LGBTQI+ Youth

LGBTQI+ youth face significant challenges including discrimination, restricted health care access, and mental health impacts, with recent legal cases and legislation posing additional barriers to services and protections.

Related Team
LGBTQI+ Policy

Latest

Compact View

In Conversation: The 2024 LGBTQI+ Community Survey Past Event

In Conversation: The 2024 LGBTQI+ Community Survey

Join CAP for a panel and discussion about new insights into LGBTQI+ experiences.

Center for American Progress Online via Zoom

State of the LGBTQ+ Community: New Data and Insights Past Event

State of the LGBTQ+ Community: New Data and Insights

Join the Center for American Progress for a discussion about the threats facing LGBTQI+ Americans using data from the 2024 CAP LGBTQI+ Community Survey.

Center for American Progress and online | A light breakfast will be provided.

Hundreds of LGBTQI+ Resources Censored by the Trump Administration Article
A rainbow flag is seen outside the White House.

Hundreds of LGBTQI+ Resources Censored by the Trump Administration

According to new analysis by the Center for American Progress, more than 350 LGBTQI+ pages, policies, and guides have been removed from the websites of the White House and federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department of Veterans Affairs.

Caleb Smith

United States v. Skrmetti: The Trans Medical Care Case Before the Supreme Court Is About Bodily Autonomy for Everyone Article
A rainbow and clouds are seen above the U.S. Supreme Court building.

United States v. Skrmetti: The Trans Medical Care Case Before the Supreme Court Is About Bodily Autonomy for Everyone

Should the court side with families and doctors, the decision in United States v. Skrmetti could overturn bans on lifesaving transgender medical care, but should the justices decide otherwise, the implications for everyone’s access to health care could be drastic.

Haley Norris

5 Connections Between Attacks on Abortion Care and Transgender Medical Care in Idaho Court Cases Article
Photo shows a group of people demonstrating in front of the Supreme Court building. One sign reads

5 Connections Between Attacks on Abortion Care and Transgender Medical Care in Idaho Court Cases

Two court cases originating in Idaho—Idaho v. United States and Poe v. Labrador—reveal five connections between attacks on abortion care and transgender medical care and highlight how the politicization of the judiciary is fueling the politicization of medicine.

Sabrina Talukder, Caleb Smith

Fact Sheet: LGBT Workers in the Labor Market Fact Sheet
Activists holding signs that read

Fact Sheet: LGBT Workers in the Labor Market

New data from the Census Bureau reveal economic insecurity and labor market gaps experienced by LGBT people compared with non-LGBT populations.

Caroline Medina, Lindsay Mahowald, Rose Khattar, 1 More Aurelia Glass

State Attacks Against LGBTQI+ Rights Article
A protestor in front of the Minnesota capitol holds a sign reading

State Attacks Against LGBTQI+ Rights

Learn more about the discriminatory anti-LGBTQI+ bills advancing in states across the country and what can be done to oppose these damaging legislative attacks.

Caroline Medina, Sharita Gruberg

States’ anti-LGBTQI+ attacks underscore need for the Equality Act In the News

States’ anti-LGBTQI+ attacks underscore need for the Equality Act

Sharita Gruberg argues that the Senate must enact comprehensive nondiscrimination protections at the federal level amid an onslaught of anti-LGBTQI+ legislative attacks across the United States.

The Hill

Sharita Gruberg

LGBTQI+ Members of Generation Z Face Unique Social and Economic Concerns Article
A crowd of protesters at the Trans Youth March.

LGBTQI+ Members of Generation Z Face Unique Social and Economic Concerns

Disproportionately high rates of discrimination in school, housing, and the workforce among young LGBTQI+ individuals negatively affects their well-being.

Lindsay Mahowald, Edwith Theogene, Han Le, 1 More Ella Azoulay

LGBTQ People of Color Encounter Heightened Discrimination Article
A protestor holds a “Resist” sign at a rally in support of transgender people at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, February 2017. (Getty/Spencer Platt)

LGBTQ People of Color Encounter Heightened Discrimination

A nationally representative survey conducted in June 2020 by the Center for American Progress highlights that LGBTQ people of color are more likely than white LGBTQ individuals to encounter discrimination in a variety of settings.

Lindsay Mahowald

Millions Will Gain Nondiscrimination Protections Under the Equality Act Article
Protestors march in support of transgender lives during a demonstration in New York City, October 2020. (Getty/John Lamparski/SOPA Images/LightRocket)

Millions Will Gain Nondiscrimination Protections Under the Equality Act

These fact sheets highlight how the Equality Act will result in expanded nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, women, communities of color, and foreign-born individuals in states across the country.

Caroline Medina, Lindsay Mahowald, Sharita Gruberg

The American Rescue Plan Act Will Significantly Address LGBTQ Poverty Article
The ARPA’s investments are a critical first step on the road to recovery for LGBTQ communities living in poverty. (Getty/Kristina Barker)

The American Rescue Plan Act Will Significantly Address LGBTQ Poverty

LGBTQ people—particularly LGBTQ people of color and transgender people—were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ARPA’s investments are a critical first step on the road to recovery.

Sharita Gruberg

What You Need To Know About the Equality Act Fact Sheet
 (LGBTQ rights demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., October 2019.)

What You Need To Know About the Equality Act

This fact sheet outlines how the Equality Act would provide much-needed civil rights protections for LGBTQ people, women, people of faith, and others.

Thee Santos, Caroline Medina, Sharita Gruberg

Fair Play Report
A teacher plays softball with a group of students, May 2019. (Getty/Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald)

Fair Play

Despite recent legislative pushback, schools across the country are recognizing the important benefits of equal participation in sports for all young people, including transgender youth.

Shoshana K. Goldberg

Improving the Lives and Rights of LGBTQ People in America Report
 (LGBTQ rights supporters gather during a candlelight vigil in West Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 2020.)

Improving the Lives and Rights of LGBTQ People in America

The incoming Biden administration has stated its commitment to advancing LGBTQ equality, which will require undoing the harms caused during the last four years and by generations of discrimination, as well as proactively championing a progressive agenda.

Caroline Medina, Sharita Gruberg, Lindsay Mahowald, 1 More Thee Santos

Transforming U.S. Foreign Policy To Ensure Dignity and Rights for LGBTI People Report

Transforming U.S. Foreign Policy To Ensure Dignity and Rights for LGBTI People

America must restore its leadership role in advancing LGBTI equality and human rights more broadly on the global stage.

Phil Crehan, Susan Dicklitch-Nelson, Kerry-Jo Ford Lyn, 5 More Jay Gilliam, Sharita Gruberg, Ryan Kaminski, Chloe Schwenke, Ryan Thoreson

The Trump Administration’s Latest Attack on Transgender People Facing Homelessness Report
 (A hall in the Seattle Center has been turned into a temporary men's shelter in Seattle on April 6, 2020.)

The Trump Administration’s Latest Attack on Transgender People Facing Homelessness

As homelessness among transgender people increases, the Trump administration is attempting to cruelly and illegally restrict their access to critically needed housing services.

Thee Santos, Lindsay Mahowald, Sharita Gruberg

Beyond Bostock: The Future of LGBTQ Civil Rights Report
A man attaches a safety whistle to his chair while waiting in line outside the U.S. Supreme Court building for a chance to attend the Bostock v. Clayton arguments, October 2019.

Beyond Bostock: The Future of LGBTQ Civil Rights

The Supreme Court’s recent decision on workplace protections for LGBTQ people has far-reaching implications for LGBTQ rights.

Sharita Gruberg

Secretary DeVos Is Failing to Protect the Civil Rights of LGBTQ Students Report
Betsy DeVos testifies during her confirmation hearing for Secretary of Education, Washington, D.C., January 17, 2017. (Getty/Chip Somodevilla)

Secretary DeVos Is Failing to Protect the Civil Rights of LGBTQ Students

Data from the Department of Education show that civil rights enforcement for LGBTQ students has been drastically scaled back since the start of the Trump administration.

Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Frank J. Bewkes

The Urgency of Equality, With Charlotte Clymer and Laura Durso Podcast
 (The Thinking CAP podcast logo, a yellow neon cap against a black background with the word

The Urgency of Equality, With Charlotte Clymer and Laura Durso

Ed and Daniella sit down with Charlotte Clymer, press secretary for rapid response at the Human Rights Campaign, and CAP's Laura Durso, to discuss the likely passage of the Equality Act in the House of Representatives.

Daniella Gibbs Léger, Ed Chung, Kyle Epstein, 1 More Chris Ford

The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights Report
A group of students stands outside their school in Malden, Massachusetts, May 2017. (Getty/Jonathan Wiggs)

The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights

Through voucher programs, private schools receive public funding even as they fail to protect the most vulnerable students from discrimination.

Bayliss Fiddiman, Jessica Yin

Welcoming All Families Report

Welcoming All Families

Religious exemptions allowing child placing agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ prospective parents will likely reduce the number of families available to adopt, further overburdening the child welfare system and harming the best interests of children in care.

Frank J. Bewkes, Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Caitlin Rooney, 3 More Laura E. Durso, Joe Kroll, Elly Wong

Serving LGBTQ Immigrants and Building Welcoming Communities Report
Immigrants take the oath of citizenship to the United States in the Great Hall of Ellis Island on September 16, 2016, in New York City.

Serving LGBTQ Immigrants and Building Welcoming Communities

Cities and service providers can take steps to ensure LGBTQ immigrants have access to the resources they need to become full participants in their communities and thrive.

Sharita Gruberg, Caitlin Rooney, Ashe McGovern, 2 More Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Laura E. Durso

What Ending DACA Means for LGBTQ Dreamers Article
A supporter of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals waves a flag during a rally at the White House in September 2017. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

What Ending DACA Means for LGBTQ Dreamers

DACA has allowed thousands of LGBT immigrants improve their economic security and pursue higher education. They could lose protection under President Trump’s elimination of the program and risk being deported to countries where their lives are at risk.

Sharita Gruberg

Advancing LGBTQ Equality Through Local Executive Action Report

Advancing LGBTQ Equality Through Local Executive Action

With unique knowledge of the needs of their constituents, city and county executives have the power to enact policies and programs that protect LGBTQ communities, increase community engagement, and open doors of opportunity.

Laura E. Durso, Caitlin Rooney, Sharita Gruberg, 5 More Sejal Singh, Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Frank J. Bewkes, Aaron Ridings, Daniel Clark

How the Religious Liberty Executive Order Licenses Discrimination Article
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during his interview with The Associated Press, July 28, 2017, at the National Police Headquarters in San Salvador, El Salvador. (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

How the Religious Liberty Executive Order Licenses Discrimination

Far from maintaining the status quo, the religious liberty executive order permits Attorney General Sessions to remove protections that Americans rely upon in everyday life.

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, Sharita Gruberg

Betsy DeVos: Secretary of Discrimination? Article
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, February 2017. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Betsy DeVos: Secretary of Discrimination?

Just months into Betsy DeVos’ tenure as secretary of education, the department is already rolling back critical protections for vulnerable students.

Coleton Whitaker, Sejal Singh, Stephenie Johnson

People of Faith Are Increasingly Vocal Supporters of Transgender Justice Article
Members and allies of the transgender community rally on the steps of the Texas Capitol, on March 6, 2017. (AP/Eric Gay)

People of Faith Are Increasingly Vocal Supporters of Transgender Justice

For many people of faith, the motivation to fight against transgender discrimination in public policy comes from their religious identities, not despite them.

Claire Markham, Tracy Wolf

Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBTQ Communities Report

Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBTQ Communities

Federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws can help secure the protections that all LGBTQ people—indeed, all people—need to safely lead their lives and equally participate in society.

Ashe McGovern, Sarah McBride, Sharita Gruberg

Addressing Challenges to Progressive Religious Liberty in North Carolina Report
Signage is shown outside of a restroom in Durham, North Carolina, on May 12, 2016. (AP/Gerry Broome)

Addressing Challenges to Progressive Religious Liberty in North Carolina

North Carolina must strike a proper balance between true religious freedom and the other cherished rights and freedoms that keep the nation’s democracy strong.

Carolyn Davis, Lauren Kokum, Claire Markham

Supporting Two-Spirit/Native American LGBT People Article
Cleo Pablo and her wife, Tara Roy-Pablo, stand outside their home in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 9, 2015. (AP/Matt York)

Supporting Two-Spirit/Native American LGBT People

A growing number of tribal leaders and organizations affirm two-spirit tribal citizens through policy and action.

Aaron Ridings, Se-ah-dom Edmo

State ID Card Policies for LGBTQ Youths Experiencing Homelessness Fact Sheet
Expanding access to state-issued identification for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness could create opportunities and improve their safety and well-being. (AP/Susan Montoya Bryan)

State ID Card Policies for LGBTQ Youths Experiencing Homelessness

Expanding access to state-issued identification for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness could create opportunities and improve their safety and well-being.

Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Steven Soto, Caitlin Rooney

The Human Toll of North Carolina’s H.B. 2 Video

The Human Toll of North Carolina’s H.B. 2

This video shows the devastating emotional and psychological impact that North Carolina's controversial law H.B. 2 can have on transgender people.

Andrew Satter, Sarah McBride

The Legacy of Hobby Lobby Past Event

The Legacy of Hobby Lobby

Using Religion to Justify Discrimination

Expanding ID Card Access for LGBT Homeless Youth Report
A young adult uses a computer at the Ruth Ellis Center, a drop-in shelter for LGBT youth in Detroit, March 2012. (AP/Paul Sancya)

Expanding ID Card Access for LGBT Homeless Youth

Reducing the barriers to ID cards for homeless youth could improve access to critical services and new opportunities.

Hannah Hussey

Beyond 4 Walls and a Roof Report
People arrive for a march and rally at the 10th annual Trans Day of Action, June 27, 2014, in New York. (AP/Frank Franklin II)

Beyond 4 Walls and a Roof

Policies and programs aimed at homeless youth routinely fail transgender young people, and the disparities they experience in health, safety, and social and economic well-being hold them back.

Hannah Hussey

Restoring Justice Report
Inmates hang out on their bunks in a unit in the Harris County Jail for gay, bisexual, and transgender inmates in Houston, Texas. (AP/Pat Sullivan)

Restoring Justice

Several states and local jurisdictions have updated their juvenile justice policies to ensure that the disproportionate numbers of LGBT youth in the juvenile justice system are treated with dignity and respect. These model policies provide a blueprint for safeguarding all youth in the juvenile justice system.

Aisha C. Moodie-Mills, Christina Gilbert

Fostering Safety Report

Fostering Safety

The risk of sexual assault and abuse of young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender immigrants in U.S. custody demands swift implementation of stronger protections.

Sharita Gruberg, Hannah Hussey

A Hidden Crisis Report
People walk on Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins is under investigation for its handling of an alleged rape, July 2014. (AP/Patrick Semansky)

A Hidden Crisis

The national movement surrounding the crisis of sexual assaults on college campuses is encouraging, but it cannot fully address the problem without including LGBT students.

Zenen Jaimes Pérez, Hannah Hussey

Engaging Youth Voters Beyond Marriage Equality Report

Engaging Youth Voters Beyond Marriage Equality

Findings from a poll of young pro-marriage-equality voters illuminate ways that future progressive campaigns can be responsive to youth voices.

Hannah Hussey, Sarah Audelo

Left Behind Report

Left Behind

Five years after the end of the Great Recession, Millennials still face high barriers to entering the U.S. middle class. For LGBT Millennials, these barriers to full participation in the U.S. economy can be exacerbated by their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Zenen Jaimes Pérez

Infographic: Schools Are Failing LGBT Youth and Funneling Them into Prison Article

Infographic: Schools Are Failing LGBT Youth and Funneling Them into Prison

The numbers are clear: The actions and inactions of adults in schools derail LGBT youth and unless these climates become more welcoming, schools will continue to fail LGBT youth by pushing them into a cycle of unfair criminalization.

Preston Mitchum

Beyond Bullying Report
Chicago Police patrol the neighborhood as children arrive at Gresham Elementary School on the first day of classes, Monday, August 26, 2013, in Chicago. (AP/M. Spencer Green)

Beyond Bullying

Much of the attention given to LGBT youth in schools has focused on peer-to-peer bullying, but research suggests that harsh discipline policies also foster hostile school climates that push LGBT youth out of schools and disproportionately pipeline them into the juvenile justice system.

Preston Mitchum, Aisha C. Moodie-Mills

Seeking Shelter Past Event

Seeking Shelter

Working Toward Safe and Inclusive Spaces for America’s Homeless LGBT Youth

Seeking Shelter: The Experiences and Unmet Needs of LGBT Homeless Youth Report
Identifying as LGBT should not be the first step in a dangerous downward spiral that ends in homelessness or worse for today’s youth. (Flickr/Colin Davis)

Seeking Shelter: The Experiences and Unmet Needs of LGBT Homeless Youth

LGBT youth continue to be disproportionately represented among homeless youth in our country, and their experiences of homelessness continue to be characterized by violence, discrimination, poor health, and unmet needs.

Andrew Cray, Katie Miller, Laura E. Durso

California’s New Protections for Transgender Students Article
Transgender student Benji Delgadillo poses for a photo at San Juan Hills High School in California. After an increase in teen suicides spurred by antigay bullying, California school districts are stepping up to prevent such incidents from occurring. (AP/Jae C. Hong)

California’s New Protections for Transgender Students

The top five myths propagated by anti-transgender opponents of California’s School Success and Opportunity Act must be rebutted.

Sarah McBride

4 Bills Congress Can Enact This Year to Prevent LGBT Youth Homelessness Article
Megan Wakerley, left, case manager at the Ali Forney Center, relocated inside the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center because of Superstorm Sandy, conducts an interview in New York, Wednesday, November 14, 2012. (AP/Richard Drew)

4 Bills Congress Can Enact This Year to Prevent LGBT Youth Homelessness

This year, members of Congress can help prevent LGBT youth homelessness by ensuring that schools are safe and inclusive spaces for all students, and by directing existing homeless-youth programs to specifically target LGBT youth.

Katie Miller

FAFSA Modernizes to Recognize LGBT Families Article
Kim Pollock, 17, goes through college materials in her bedroom in Bedford, New Hampshire. FAFSA will soon start recognizing same-sex parents on their financial aid applications. (AP/ Cheryl Senter)

FAFSA Modernizes to Recognize LGBT Families

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid will soon begin collecting information about applicants who have same-sex parents, giving them equal access to college financial aid.

Crosby Burns, David A. Bergeron

Improving the Lives of LGBT Americans Beginning with Our Youth Article
A high school student and his mother listen to a question about his suffering through bullying at Haddonfield Memorial High School in Haddonfield, New Jersey. (AP/  	Mel Evans)

Improving the Lives of LGBT Americans Beginning with Our Youth

Passing the Student Non-Discrimination Act would not only prevent the bullying and harassment of LGBT students across the country, but it could also lead to a host of better outcomes for these children later in life.

Christopher Frost, Katie Miller

Gay-Straight Alliances Article
A Gay-Straight Alliance meeting at Stratford High School in Stratford, Connecticut. (AP/ Douglas Healey)

Gay-Straight Alliances

Jerome Hunt explains how gay-straight alliances can help improve the school environment for gay and transgender students.

Jerome Hunt

Supporting Gay and Transgender Youth Most in Need Report
Baresco Escobar, 19, an aspiring entertainer who identifies himself as bisexual, visits a local fast food hangout in Manhattan's Union Square popular with youth from the gay and transgender community on  March 1, 2012, in New York. When he leaves in the late evening, Escobar goes to the far end of Brooklyn to sleep in an abandoned house with dozens of other homeless kids.  (AP/Bebeto Matthews)

Supporting Gay and Transgender Youth Most in Need

Melissa Dunn and Jeff Krehely give an overview of gay and transgender homelessness and how to address the problem in light of a White House conference on the topic today.

Melissa Dunn, Jeff Krehely

The Kids Are Not Alright Article
Principal Nkoli Onye at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, Rhode Island, stops a student in a hallway to ask him to remove his hat while in the building on the first day of classes on August 31, 2011. Research finds that schools where the student population is predominantly black are less likely to have LGBT affirming policies and programs such as Gay Straight Alliances. (AP/Stephan Savoia)

The Kids Are Not Alright

Black gay and transgender youth are especially vulnerable to bullying and harassment, writes Danielle Moodie-Mills. Congress needs to pass laws that are inclusive of the needs and safety of all students.

Danielle Moodie-Mills

More than a Bully Pulpit Article

More than a Bully Pulpit

Jeff Krehely examines a new report that details the consequences of bullying among gay and transgender youth that extends well into adulthood, and the legislation that could stop it.

Jeff Krehely

Combating LGBT Youth Homelessness Article
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) introduced Reconnecting Youth to Prevent  Homelessness Act—a bill designed to help homeless youth rejoin their  families and escape life on the streets. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Combating LGBT Youth Homelessness

New legislation from Sen. John Kerry calls for services and support for gay and transgender homeless youth and their families.

Noel Gordon, Jeff Krehely

There’s No Place Like Home Article

There’s No Place Like Home

CAP event examines the importance of family support for LGBT youth and their well-being.

Families Matter Report
 (iStockphoto)

Families Matter

New research highlights the importance of family in the lives and health of LGBT youth, write Shannon Minter and Jeff Krehely.

Shannon Minter, Jeff Krehely

Helping All of Our Homeless Report
A foster care resident watches television at the Gay & Lesbian Center in Los Angeles, which recently received a $13.3 million federal grant to help more homeless gay teens. Around 320,000 to 400,000 gay and transgender youth out of 1.6 to 2.0 million  total homeless youth experience homelessness at some point each year. (AP/Damian Dovarganes)

Helping All of Our Homeless

Jeff Krehely and Jerome Hunt on how the federal government can more explicitly tackle gay and transgender homelessness.

Jeff Krehely, Jerome Hunt

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Default Opt Ins

This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form

Variable Opt Ins

This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.