Justice for Kids: Keeping Kids Out of the Juvenile Justice System

8. Supporting Queer Youth

180 | 8 Supporting Queer Youth Sarah Valentine Queer youth1 cross all racial, ethnic, gender, religious, and class backgrounds. They are children forced from a very young age to cope with environments where victimization and harassment are normative (Ryan 2003). Their sexuality and gender identity often mark them as alien to their families and to society at large. Being perceived as queer sets them apart and makes them targets for neglect, rejection, bullying, and abuse at home and school. This increased risk of victimization compared to their heterosexual peers means queer youth suffer higher rates of homelessness, substance abuse, depression, suicide attempts, and sexual victimization (Rew et al. 2005) and thus increases their risk of involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The political minefield that is child and adolescent sexuality is rapidly expanding as children and adolescents are recognizing and acting on their sexuality at ever earlier ages (Savin-Williams 2005). Children who do not conform to social expectations of gender are also either self-identifying or being identified at much younger ages. Because society uses gender nonconformity as a marker by which to identify and target queer children, this segment of the queer youth population is especially imperiled. The risk of harm is exacerbated by the pathologizing of gender nonconformity through the fairly recent creation of “gender identity disorder” (Valentine 2008), a disorder that is often used by parents seeking treatment for their children to prevent them from becoming queer (Fedders 2006). Thus, gender-nonconforming youth,2 perhaps even more than children who are seen as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, may be at increased risk for rejection by society (Greytak et al. 2009; Marksamer 2008; Ryan 2003). This is exemplified by studies indicating that gender-nonconforming homeless youth are more likely than others to be discriminated against by shelter workers, social service personnel, and the police—all of which increases their risk of arrest (Marksamer 2008; Ray 2006). Another particularly vulnerable subset of the queer child population is queer youth of color. Youth of color are overrepresented in the juvenile jus- Supporting Queer Youth | 181 tice system and queer youth of color, like all queer children, are likely to face homophobia within their families and ethnic communities (Reck 2009; Ryan 2003; Gipson 2002). Being identified as queer can place youth of color at risk for losing the connection to the only community that affirms their cultural or racial identity. Confronting the racism in mainstream society as well as any culture– or religion-based homophobia that may exist in their families and communities leaves this group of children highly vulnerable to becoming involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice system. Because homophobia and heterosexism3 are pervasive across social institutions , the effect of violence and discrimination against queer youth is similar and self-perpetuating, regardless of where it occurs. Youth in conflict with their family often end up in the child welfare system, in the juvenile justice system, or on the street. A child forced from school because of violence and abuse will face similar consequences without supportive family. Sexuality or gender identification becomes yet one more stressor, like poverty, racism, or family dysfunction, that propels children away from their families and communities and into state care. Queer youth are far more likely to be detained pending trial than their heterosexual peers (Majd et al. 2009). Once in the child welfare or juvenile justice system, sexual minority youth often face longer stays and revolving placements because they lack supportive parents, or they face continued trouble in schools. A dearth of queer-friendly placements heightens the risk that sexual-minority youth will run from dangerous or unwelcoming outof -home placements and shelters. When living on the street, queer youth are more likely to come into contact with police, which heightens the likelihood of arrest and further involvement with the legal system. If we are to reduce the high rates of queer youth entanglement with the juvenilejusticesystem ,itisnecessarytoreducetheviolenceanddiscriminationthey face either inside or outside of the system. If we are to address what is a pervasive problem, a public health framework for prevention must be adopted. This chapter outlines a public health approach to violence and examines the socially supported discrimination confronting queer youth in community institutions . Next, it describes similarities between the movement to ensure the safety of queer children and the intimate-partner-violence movement, which has adopted similar macro-level prevention strategies. The chapter also delineates three strategies that can be integrated into community institutions to protect queer...