the arrested chick was lesbian or bisexual unless she announced, "Hey, pig, I'm a lesbian/bisexual and you're effing oppressing me by stopping me like you did." Did the researchers bother to investigate behavior of the individual after being stopped but before the "punishment"? The funniest thing above, though, is this: "they [the girls who labeled themselves as lesbian or bisexual] reported experiencing twice as many police stops, arrest and convictions as other girls who had engaged in similar behavior." How in the world would these girls know the statistics? Oh, yeah, they're the sexually-oppressed. They automatically know such things.

[Hacklehead]

NEWS FLASH: Criminals more likely to be singled out for punishment than non-criminals. Leftists stunned and horrified.

[DTogo]

It must be those evil police cruisers with their LGBT sensors...

[jimmyo57]

Elton John looks different with blond hair, don’t ya think? lol

[TalonDJ]

Try this title: Teens with psychological disorders known to cause sexual deviancy more likely to get in trouble with school authorities.

[ThunderSleeps]

Gee, consider the demographic. You think people (ie. kids) that don't follow "the rules" or at least societal norms regarding sexuality are maybe just a bit more predisposed to breaking other rules/barriers/boundaries too? Maybe that is a driving factor in the numbers?

We can't change the demographics of criminals or rule-breakers, no matter what the libs wish it would be like in their utopia. All we can do is make sure the rules and punishments are applied fairly.

[G Larry]

How is it that 40 years ago, in a High School of over 1500 students (grades 10-12), nobody knew anyone who was “gay”?
This is substantiated by years of reunion conversations, where we became aware of a few who “came out”.
The point is that the “norming” of flamboyant gays is the element that contributes to social response.

[Abathar]

Thanks, that tidbit says it all.

A perpetual victim looking for justification of her victimhood is all she is, and sees it in every statement and action.

A white feminist Jesse Jackson with a different hook is all.

[D Rider]

Maybe they have no self control in other areas of thier lives also.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

I agree. This is probably a classic case of causation confused with correlation.

And studies like this almost always are BS.

[aruanan]

"Girls who labeled themselves as lesbian or bisexual were especially at risk for unequal treatment," said Himmelstein. "They reported experiencing twice as many police stops, arrests and convictions as other girls who had engaged in similar behavior. "

Of course, Kate Himmelstein could just be incompetent in English and actually mean, "They were twice as likely to report police stops, arrests and convictions as other girls." Still, it was self-reported. Was it verified against actual police records? Or were these girls twice as likely to tell a story about being picked on as other girls who did not describe themselves as lesbian or bisexual?

[Renderofveils]

I'm shocked! Surely you're not insinuating that there's a behavioral pattern linking rebellion against cultural norms and being "singled out" for breaking the rules? (I know it's early, so I'll throw in the /sarc just for good measure.)

How much taxpayer funding went into this leftist shill's "research?" (Oh, and she's from the liberal cesspool of UNC... again, I am shocked.)

[Abathar]

Good grief,imagine what that thing sounds like in SF? Beeps going off like a popcorn maker...

[aruanan]

More than likely they are receiving the punishments because they are creating the problems or crimes.

My first thought also. However, notice that these percentages are all based on self-reporting of incidents. There's no sign of any independent verification of the claims.

[MrEdd]

Gee, sexually active teens getting in more trouble...brilliant discovery.

[sport]

There is a strange occuring in the universe, particularily in the space that the United States occupies. When a police officer observes a vehicle violating a law, they pull said vehicle over.
But, I can see, hell Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles can seeit also, where this thing is headed, and Ray Charles has been dead for years:” They only stopped me because I am gay[queer]” A play on the “They stopped me bacause I am Black” trick.

It worked for the Blacks.

The strange thing was, that they never mentioned how quick a White person driving in the Black section of town would be pulled over when a officer saw them..