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https://thinkprogress.org/family-acceptance-is-the-biggest-
factor-for-positive-lgbt-youth-outcomes-study-finds-
3da2ed7b346b
A new study from the Family Acceptance Project (FAP) finds that
though there are a number of sources of support for LGBT youth,
none has as big an impact as acceptance by families. Peer support,
community support, and being out and open all contributed to life
satisfaction, self-esteem, and sense of self-worth for young people,
but family support had a significantly stronger influence to overall
adjustment and well-being. The article, Social Support Networks
for LGBT Young Adults: Low Cost Strategies for Positive
Adjustment, appears in the July issue of the Family
Relations journal.
FAP director Caitlin Ryan, who was also a researcher on the study,
told ThinkProgress that research on the impact of families on
LGBT youth has long been lacking. Historically, peers and LGBT
community resources were seen as the only sources of support for
LGBT youth since the perception was widespread that families
would not only reject their LGBT children but were unable to learn
to support them, she explained. The impact of that perception
was several decades of not engaging families as a potential source
of support for their LGBT children with the end result of not
developing family-based services and not including families in
their adolescents care.
Other research from FAP has helped reverse that trend, but this
new study demonstrates not only that families are important to
LGBT youths well-being, but that they are likely one of the most
important factors. In this sample, the study reads, family
acceptance during the teenage years was the only form of support
that significantly predicted all measures of young adult
adjustment, and it remained a significant factor when other salient
forms of support from friends and the community were
considered. Family support, both generally and specifically in
reference to a childs identity, is a crucial factor in LGBT youths
health and well-being.
As the United States and other countries grapple with the issue of
same-sex marriage, a new Pew Research Center survey finds huge
variance by region on the broader question of whether
homosexuality should be accepted or rejected by society.
Mexicans and Chinese ages 18-29 are more likely than those in
each of the other two age groups to offer positive views of
homosexuality, but there is no significant difference between the
views of 30-49 year-olds and those 50 or older. And in Russia, El
Salvador and Venezuela, those younger than 30 are more tolerant
of homosexuality than are those ages 50 and older, while the
views of those ages 30-49 do not vary considerably from those in
the youngest and oldest groups.
Survey Methods
The survey also found that 39% of LGBT adults say same-
sex marriage has drawn too much attention from other
issues that are important to the LGBT community.
http://www.utne.com/politics/american-lgbt-tolerance-
ze0z1707zols
The Tolerance Trap (New York University Press,
2016), by Suzanna Danuta Walters, explains we
have settled for a watered-down goal of tolerance
and acceptance rather than a robust claim to full
civil rights. Walters shows how the low bar of
tolerance demeans rather than promotes both gays
and straights alike. The following excerpt is from
the introduction, That is So Gay!