Together, we can be the allies LGBTQ+ kids need
Governor Andy Beshear has asked all of us to stay in our homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. However, during this time of social isolation, the work to protect LGBTQ+ youth goes on. There are still young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, gender-queer, gender non-conforming, two-spirit, and nonbinary who are experiencing homelessness. Some are estranged from their families. Some are still risking exposure to the coronavirus, and while they are not generally considered in the high-risk groups, we don't yet know all the ways the virus may manifest itself in young people.
Here are some recent examples of the work we are doing to protect LGBTQ+ kids:
You can be an ally too. Your gift of $25, $50, $100 or more will help KYLP fulfill our pledge to fight for LGBTQ+ youth throughout Kentucky. Please consider becoming a KYLP Sustainer by making your gift recurring weekly, monthly, or semiannually.
Remember what Gov. Andy says: We will get through this; we will get through this TOGETHER!
Thank you for your generous support of the Kentucky Youth Law Project!
Sincerely,
Keith D. Elston
KYLP Founder and Legal Director
Governor Andy Beshear has asked all of us to stay in our homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. However, during this time of social isolation, the work to protect LGBTQ+ youth goes on. There are still young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, gender-queer, gender non-conforming, two-spirit, and nonbinary who are experiencing homelessness. Some are estranged from their families. Some are still risking exposure to the coronavirus, and while they are not generally considered in the high-risk groups, we don't yet know all the ways the virus may manifest itself in young people.
Here are some recent examples of the work we are doing to protect LGBTQ+ kids:
- The COVID-19 crisis has overwhelmed the child welfare system and many young people who have experienced foster care are losing employment and housing, we know that 1 in 5 children and youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ+. So KYLP is stepping up our efforts to educate Kentucky child welfare workers about the unique needs of these kids and the importance of getting the best placements for them.
- We are representing nearly a dozen youths who are currently in Kentucky's foster care system. One of them, a sweet and funny 13-year-old African American kid, came into the system last year when his mother died of cancer. By age 9, he was caring for his five younger siblings, acting as a surrogate parent to them, and acting as a home health aide for his mother, who was too ill to parent any of them. When he and his siblings were placed in foster care after their mother's death, he was just beginning to come out as a gay kid. This made it much harder to find a placement for him. Thankfully, we were able to find a same-sex couple in Central Kentucky who opened their home and their hearts to him. Now, he is moving rapidly toward adoption and because he lives in Central Kentucky with his soon-to-be adoptive family, he is able to stay in touch with his younger siblings and have a forever family that understands him, will fight for him, and will give him a loving and safe home.
- In 2020, KYLP launched a new Facebook page, @KYLPyouth, specifically for LGBTQ+ youth under age 25 and the rapid increase in membership to that page has been astounding. Just in the past two weeks we have welcomed 140+ new members and reached nearly 5,000 Kentucky youth from all over the state. All of them are under age 25 and are seeking information and support regarding their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Additionally, we have launched a private discussion group where young people can ask questions about their legal rights and share their concerns and fears.
- For more than a year, KYLP and our partners in Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky have been at the forefront of the fight to enact legislation that will prevent licensed mental health professionals from using harmful and universally denounced practices known as "conversion therapy." In the 2020 Kentucky General Assembly, a bill that we drafted was introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate. We are proud that there was a true bipartisan effort to get this legislation passed.
- Over the past few months, I have answered a number of questions from KYLP Youth members, mostly wanting to know what their legal rights were related to hate crimes, conversion therapy, and discrimination in their schools and communities. They are thirsty for knowledge about their civil and legal rights, and this affirms our belief that LGBTQ+ youth recognize that they are treated differently and have some pretty big obstacles in their path. They need to know they have an ally who will fight for them.
You can be an ally too. Your gift of $25, $50, $100 or more will help KYLP fulfill our pledge to fight for LGBTQ+ youth throughout Kentucky. Please consider becoming a KYLP Sustainer by making your gift recurring weekly, monthly, or semiannually.
Remember what Gov. Andy says: We will get through this; we will get through this TOGETHER!
Thank you for your generous support of the Kentucky Youth Law Project!
Sincerely,
Keith D. Elston
KYLP Founder and Legal Director
KYLP ARCHIVES
2021
KYLP to Partner With UK School of Nursing
to Provide Health Care Advocacy to
KYLP Clients in Juvenile and Family Courts
LEXINGTON -- The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. is partnering with the University of Kentucky School of Nursing to address and support the medical needs of LGBTQ+ children and youth who are in foster or residential treatment placements and whose cases are before the Dependency, Neglect and Abuse (DNA) Courts, which are part of the county Juvenile and Family Court system, during the 2021 Spring Semester.
Legal Director Keith Elston made the announcement today in Lexington in an email to Family Court Judges, court personnel, and Guardians ad Litem. "We are so excited to begin this important collaboration with the UK School of Nursing," Elston said. "Too often, LGBTQ+ children and youth in out of home care are taken to primary care providers who are not familiar with their unique medical concerns. This program will provide a new layer of advocacy for our clients, inform the courts about the health needs of those clients who are before the courts, and assist our clients in finding competent and experienced health care providers to meet their needs.
KYLP has been assigned two Nursing Interns who will, primarily through telehealth, meet with our clients, discuss and assess their immediate and long-term health needs, provide written recommendations to be submitted to the Court, and assist our clients in finding health care providers who are sensitive and have experience treating LGBTQ+ youth, and help them establish a doctor/patient relationship with that provider.
Currently, finding experienced health care providers can be a daunting challenge, especially for LGBTQ+ youth in more rural areas of the state of Kentucky. "We are looking forward to adding value to our representation of our DNA clients, Elston said.
KYLP, NCLR File Complaint Against Kentucky Therapist for
Subjecting Minor to So-Called Conversion Therapy;
Seeks Revocation of Therapist's Social Work License
May 13, 2021
LEXINGTON -- This week, in what appears to be the first attempt to have a Licensed Clinical Social Worker disciplined for engaging in the discredited and dangerous practice of so-called "Conversion Therapy," the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. (KYLP), and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), on behalf of our client, C.G., filed a complaint against Joseph A. Williams, LCSW, of Mayfield, Kentucky, doing business as Williams Christian Counseling. The complaint, filed with the Kentucky Board of Social Work (KBSW), alleges that Williams subjected C.G. to unethical and discredited conversion therapy when C.G. was a minor, and falsely informed his parents that being gay was pathological and could be changed through counseling services, which Williams offered and subsequently provided.
KYLP believes that Williams continues to subject his patients to this harmful practice or will in the future if requested to do so. By engaging in this practice, KYLP asserts, Williams violates various professional and ethical rules and should be subject to discipline by the Kentucky Board of Social Work.
The notion that being gay or lesbian is a mental illness or disorder that may be treated or cured through attempts to change the patient's sexual orientation is a notion that has been soundly rejected by the medical and mental health community because it is scientifically unsupported and can lead to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Medical science now uniformly agrees that same-sex sexual orientation is part of the normal spectrum of human diversity, and in no way constitutes a mental defect or pathology. In their landmark marriage equality ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that "psychiatrists and others [have] recognized that sexual orientation is both a normal expression of human sexuality and immutable."
The complaint asks the KBSW to investigate Mr. Williams for subjecting his patients to conversion therapy and impose appropriate sanctions related to his licensure to prevent Williams from subjecting other patients to the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy now and in the future.
KYLP believes that Williams continues to subject his patients to this harmful practice or will in the future if requested to do so. By engaging in this practice, KYLP asserts, Williams violates various professional and ethical rules and should be subject to discipline by the Kentucky Board of Social Work.
The notion that being gay or lesbian is a mental illness or disorder that may be treated or cured through attempts to change the patient's sexual orientation is a notion that has been soundly rejected by the medical and mental health community because it is scientifically unsupported and can lead to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Medical science now uniformly agrees that same-sex sexual orientation is part of the normal spectrum of human diversity, and in no way constitutes a mental defect or pathology. In their landmark marriage equality ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that "psychiatrists and others [have] recognized that sexual orientation is both a normal expression of human sexuality and immutable."
The complaint asks the KBSW to investigate Mr. Williams for subjecting his patients to conversion therapy and impose appropriate sanctions related to his licensure to prevent Williams from subjecting other patients to the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy now and in the future.
2019
ANTI-TRANS "BATHROOM BILL" PRE-FILED FOR KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2020
KYLP Opposes this bill
December 1, 2019
Representative. David Hale (R-Menifee, Montgomery, & Powell Counties) pre-filed B.R. 1020, the Kentucky Student Privacy Act, which would require students to use the school restrooms and locker rooms of the gender they were assigned at birth, rather than the facilities consistent with their gender identity, and provides for a private cause of action against any school district that fails to prevent transgender students from using the facilities associated with their gender identity.
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. OPPOSES this harmful legislation for the following reasons:
a. This anti-transgender "bathroom bill" would effectively deny transgender students the use of public school bathrooms, locker rooms, or changing rooms that match their gender identity;
b. This bill denies equal protection of the law under federal and state constitutions;
c. Title IX of the Civil Rights Act rejects the argument promoted by the bill's sponsor that anti-transgender "bathroom bills" prevent sexual violence. Further, the federal law requires public schools to treat all students equally with regard to their sex or gender. Arguments of this kind are not based in reality;
d. A recent study found that since 2003, there have only been 20 instances of alleged bathroom sex crimes involving either a transgender person, a cisgender man intentionally taking advantage of a law protecting transgender bathroom access, or cisgender men disguising themselves as women to gain access to women's bathrooms;
e. By comparison, the same study found 154 cases in the U.S. since 2004 of cisgender men who allegedly committed bathroom sex crimes and did not attempt to disguise themselves as women or claim to be protected by laws expanding transgender bathroom access;
f. The real danger of assault is faced by transgender students who, every single day, have to weigh whether to use the bathroom in their school and potentially be attacked, either verbally or physically, by other students, or avoid using public facilities, which leads to a number of health risks to the transgender student, including a higher rate of urinary tract infections, heightened anxiety and depression, and suicidality; and
g. Arguments that this bill is about protecting students' right to privacy is another smokescreen argument, which is promoted by lawmakers who take advantage of people's insecurity surrounding bathroom usage and their fear of others who are different to propagate myths about the power of these anti-transgender laws to stop attacks in bathrooms and to protect student privacy.
Anti-transgender legislation focuses on bathroom use because the proponents of this legislation have found that in other states, like North Carolina, they could use these bills as a means of discrediting and preventing the passage of legitimate anti-discrimination laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people without adversely affecting the rights and privileges of non-LGBTQ+ people.
If Rep. Hale and the Kentucky legislature is concerned about student privacy, a better solution would be for the legislature to provide funding to schools so that they can modify their facilities to create more privacy for all students, such as by installing locking doors on toilet stalls, building floor-to-ceiling dividers between stalls, and creating more single-use restrooms, rather than communal restrooms.
And providing a private cause of action will only create a stronger financial incentive for schools to discriminate against transgender students and faculty and drain our schools of funding that could better be used to pay for new textbooks, school supplies, and educational resources. That pits transgender students against their fellow students and their community, and singles them out for bad treatment.
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. vows to fight B.R. 1020 and educate legislators about better ways that they can protect every Kentucky student without creating pariahs out of a small group of students who just want to be able to go pee in peace.
KYLP Opposes this bill
December 1, 2019
Representative. David Hale (R-Menifee, Montgomery, & Powell Counties) pre-filed B.R. 1020, the Kentucky Student Privacy Act, which would require students to use the school restrooms and locker rooms of the gender they were assigned at birth, rather than the facilities consistent with their gender identity, and provides for a private cause of action against any school district that fails to prevent transgender students from using the facilities associated with their gender identity.
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. OPPOSES this harmful legislation for the following reasons:
a. This anti-transgender "bathroom bill" would effectively deny transgender students the use of public school bathrooms, locker rooms, or changing rooms that match their gender identity;
b. This bill denies equal protection of the law under federal and state constitutions;
c. Title IX of the Civil Rights Act rejects the argument promoted by the bill's sponsor that anti-transgender "bathroom bills" prevent sexual violence. Further, the federal law requires public schools to treat all students equally with regard to their sex or gender. Arguments of this kind are not based in reality;
d. A recent study found that since 2003, there have only been 20 instances of alleged bathroom sex crimes involving either a transgender person, a cisgender man intentionally taking advantage of a law protecting transgender bathroom access, or cisgender men disguising themselves as women to gain access to women's bathrooms;
e. By comparison, the same study found 154 cases in the U.S. since 2004 of cisgender men who allegedly committed bathroom sex crimes and did not attempt to disguise themselves as women or claim to be protected by laws expanding transgender bathroom access;
f. The real danger of assault is faced by transgender students who, every single day, have to weigh whether to use the bathroom in their school and potentially be attacked, either verbally or physically, by other students, or avoid using public facilities, which leads to a number of health risks to the transgender student, including a higher rate of urinary tract infections, heightened anxiety and depression, and suicidality; and
g. Arguments that this bill is about protecting students' right to privacy is another smokescreen argument, which is promoted by lawmakers who take advantage of people's insecurity surrounding bathroom usage and their fear of others who are different to propagate myths about the power of these anti-transgender laws to stop attacks in bathrooms and to protect student privacy.
Anti-transgender legislation focuses on bathroom use because the proponents of this legislation have found that in other states, like North Carolina, they could use these bills as a means of discrediting and preventing the passage of legitimate anti-discrimination laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people without adversely affecting the rights and privileges of non-LGBTQ+ people.
If Rep. Hale and the Kentucky legislature is concerned about student privacy, a better solution would be for the legislature to provide funding to schools so that they can modify their facilities to create more privacy for all students, such as by installing locking doors on toilet stalls, building floor-to-ceiling dividers between stalls, and creating more single-use restrooms, rather than communal restrooms.
And providing a private cause of action will only create a stronger financial incentive for schools to discriminate against transgender students and faculty and drain our schools of funding that could better be used to pay for new textbooks, school supplies, and educational resources. That pits transgender students against their fellow students and their community, and singles them out for bad treatment.
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. vows to fight B.R. 1020 and educate legislators about better ways that they can protect every Kentucky student without creating pariahs out of a small group of students who just want to be able to go pee in peace.
BAN CONVERSION THERAPY KENTUCKY
TO BECOME SPONSORED PROJECT OF
KENTUCKY YOUTH LAW PROJECT, INC.
June 3, 2019 -- The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. has agreed to become the fiscal sponsor of Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky as of June 1, 2019. A fiscal sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which a 501(c)(3) public charity, like KYLP, sponsors a project that may lack exempt status. This arrangement will allow BCTK to take advantage of KYLP’s tax exempt status to seek grants and raise funds for its work in seeking to prevent licensed mental health providers from using the abusive practice of sexual orientation change efforts, or “SOCE,” known more commonly as “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy.” Under a Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement signed by KYLP Legal Director, Keith D. Elston, and BCTK Executive Director, Tanner Mobley, BCTK will become a project of the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. in order for KYLP to administer donor gifts, grant awards, and oversee the activities of BCTK to ensure compliance with federal and state laws regarding political activities by a charitable organization.
“This joint agreement between our two organizations unites us in an important aspect of the work of the Kentucky Youth Law Project,” KYLP Legal Director, Keith D. Elston said. KYLP was one of the original signatories on the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ Born Perfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy by passing laws across the country to protect LGBT children and young people, fighting in courtrooms to ensure their safety, and raising awareness about the serious harms caused by these dangerous practices.
“Having KYLP as our fiscal sponsor is a crucial step in raising awareness on the dangers of so-called ‘conversion therapy’,” said BCTK Executive Director Tanner A. Mobley, “and will make it possible for us to ban these dangerous and discredited practices once and for all.” BCTK works closely with the Trevor Project’s “50 Bills, 50 States” Campaign to protect LGBTQ youth from these discredited and abusive practices across the United States.
The mission of the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. is to enhance and protect the legal rights and entitlements of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, gender fluid, and gender non-conforming youth through no-fee legal representation, education, and public policy advocacy. Because up to 40% of all youth who experience homelessness self-identify as LGBTQI+, the organization’s goal is to reduce homelessness and promote equal treatment for LGBTQI+ youth in social welfare agencies, government services, the courts, and public schools throughout Kentucky.
Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky is a loose affiliation of individuals and organizations who desire to advocate for public policy and legislation that forbids the use of so-called “conversion therapy” practices to youth under age 18.
TO BECOME SPONSORED PROJECT OF
KENTUCKY YOUTH LAW PROJECT, INC.
June 3, 2019 -- The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. has agreed to become the fiscal sponsor of Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky as of June 1, 2019. A fiscal sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which a 501(c)(3) public charity, like KYLP, sponsors a project that may lack exempt status. This arrangement will allow BCTK to take advantage of KYLP’s tax exempt status to seek grants and raise funds for its work in seeking to prevent licensed mental health providers from using the abusive practice of sexual orientation change efforts, or “SOCE,” known more commonly as “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy.” Under a Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement signed by KYLP Legal Director, Keith D. Elston, and BCTK Executive Director, Tanner Mobley, BCTK will become a project of the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. in order for KYLP to administer donor gifts, grant awards, and oversee the activities of BCTK to ensure compliance with federal and state laws regarding political activities by a charitable organization.
“This joint agreement between our two organizations unites us in an important aspect of the work of the Kentucky Youth Law Project,” KYLP Legal Director, Keith D. Elston said. KYLP was one of the original signatories on the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ Born Perfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy by passing laws across the country to protect LGBT children and young people, fighting in courtrooms to ensure their safety, and raising awareness about the serious harms caused by these dangerous practices.
“Having KYLP as our fiscal sponsor is a crucial step in raising awareness on the dangers of so-called ‘conversion therapy’,” said BCTK Executive Director Tanner A. Mobley, “and will make it possible for us to ban these dangerous and discredited practices once and for all.” BCTK works closely with the Trevor Project’s “50 Bills, 50 States” Campaign to protect LGBTQ youth from these discredited and abusive practices across the United States.
The mission of the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. is to enhance and protect the legal rights and entitlements of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, gender fluid, and gender non-conforming youth through no-fee legal representation, education, and public policy advocacy. Because up to 40% of all youth who experience homelessness self-identify as LGBTQI+, the organization’s goal is to reduce homelessness and promote equal treatment for LGBTQI+ youth in social welfare agencies, government services, the courts, and public schools throughout Kentucky.
Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky is a loose affiliation of individuals and organizations who desire to advocate for public policy and legislation that forbids the use of so-called “conversion therapy” practices to youth under age 18.
Azkabash, hosted by Potterheads with a Purpose,
to benefit Kentucky Youth Law Project
December 1, 2019
Calling all witches & wizards to an unforgettable night of magic and mystery - AZKABASH! Be enchanted as you sit front row at our Harry Potter Drag Show full of sorcery and sass. Experience common rooms for every Hogwarts house, tarot card readings, hand-crafted cocktails and more. Costumes encouraged!
Our one-of-a-kind evening of spells and spirits will also raise money for a great cause - the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc., advocating for LGBTQI+ young people and supporting them with no-fee legal assistance. Bring the most magical version of yourself and prepare to party with 300 Potterheads who value excitement, mystery, diversity, fun, and standing up for a better world.
Hosted by Odeon Louisville at 1335 Story Ave. General Admission for $30. VIP, including a wand pairing ceremony with complimentary hand-crafted wand and 1 drink ticket, for $50.
to benefit Kentucky Youth Law Project
December 1, 2019
Calling all witches & wizards to an unforgettable night of magic and mystery - AZKABASH! Be enchanted as you sit front row at our Harry Potter Drag Show full of sorcery and sass. Experience common rooms for every Hogwarts house, tarot card readings, hand-crafted cocktails and more. Costumes encouraged!
Our one-of-a-kind evening of spells and spirits will also raise money for a great cause - the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc., advocating for LGBTQI+ young people and supporting them with no-fee legal assistance. Bring the most magical version of yourself and prepare to party with 300 Potterheads who value excitement, mystery, diversity, fun, and standing up for a better world.
Hosted by Odeon Louisville at 1335 Story Ave. General Admission for $30. VIP, including a wand pairing ceremony with complimentary hand-crafted wand and 1 drink ticket, for $50.
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WHAT'S NEW?
We are happy to announce that we will, from time to time, be publishing articles on Mental Health topics related to LGBTQI+ Youth on our new MENTAL HEALTH page. Our first contributor is Molly Anderson from recoveryhope.org. Please take a moment or two to check out our MENTAL HEALTH page!
We are happy to announce that we will, from time to time, be publishing articles on Mental Health topics related to LGBTQI+ Youth on our new MENTAL HEALTH page. Our first contributor is Molly Anderson from recoveryhope.org. Please take a moment or two to check out our MENTAL HEALTH page!
2018
BREAKING NEWS:
KYLP JOINS TREVOR PROJECT
IN CALLING ON KENTUCKY
LAWMAKERS TO
PROTECT LGBTQ YOUTH
FROM DANGEROUS
"CONVERSION THERAPY"
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. announced today that it has joined with the Trevor Project in a new effort to protect LGBTQ youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called "conversion therapy," and supporting the passage of House Bill 258 in the Kentucky General Assembly.
Conversion therapists falsely claim to be able to change LGBTQ youth into straight and cisgender youth. Prominent professional health associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among numerous others, oppose the use of conversion therapy on youth, call the practice harmful and ineffective. If successful, Kentucky would be the 10th state to pass legislation limiting the practice though another 40 states still allow this terrible crisis to continue.
House Bill 258, if enacted, would prohibit practitioners from engaging in conversion therapy with anyone under age 18; require violations to be subject to board discipline and false claims laws; and prohibit public funds from being used for conversion therapy. Because the practice of conversion therapy is an on-going threat to the health and welfare of LGBTQ youth, the bill seeks to be declared an emergency.
"Conversion therapy" is defined, for purposes of this bill, as any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender. The term does not include counseling that provides assistance to a person undergoing gender transition, or counseling that provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a person or facilitates a person's coping, social support, and identity exploration and development, including sexual-orientation-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, as long as such counseling does not seek to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.
The bill would apply to physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychological practitioners, psychologists with autonomous functioning, or psychological associates, social workers, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, marriage and family therapist associates, professional counselors, professional clinical counselors, professional counselor associates, and pastoral counselors licensed or certified to practice under Kentucky law.
"The bill's sponsors, Rep. Jim Wayne, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, Rep. Kelly Flood, Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, and Rep. Attica Scott are to be applauded for championing this bill," said Keith D. Elston, legal director for the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. "We strongly encourage our supporters to contact House Leaders and their own Representatives to urge passage of HB 258," Elston added. The legislature switchboard can be reached at 1-800-372-7181.
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc., based in Lexington, is Kentucky's only legal services organization dedicated to protecting the legal rights and entitlements of LGBTQ youth through direct legal assistance, education, and public policy advocacy.
The Trevor Project is the leading and only accredited national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people under the age of 25.
Media Contact:
Keith D. Elston, Legal Director, (859) 225-2348
KYLP JOINS TREVOR PROJECT
IN CALLING ON KENTUCKY
LAWMAKERS TO
PROTECT LGBTQ YOUTH
FROM DANGEROUS
"CONVERSION THERAPY"
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. announced today that it has joined with the Trevor Project in a new effort to protect LGBTQ youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called "conversion therapy," and supporting the passage of House Bill 258 in the Kentucky General Assembly.
Conversion therapists falsely claim to be able to change LGBTQ youth into straight and cisgender youth. Prominent professional health associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among numerous others, oppose the use of conversion therapy on youth, call the practice harmful and ineffective. If successful, Kentucky would be the 10th state to pass legislation limiting the practice though another 40 states still allow this terrible crisis to continue.
House Bill 258, if enacted, would prohibit practitioners from engaging in conversion therapy with anyone under age 18; require violations to be subject to board discipline and false claims laws; and prohibit public funds from being used for conversion therapy. Because the practice of conversion therapy is an on-going threat to the health and welfare of LGBTQ youth, the bill seeks to be declared an emergency.
"Conversion therapy" is defined, for purposes of this bill, as any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender. The term does not include counseling that provides assistance to a person undergoing gender transition, or counseling that provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a person or facilitates a person's coping, social support, and identity exploration and development, including sexual-orientation-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, as long as such counseling does not seek to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.
The bill would apply to physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychological practitioners, psychologists with autonomous functioning, or psychological associates, social workers, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, marriage and family therapist associates, professional counselors, professional clinical counselors, professional counselor associates, and pastoral counselors licensed or certified to practice under Kentucky law.
"The bill's sponsors, Rep. Jim Wayne, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, Rep. Kelly Flood, Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, and Rep. Attica Scott are to be applauded for championing this bill," said Keith D. Elston, legal director for the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc. "We strongly encourage our supporters to contact House Leaders and their own Representatives to urge passage of HB 258," Elston added. The legislature switchboard can be reached at 1-800-372-7181.
The Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc., based in Lexington, is Kentucky's only legal services organization dedicated to protecting the legal rights and entitlements of LGBTQ youth through direct legal assistance, education, and public policy advocacy.
The Trevor Project is the leading and only accredited national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people under the age of 25.
Media Contact:
Keith D. Elston, Legal Director, (859) 225-2348
A SHOUT OUT TO OUR RUSSIAN FRIENDS
In the past month, this website has received 48 views from Russia, all from the city of Moscow. In the spirit of international brotherhood, we want to say to our Russian friends,
Добро пожаловать в наши друзья из Москвы! Мы надеемся, что вы найдете что-то полезное здесь. Мы находимся в знак солидарности с лесбиянок, гомосексуалистов, бисексуалов и транссексуалов и допроса молодежи России!
(Translated, that means: "Welcome to our friends from Moscow! We hope you find something helpful here. We stand in solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth of Russia!") (1/18/2015)
In the past month, this website has received 48 views from Russia, all from the city of Moscow. In the spirit of international brotherhood, we want to say to our Russian friends,
Добро пожаловать в наши друзья из Москвы! Мы надеемся, что вы найдете что-то полезное здесь. Мы находимся в знак солидарности с лесбиянок, гомосексуалистов, бисексуалов и транссексуалов и допроса молодежи России!
(Translated, that means: "Welcome to our friends from Moscow! We hope you find something helpful here. We stand in solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth of Russia!") (1/18/2015)
2015
February 27, 2015
Kentucky Senate votes 27-9 to send Trans-discriminatory bill to House
FRANKFORT -- The Republican-controlled Kentucky Senate voted today in favor of Senate Bill 76, the so-called "Bathroom Bully Bill," by a vote of 27 - 9. The bill, supported by Senator C. B. Embry, and pushed by the Kentucky Family Foundation, proposes to restrict the use of school restrooms and other facilities in which students may be in a state of undress to the gender they were assigned at birth. "This bill completely disregards a person's gender identity, which is a better indicator of a person's gender than their genitalia," said Keith D. Elston, Legal Director of the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc., a nonprofit legal services organization advocating on behalf of LGBTQ youth in Kentucky. "It clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the federal Equal Protection Clause and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and therefore, if it were to become law in Kentucky, it would require school districts to discriminate against transgender and gender non-conforming students on the basis of sex."
Elston said he remains hopeful that the bill will be stopped in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, but it is certainly possible, if it does become law, that his organization will file suit to have the law declared invalid. "Surely the school districts have better ways of spending their funds than to have to use those funds to pay potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and attorney fees," said Elston.
On February 19, the Kentucky Senate Education Committee scheduled a hearing on SB 76 in the middle of a statewide snow emergency. Both supporters and opponents of the bill turned out, despite the weather, to testify. When a vote was called, however, the bill failed to get the required seven votes, and thus it died in committee. Then, on February 20, Committee Chairman Mike Wilson announced that he was calling a special meeting of the committee for Monday afternoon, February 23. No notice was given concerning what bills were to be considered, and even as late as late afternoon on the 23rd, the Legislative Research Commission's Bill Watch site did not list any agenda for the called meeting. And yet that evening, Wilson called the committee into session to reconsider SB 76, and only allowed two supporters of the bill to speak to the committee. Shortly after those supporters addressed the committee, the committee voted again, 9 - 1 (with two previous opponents of the bill absent) to favorably report the bill out of committee for consideration by the full Senate.
"This was a shameful abuse of the democratic process," said Elston. But he called on KYLP supporters to contact the senators who voted "No" today, to thank them for their vote and their support. Those senators were: Jared Carpenter, Julian Carroll, Perry Clark, Denise Harper-Angel, Morgan McGarvey, Gerald Neal, Julie Raque Adams, John Schickel, and Reginald Thomas. The switchboard number is 1-800-372-7181.
The bill goes to the Kentucky House of Representatives now.
###
Kentucky Lawmaker Wants To Pay Students $2,500 If They See A Transgender Person In The ‘Wrong’ Bathroom
BY ZACK FORD POSTED ON JANUARY 15, 2015 AT 9:14 AM UPDATED: JANUARY 15, 2015 AT 10:34 AM
CREDIT: ThinkProgress.org.
Last year, Atherton High School in Louisville approved a policy ensuring that transgender students can access all spaces and activities in accordance with their gender identity, but now a Kentucky state senator wants to ban all transgender students from safely using the bathroom.
Sen. C.B. Embry Jr. (R) has introduced what he calls the Kentucky Student Privacy Act (SB 76), which would force all students to be identified by their “biological sex” as determined by their chromosomes and what was assigned to them according to their anatomy at birth, essentially erasing transgender students. The bill requires that bathrooms and locker rooms must be divided according to “biological sex,” and schools are forbidden from accommodating transgender students by allowing them access to any facility “designated for use by students of the opposite biological sex while students of the opposite biological sex are present or could be present.”
Instead, transgender students requiring accommodation must settle for “access to single-stall restrooms, access to unisex bathrooms, or controlled use of faculty bathrooms, locker rooms, or shower rooms.” This means that if the only such facility is in the nurse’s office, for example, a student would be required to schlep as far as that office is to use the restroom — or not go at all.
Moreover, Embry wants to actually punish schools (like Atherton) that respect trans students’ identities. The bill provides that any student who encounters “a person of the opposite biological sex” in a bathroom or locker room shall have a legal cause of action if it’s because the school gave the trans student permission or didn’t explicitly prohibit the trans student from using that facility. The “aggrieved” student would be entitled to $2,500 from the offending school “for each instance” he or she encountered a trans student in a sex-divided facility in addition to monetary damages “for all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered” and attorney fees.
Embry claims in the bill that allowing trans students to use the bathrooms they identify with “will create a significant potential for disruption of school activities and unsafe conditions” and “will create potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury to students.” He also identified the legislation as an “emergency” bill because “situations currently exist in which the privacy rights of students are violated.”
There is no evidence that respecting trans identities will create unsafe environments in schools. So far, California’s statewide law protecting trans students has generated no such problems. This is no surprise, as many of the state’s schools already had such protections in place for many years without incident. That hasn’t stopped conservatives from trying to place transphobic parents in the spotlight, who claim that their daughters are unsafe simply because they saw a trans student in the bathroom — fully clothed.
Other states like Utah have proposed similar anti-transgender bills, but so far they have not advanced.
Despite Embry’s urgent concern for cisgender students who might happen to see a transgender student in the bathroom, he isn’t worried at all about what challenges LGBT students might be facing. In 2013, then-Rep. Embry opposed a comprehensive anti-bullying bill that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s protected classes. He claimed that the state already had sufficient laws against bullying. “We have a death penalty against rape and murder but they still happen,” he said at the time.
Some parents tried to challenge Atherton’s policy, but the Jefferson County Public School appeals board stood by it. Atherton Principal Thomas Aberli said that after several months, there were no problems with the policy. “Our decisions were founded on facts and on the proper way to treat people,” he explained.
Kentucky Senate votes 27-9 to send Trans-discriminatory bill to House
FRANKFORT -- The Republican-controlled Kentucky Senate voted today in favor of Senate Bill 76, the so-called "Bathroom Bully Bill," by a vote of 27 - 9. The bill, supported by Senator C. B. Embry, and pushed by the Kentucky Family Foundation, proposes to restrict the use of school restrooms and other facilities in which students may be in a state of undress to the gender they were assigned at birth. "This bill completely disregards a person's gender identity, which is a better indicator of a person's gender than their genitalia," said Keith D. Elston, Legal Director of the Kentucky Youth Law Project, Inc., a nonprofit legal services organization advocating on behalf of LGBTQ youth in Kentucky. "It clearly violates both the letter and the spirit of the federal Equal Protection Clause and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and therefore, if it were to become law in Kentucky, it would require school districts to discriminate against transgender and gender non-conforming students on the basis of sex."
Elston said he remains hopeful that the bill will be stopped in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, but it is certainly possible, if it does become law, that his organization will file suit to have the law declared invalid. "Surely the school districts have better ways of spending their funds than to have to use those funds to pay potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and attorney fees," said Elston.
On February 19, the Kentucky Senate Education Committee scheduled a hearing on SB 76 in the middle of a statewide snow emergency. Both supporters and opponents of the bill turned out, despite the weather, to testify. When a vote was called, however, the bill failed to get the required seven votes, and thus it died in committee. Then, on February 20, Committee Chairman Mike Wilson announced that he was calling a special meeting of the committee for Monday afternoon, February 23. No notice was given concerning what bills were to be considered, and even as late as late afternoon on the 23rd, the Legislative Research Commission's Bill Watch site did not list any agenda for the called meeting. And yet that evening, Wilson called the committee into session to reconsider SB 76, and only allowed two supporters of the bill to speak to the committee. Shortly after those supporters addressed the committee, the committee voted again, 9 - 1 (with two previous opponents of the bill absent) to favorably report the bill out of committee for consideration by the full Senate.
"This was a shameful abuse of the democratic process," said Elston. But he called on KYLP supporters to contact the senators who voted "No" today, to thank them for their vote and their support. Those senators were: Jared Carpenter, Julian Carroll, Perry Clark, Denise Harper-Angel, Morgan McGarvey, Gerald Neal, Julie Raque Adams, John Schickel, and Reginald Thomas. The switchboard number is 1-800-372-7181.
The bill goes to the Kentucky House of Representatives now.
###
Kentucky Lawmaker Wants To Pay Students $2,500 If They See A Transgender Person In The ‘Wrong’ Bathroom
BY ZACK FORD POSTED ON JANUARY 15, 2015 AT 9:14 AM UPDATED: JANUARY 15, 2015 AT 10:34 AM
CREDIT: ThinkProgress.org.
Last year, Atherton High School in Louisville approved a policy ensuring that transgender students can access all spaces and activities in accordance with their gender identity, but now a Kentucky state senator wants to ban all transgender students from safely using the bathroom.
Sen. C.B. Embry Jr. (R) has introduced what he calls the Kentucky Student Privacy Act (SB 76), which would force all students to be identified by their “biological sex” as determined by their chromosomes and what was assigned to them according to their anatomy at birth, essentially erasing transgender students. The bill requires that bathrooms and locker rooms must be divided according to “biological sex,” and schools are forbidden from accommodating transgender students by allowing them access to any facility “designated for use by students of the opposite biological sex while students of the opposite biological sex are present or could be present.”
Instead, transgender students requiring accommodation must settle for “access to single-stall restrooms, access to unisex bathrooms, or controlled use of faculty bathrooms, locker rooms, or shower rooms.” This means that if the only such facility is in the nurse’s office, for example, a student would be required to schlep as far as that office is to use the restroom — or not go at all.
Moreover, Embry wants to actually punish schools (like Atherton) that respect trans students’ identities. The bill provides that any student who encounters “a person of the opposite biological sex” in a bathroom or locker room shall have a legal cause of action if it’s because the school gave the trans student permission or didn’t explicitly prohibit the trans student from using that facility. The “aggrieved” student would be entitled to $2,500 from the offending school “for each instance” he or she encountered a trans student in a sex-divided facility in addition to monetary damages “for all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered” and attorney fees.
Embry claims in the bill that allowing trans students to use the bathrooms they identify with “will create a significant potential for disruption of school activities and unsafe conditions” and “will create potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury to students.” He also identified the legislation as an “emergency” bill because “situations currently exist in which the privacy rights of students are violated.”
There is no evidence that respecting trans identities will create unsafe environments in schools. So far, California’s statewide law protecting trans students has generated no such problems. This is no surprise, as many of the state’s schools already had such protections in place for many years without incident. That hasn’t stopped conservatives from trying to place transphobic parents in the spotlight, who claim that their daughters are unsafe simply because they saw a trans student in the bathroom — fully clothed.
Other states like Utah have proposed similar anti-transgender bills, but so far they have not advanced.
Despite Embry’s urgent concern for cisgender students who might happen to see a transgender student in the bathroom, he isn’t worried at all about what challenges LGBT students might be facing. In 2013, then-Rep. Embry opposed a comprehensive anti-bullying bill that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s protected classes. He claimed that the state already had sufficient laws against bullying. “We have a death penalty against rape and murder but they still happen,” he said at the time.
Some parents tried to challenge Atherton’s policy, but the Jefferson County Public School appeals board stood by it. Atherton Principal Thomas Aberli said that after several months, there were no problems with the policy. “Our decisions were founded on facts and on the proper way to treat people,” he explained.
2014
KYLP TAX EXEMPT STATUS APPROVED
On December 23, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service approved the Kentucky Youth Law Project's application for tax exempt status under IRC 501(c)(3). We are classified as a Public Charity under IRC 509(a)(2). Therefore, contributions to KYLP are fully deductible on your income taxes. Because our application was approved within 24 months of the date we became an organization, our tax exempt status is back-dated to March 24, 2014, the date on which KYLP became a registered corporation under Kentucky law. Therefore, any contributions made between March 24, 2014 through December 31, 2014 are deductible on your 2014 taxes!
KYLP took advantage of a new program offered by the Internal Revenue Service to fast-track our approval. Under the old system, organizations applying for tax exempt status were required to complete a 26-page application and attach quite a bit of documentation. The application fee was $800; and the approval process took up to two years and was very arduous, often requiring multiple corrections, addenda, and substantiation. However, on July 1, 2014, the IRS issued a new guideline permitting small nonprofit organizations to file a simplified application, called the 1023-EZ. Under these new guidelines, the application is a mere three pages in length, little additional documentation is required, the application fee is only $400, and if you qualifiy under this new program, approval is immediate and retroactive to the start of your organization. In order to qualify for the 1023-EZ application, your organization has to reasonably expect that it will not receive more than $50,000 in income in any of the first three years of its existence, nor will it have more than $250,000 in assets in any of the first three years of its existence.
The KYLP Board made the determination that these requirements actually assist us in growing our organization thoughtfully and deliberately over the next three years. A nonprofit organization is nothing if it doesn't have the trust and confidence of its donors and supporters. The KYLP Board of Directors is committed to exercising good stewardship and oversight of our donor's funds. Therefore, now that we have planted the seeds of this organization, we are dedicated to nurturing them, building a good solid root system, and making our organization grow strong and healthy so we can be here to help Kentucky's LGBTQ youth well into the future. (1/13/2015)
On December 23, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service approved the Kentucky Youth Law Project's application for tax exempt status under IRC 501(c)(3). We are classified as a Public Charity under IRC 509(a)(2). Therefore, contributions to KYLP are fully deductible on your income taxes. Because our application was approved within 24 months of the date we became an organization, our tax exempt status is back-dated to March 24, 2014, the date on which KYLP became a registered corporation under Kentucky law. Therefore, any contributions made between March 24, 2014 through December 31, 2014 are deductible on your 2014 taxes!
KYLP took advantage of a new program offered by the Internal Revenue Service to fast-track our approval. Under the old system, organizations applying for tax exempt status were required to complete a 26-page application and attach quite a bit of documentation. The application fee was $800; and the approval process took up to two years and was very arduous, often requiring multiple corrections, addenda, and substantiation. However, on July 1, 2014, the IRS issued a new guideline permitting small nonprofit organizations to file a simplified application, called the 1023-EZ. Under these new guidelines, the application is a mere three pages in length, little additional documentation is required, the application fee is only $400, and if you qualifiy under this new program, approval is immediate and retroactive to the start of your organization. In order to qualify for the 1023-EZ application, your organization has to reasonably expect that it will not receive more than $50,000 in income in any of the first three years of its existence, nor will it have more than $250,000 in assets in any of the first three years of its existence.
The KYLP Board made the determination that these requirements actually assist us in growing our organization thoughtfully and deliberately over the next three years. A nonprofit organization is nothing if it doesn't have the trust and confidence of its donors and supporters. The KYLP Board of Directors is committed to exercising good stewardship and oversight of our donor's funds. Therefore, now that we have planted the seeds of this organization, we are dedicated to nurturing them, building a good solid root system, and making our organization grow strong and healthy so we can be here to help Kentucky's LGBTQ youth well into the future. (1/13/2015)
KYLP Joins Other Youth Advocacy Groups in Calling for an End to Harmful "Reparative Therapy"
LEXINGTON -- The Kentucky Youth Law Project has joined with youth advocacy groups from across the nation to call for an end to the harmful practice of so-called conversion, or reparative, "therapy" for minors under the age of 18. In June, KYLP signed on to a letter produced by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, as part of their national project, #BornPerfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy.
The campaign, which rolled out in late June, has brought together a wide variety of mental health organizations, youth advocacy groups, faith leaders, LGBT organizations, and reproductive justice advocates from around the country.
Two states, California and New Jersey, have enacted laws protecting minors from conversion therapy, and several others have legislation pending. These laws prevent licensed mental health professionals from using these practices with minors because of the lack of proven effectiveness and the high risk for long-term emotional and psychological damage that such "therapies" can produce. The laws do not address reparative therapy in adults, nor do they prevent religious groups from engaging in these practices.
"Primarily, these laws are designed to protect young people, who can be forced to participate by otherwise well-meaning parents and guardians, from the damaging influences of conversion therapy," said Keith D. Elston, Legal Director of the Kentucky Youth Law Project. "Kentucky's youth need such a law, and the legislature should act swiftly to protect these young people."
See our blog for additional details.
LEXINGTON -- The Kentucky Youth Law Project has joined with youth advocacy groups from across the nation to call for an end to the harmful practice of so-called conversion, or reparative, "therapy" for minors under the age of 18. In June, KYLP signed on to a letter produced by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, as part of their national project, #BornPerfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy.
The campaign, which rolled out in late June, has brought together a wide variety of mental health organizations, youth advocacy groups, faith leaders, LGBT organizations, and reproductive justice advocates from around the country.
Two states, California and New Jersey, have enacted laws protecting minors from conversion therapy, and several others have legislation pending. These laws prevent licensed mental health professionals from using these practices with minors because of the lack of proven effectiveness and the high risk for long-term emotional and psychological damage that such "therapies" can produce. The laws do not address reparative therapy in adults, nor do they prevent religious groups from engaging in these practices.
"Primarily, these laws are designed to protect young people, who can be forced to participate by otherwise well-meaning parents and guardians, from the damaging influences of conversion therapy," said Keith D. Elston, Legal Director of the Kentucky Youth Law Project. "Kentucky's youth need such a law, and the legislature should act swiftly to protect these young people."
See our blog for additional details.
LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care.
According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, there are approximately 175,000 youth ages 10-18 in foster care in the United States. Of these youth, an estimated 5-10 percent, and likely even more, are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ).
LGBTQ youth face challenges in foster care that their non-LGBTQ counterparts simply don't face, including homophobia or transphobia, and the need to evaluate the safety of their communities, schools, social networks, and homes so that they can decide whether to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity/gender expression, and if so, who they will disclose to, when they will disclose, and how they will disclose. They rarely have any support from the adults in their live to assist them in making these decisions, and worse, sometimes the adults in their lives, foster parents, social workers, teachers, guardians ad litem and other lawyers, and judges either intentionally or inadvertently take even that choice away from them and out them in ways that can actually make their lives more difficult, or even more dangerous.
The primary factor determining whether a young LGBTQ person becomes homeless or is removed from their home and placed in out of home care is whether they have a supportive family structure. A large majority of homeless LGBTQ youth report that they were homeless principally because their families rejected them, or made their lives so miserable that they felt forced to leave their homes.
Many LGBTQ youth report that their families attempted to get them to undergo so-called "conversion therapy," sometimes referred to as "reparative therapy," "ex-gay therapy," or "sexual orientation change efforts," and which include a range of dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation, including efforts to change gender identity or expression. While we cannot know precisely how many Kentucky youth have been subjected to these practices, experts believe that up to one-third of LGBT youth experience attempts to change their identity. These harmful practices are based on the false claim that being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is a mental illness that should be "cured." In fact, this view has been rejected as scientifically invalid by the American Psychiatric Association and every major mental health group. Unfortunately, young LGBT people may be coerced and subject to these harmful practices, which put them at risk for serious harms such as depression, substance abuse, and suicide.
We know that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT, compared to only 7 % of the general LGBT youth population. Homeless LGBT youth attempt suicide at much high rates (62%) than homeless non-LGBT youth (29%).
Yet when LGBTQ youth find themselves in foster care or residential/transitional/independent living placements, they are once again subjected to the same rejecting and coercive behaviors by their caregivers, who often come from conservative religious backgrounds where they have absorbed much misinformation about the nature of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. So much so, that many of these youth say they would prefer living on the streets.
I frequently speak of the downward spiral these young people face, and a primary objective of KYLP is to disrupt this downward spiral. Our preference, naturally, is to reunify these young people with their families, if their families are willing to receive training so that they can commit to providing a safe and stable home environment that respects these young people's sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression. Short of that, we would like to provide training to Kentucky's foster families in order to improve the quality of care they are providing these young people, even if they have not self-identified to the resource families.
If you think this work has value, please consider sending a contribution to KYLP, P.O. Box 21964, Lexington, Kentucky 40522-1964. We would appreciate your generous support.
According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, there are approximately 175,000 youth ages 10-18 in foster care in the United States. Of these youth, an estimated 5-10 percent, and likely even more, are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ).
LGBTQ youth face challenges in foster care that their non-LGBTQ counterparts simply don't face, including homophobia or transphobia, and the need to evaluate the safety of their communities, schools, social networks, and homes so that they can decide whether to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity/gender expression, and if so, who they will disclose to, when they will disclose, and how they will disclose. They rarely have any support from the adults in their live to assist them in making these decisions, and worse, sometimes the adults in their lives, foster parents, social workers, teachers, guardians ad litem and other lawyers, and judges either intentionally or inadvertently take even that choice away from them and out them in ways that can actually make their lives more difficult, or even more dangerous.
The primary factor determining whether a young LGBTQ person becomes homeless or is removed from their home and placed in out of home care is whether they have a supportive family structure. A large majority of homeless LGBTQ youth report that they were homeless principally because their families rejected them, or made their lives so miserable that they felt forced to leave their homes.
Many LGBTQ youth report that their families attempted to get them to undergo so-called "conversion therapy," sometimes referred to as "reparative therapy," "ex-gay therapy," or "sexual orientation change efforts," and which include a range of dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation, including efforts to change gender identity or expression. While we cannot know precisely how many Kentucky youth have been subjected to these practices, experts believe that up to one-third of LGBT youth experience attempts to change their identity. These harmful practices are based on the false claim that being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is a mental illness that should be "cured." In fact, this view has been rejected as scientifically invalid by the American Psychiatric Association and every major mental health group. Unfortunately, young LGBT people may be coerced and subject to these harmful practices, which put them at risk for serious harms such as depression, substance abuse, and suicide.
We know that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT, compared to only 7 % of the general LGBT youth population. Homeless LGBT youth attempt suicide at much high rates (62%) than homeless non-LGBT youth (29%).
Yet when LGBTQ youth find themselves in foster care or residential/transitional/independent living placements, they are once again subjected to the same rejecting and coercive behaviors by their caregivers, who often come from conservative religious backgrounds where they have absorbed much misinformation about the nature of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. So much so, that many of these youth say they would prefer living on the streets.
I frequently speak of the downward spiral these young people face, and a primary objective of KYLP is to disrupt this downward spiral. Our preference, naturally, is to reunify these young people with their families, if their families are willing to receive training so that they can commit to providing a safe and stable home environment that respects these young people's sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression. Short of that, we would like to provide training to Kentucky's foster families in order to improve the quality of care they are providing these young people, even if they have not self-identified to the resource families.
If you think this work has value, please consider sending a contribution to KYLP, P.O. Box 21964, Lexington, Kentucky 40522-1964. We would appreciate your generous support.