The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Emma Levesque graduated from the University of Southern Maine in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. Kristen Gleason is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Southern Maine. This piece was part of a capstone project for the Psychology in the Public Interest class, which is taught by Gleason. These are their views and do not express those of the University of Maine System or the University of Southern Maine. Gleason is a member of the Maine chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network, which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications. Members’ columns appear in the BDN every other week.
As the summer comes to a close and school begins, more than 1,500 youth in Maine will be facing the school year without a home. A disproportionately large number of these youth identify as LGBTQ+. As community members it is our responsibility to support these young people by advocating for compassionate policies and safe service programs.
In this state, 40 percent of the unhoused youth population identifies as non-heterosexual, and 3.6 percent identifies as transgender. This is in striking contrast to the 15 percent of high school students overall who identify as non-heterosexual and 1.5 percent as transgender.
Many people believe that individuals end up unhoused solely because of their own actions, but this is not true. The overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ youth in unhoused populations shows that there is something greater at play.
There are many factors that contribute to housing struggles among LGBTQ+ youth, including mental health status, childhood trauma, lack of social and familial support, and criminalization. Additionally, places that are typically considered safe like schools and homes are often associated with trauma for many LGBTQ+ youth. These youth can experience intense levels of discrimination both before and after they become unhoused. Understandably, these experiences cause high levels of stress, which is yet another risk factor causing housing insecurity.
LGBTQ+ kids often aren’t even safe in places designed to help. For this population, shelters and welfare organizations that are intended to help youth can sometimes do more harm than good. For example, one bisexual Black teen shared the story of how another person staying at the shelter urinated in his shoes simply because he was spending time with another kid who was Black and transgender. In other examples, LGBTQ+ youths were wrongfully labeled as pedophiles, and others were told that they would go to hell because of their LGBTQ+ status. Situations like these are what cause LGBTQ+ kids to turn to the streets instead of living through discrimination in places that are supposed to help them.
The good news is that we do not have to leave these kids to fend for themselves. We can help by implementing transitional living programs tailored specifically to the needs of LGBTQ+ youth. Such programs can help teens transition into secure housing as they move into adulthood.
Our neighbors in Canada are already doing this with the YMCA Sprott House in Toronto. This program saw benefits like an increase in sense of safety and a decrease in feelings of discrimination and unemployment as well as higher self-esteem and life satisfaction.
Right now, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is circulating in many communities and manifests in political opposition to helping LGBTQ+ youth. Examples include censoring topics related to gender and sexuality in schools and banning gender affirming care. The removal of safe spaces and necessary care are significant risk factors for housing struggles among youth. Community members are not required to support these programs, but why would we want to leave any kid to struggle for themselves on the street?
A great way to help is through support of and donations to organizations in the state that support LGBTQ+ youth. Preble Street offers many different services for unhoused youth including providing a place for them to stay and resources to help them get back on their feet, with specific efforts to support unhoused LGBTQ+ youth.
Another way to help is through contacting representatives to urge them to strike down anti-LGBTQ+ policies and to provide funding to organizations like Preble Street and Shaw House that support unhoused youth. Community support is critical to enacting life changing help for these kids.
