Young LGBTQ Southerners New Report

The Campaign for Southern Equality & Campus Pride released a new 30-page report detailing the findings of the 2021 Survey of Southern LGBTQ Experiences. The report “Coming of Age as an LGBTQ Southerner” highlights responses from 4,000+ LGBTQ people in the South about a wide range of topics addressing family life to faith & religious settings to school experiences to health experiences. Dr. Austin H. Johnson Director of the Southern Equality Research & Policy Center (SERPC) at the Campaign for Southern Equality & Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kenyon College stated, “Unfortunately, the dominant narrative emerging from these data is that thousands of individuals throughout the South are not getting the social support they need & deserve at home, in schools & in their communities. This lack of support & inclusion is disempowering & may cause detrimental harm to their mental & physical wellbeing, especially when that lack of support gets compounded with clear, state-sponsored discrimination such as the passage of anti-LGBTQ laws.” Shane L. Windmeyer founder & Executive Director of Campus Pride concluded, “Right now the sad reality is that many young LGBTQ+ people are experiencing a lack of acceptance at home & in their faith communities & it’s especially troubling that younger people are often perceiving & receiving less emotional, mental & physical support & resources than older respondents. Young LGBTQ+ people are being forced to conjure immense strength & resilience to combat marginalization & isolation & it’s vital that we do everything we can, on every level of society, to support and affirm them for being who they are.”

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