Pandemic & Queer Youth

How the Pandemic is Affecting Queer Youth and What You Can Do to Help

Myesha sapp

The pandemic has its effects on everyone, but it especially affects our LGBTQ+ youth. Some of the issues they may be experiencing include: limited access to community support and counseling and, in some cases, quarantining with unsupportive family members (Valencia, 2020). Queer youth are already at a higher risk for mental illness such as depression, anxiety, homelessness, and sometimes even self harm, so adding a global pandemic to all of that, does not mix very well. 

Online counseling has become a big resource since COVID-19 has begun, but for most LGBTQ+ youth, it just isn’t the same. As said by Sarah Gundle, a clinical psychologist in New York City, “...while online supports are available during this crisis and can provide help, for many they cannot replace in-person treatment and interaction with a community that accepts and validates your identity” (Valencia, 2020). When you are forced to move back in with parents because schools have closed down, due to the pandemic, it is hard to talk about them to a therapist while under the same roof. 

According to Dr. Tia Dole, the chief clinical operations officer at the “Trevor Project'' and Ellen Kahn, the senior director of programs and partnerships at LGBTQ advocacy group “Human Rights Campaign”, there is a number of things that parents can do to help queer youth during these troubled times. 

Parents of these young adults are encouraged to reflect on the past. For example, they are encouraged to intentionally reevaluate how welcoming their home was in the past. Particularly, parents of kids who first embraced their LGBTQ identity while in college. This gives parents an opportunity to be a resource to their LGBTQ child and rethink how they’ve discussed LGBTQ issues in the past. Khan suggests reflecting on the possible past usage of phrases that initiate straight and cisgender people as being the “norm.” As an alternative, try to think of more inclusive options to use, then discuss these options with your kids to see if they have any preferences for what they want to hear. 

Carrying on, Dole talks about how a parent’s relationship to their child will be changing as children leave home, so reflecting on the past could also open up new conversations. For example, this could help give the child new approaches to talk about their identity with their parents. Dole suggests asking questions that imitate your changing relationship. This could be seen as asking what kind of emotional support your child needs now, concerning their identity or the formation of it. Above all, just making sure that your household is currently welcoming, disregarding any past mistakes, can make all the difference in the overall mental health of your child returning home during this time (Piñon, 2020).

Ultimately,  this pandemic is especially hard on LGBTQ youth so if you know someone, reach out to them, make sure they’re doing alright, and see if they need anything.

Yours Truly,

Myesha Sapp

Resources:

Piñon, N., (2020, March 30). Amid campus closures, LGBTQ college students need mental health support. Here's how to help. Retrieved July 3, 2020, from

https://mashable.com/article/lgbtq-mental-health-resources-coronavirus/

Valencia, M., (2020, June 29). The Challenges of the Pandemic for Queer Youth. Retrieved July 3, 2020, from 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/well/family/LGBTQ-youth-teenagers-pandemic-coronavirus.html