V. CONCLUSION

It is clear from the stories gathered at this conference, the anecdotal evidence, and from the research that although queer youth are similar in many ways to other youth, there are also significant differences. Queer youth must face this time of powerlessness, discrimination, confusion, change and harassment without the same sources of support that other youth, who may be also facing harassment, enjoy.

Queer youth must decide, in the face of a hostile and unsupportive world whether to come out and disclose their sexual/gender identity, deny their identity or remain in hiding. Any one of these decisions can lead to increased stress and increased susceptibility to stress-related ill health. Queer youth are subjected to fear-related attacks, and harassment. As a result of these attacks and lack of support, queer youth face many social and health related problems such as:

• High levels of stress and depression;
• Very low self esteem;
• Homelessness;
• Eating disorders;
• Substance abuse;
• Prostitution;
• Sexually related diseases like AIDS/HIV;
• High rates of childhood abuse;
• Current sexual, physical and verbal abuse;
• Assaults, including murder;
• Parental and religious rejection;
• School dropout;
• Lack of employment, and;
• High suicide rates.

Queer youth are at an increased risk for being harassed, threatened or injured at school, are more likely to have been physically or sexually abused at home and are much more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

LGBT/GLBT youth also face marginalization, not only from mainstream society, but also from the very communities in which they live. They are often unsupported and not hired by established gay businesses while at the same time face discrimination when they seek employment in traditional mainstream workplaces.

On a daily basis, queer youth face attitudes, which are oppressive, hurtful, and negative. The barriers caused by these fear and hate-related attitudes work to increase the marginalization of queer youth. LGBT/GLBT youth are further marginalized by their invisibility and lack of inclusion within school curriculum and in the media. They have few, if any, positive role models.

The time for action is now. These are some of our future leaders. If we do not take time to support them, some of the most vulnerable persons in our democratic, equality-based Canadian society, then the survival of our society is at stake.

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