Challenges facing LGBTQ youth

• Author: Noreen Verini, Grace Alburger, Kaitlin Gauthier, Rachael McGuire, Jenna Pickering, Elaina Rahrig, Elizabeth Renda, Matthew Schaible, Linsey Scoresby, Lee Tremblay, and Nicholas Wind
• Pages: 179-242

CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ YOUTH

EDITED BY NOREEN VERINI, GRACE ALBURGER, KAITLIN GAUTHIER,

RACHAEL MCGUIRE, JENNA PICKERING, ELAINA RAHRIG, ELIZABETH RENDA,

MATTHEW SCHAIBLE, LINSEY SCORESBY, LEE TREMBLAY, AND NICHOLAS WIND

I. INTRODUCTION ... ....................................... 181

II. CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ YOUTH IN SCHOOLS ... ............. 181

A. OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL AND STATE PROTECTIONS BASED ON

SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY ................ 181

1. Federal Constitutional Law . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

a. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection

Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

i. Sexual Orientation and the Equal Protection

Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

ii. Gender Identity and the Equal Protection Clause 183

iii. Equal Protection Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

b. The First Amendment - Retaliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

2. Federal Statutory Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

a. Title IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

i. Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students and Title

IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

ii. Transgender Students and Title IX . . . . . . . . . . 189

iii. Liability Under Title IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

3. State Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

a. Education Laws . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

b. State Public Accommodations Laws . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 194

c. State Tort Law . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

d. State Disability Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

B. TRANSITIONING IN SCHOOLS ............................ 195

1. Required Documentation of Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

2. Schools’ Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

a. Names and Pronouns . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

b. Access to Sex-Segregated Spaces . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 198

c. Participation in Sports . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

C. SEX EDUCATION AND LGBTQ YOUTH . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

D. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ASSOCIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

1. Student Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

2. Students’ Apparel and Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

3. Access to LGBTQ Information on the Internet . . . . . . . . . 210

4. Faculty and Staff’s Freedom of Expression About

LGBTQ Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

E. BULLYING, HARASSMENT, AND VIOLENCE... ................ 213

179

1. Bullying and Harassment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

a. LGBTQ Students’ Legal Recourse for Bullying and

Harassment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

2. Suicides and Murders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

a. Suicide Among LGBTQ Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

b. Murder of LGBTQ Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

F. STUDENTS’ PRIVACY AND LEGAL RECOURSE FOR “OUTINGS” BY

SCHOOL OFFICIALS ... ................................ 218

III. CHALLENGES FACING FAMILIES OF LGBTQ YOUTH ............... 218

A. CONVERSION THERAPY ................................ 218

1. Conversion Therapy as Consumer Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

2. Gay Conversion Therapy Bans Based on Psychological

Harm to Minors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

B. CHILD CUSTODY ISSUES FOR LGBTQ-AFFIRMING PARENTS ...... 223

C. HOMELESSNESS AMONG LGBTQ YOUTH AND RELATED ISSUES . . . 225

1. Primary Causes of Homelessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

2. Specific Struggles of LGBTQ Youth Experiencing or

Attempting to Exit Homelessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

3. Proposed Legal Solutions Addressing the Issue of

LGBTQ Youth Homelessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

a. Emancipation and Child Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

b. Foster Care Reform .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

c. Prevention of Discrimination in Emergency Shelters

& Permanent Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

D. ACCESS TO MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR TRANSGENDER YOUTH . . . . . 230

1. Access to Hormone Replacement Therapy and Gender

Confirmation Surgeries . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

a. Access to Hormone Replacement Therapy . . . . . . . . . 231

b. Access to Gender Confirmation Surgeries . . . . . . . . . 232

2. Legal Advances in Response to the Medicaid Coverage

Ban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

IV. CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ YOUTH IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM 234

A. THE PREVALENCE OF LGBTQ YOUTH IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE

SYSTEM .......................................... 234

B. HARASSMENT AND ABUSE LGBTQ YOUTH FACE GENERALLY . . . . 234

C. PROBLEMS TRANSGENDER YOUTH FACE .................... 235

1. Placement . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

2. Access to Medical Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

D. HOW COURTS RESOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE ... ........... 237

V. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS PERTAINING TO LGBTQ YOUTH .......... 238

A. ESEA REAUTHORIZATION AND THE STUDENT NON-DISCRIMINATION

ACT ............................................. 238

180 THE GEORGETOWN JOURNAL OF GENDER AND THE LAW [Vol. XXIII:179

B. THE EQUALITY ACT .................................. 238

C. THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES’

REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING SECTION 1557 OF THE AFFORDABLE

CARE ACT ........................................ 239

D. TRANSGENDER ACCESS TO PUBLIC FACILITIES AND RESTROOMS . . . . 240

VI. CONCLUSION ........................................... 241

I. INTRODUCTION

This Article will discuss the myriad of challenges lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-

gender, and questioning

1

When we use the term “transgender” youth, unless otherwise stated, we are referring to youth who

have already begun transitioning, youth who have already transitioned and now identify as a gender

other than the one they were assigned at birth, and youth who may view themselves, and/or may be

viewed by others, as not conforming to traditional gender norms for the gender they were assigned at

birth. For a history of transgenderism in society, see Blaise Vanderhorst, Whither Lies the Self: Intersex

and Transgender Individuals and A Proposal for Brain-Based Legal Sex, 9 HARV. L. & POL’Y REV. 241,

246–55 (2015). Alternatively, cisgender is an adjective we will use that denotes someone whose sense of

identity corresponds with the sex assigned to them at birth. See Cisgender, OXFORD ENGLISH

DICTIONARY, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/35015487 (last visited Apr. 18, 2022).

(LGBTQ) youth face in the United States. The Article

will focus on issues LGBTQ youth confront in school as well as the issues faced

by families with LGBTQ children, including increased risk of violence, abuse,

housing instability, and inadequate access to appropriate medical care. The

Article also examines and summarizes legal protections for LGBTQ youth at the

federal and state levels.

II. CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ YOUTH IN SCHOOLS

A. OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL AND STATE PROTECTIONS BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION

AND GENDER IDENTITY

Since the turn of the twentieth century, public education has grown in impor-

tance across the United States. Today, every state constitution contains an educa-

tion provision.

2

1.

2. ALA. CONST. art. XIV, § 256; ALASKA CONST. art. VII, § 1; ARIZ. CONST. art. XI, § 1; ARK. CONST.

art. XIV, § 1, amended by ARK. CONST. amend. 53; CAL. CONST. art. IX, § 1; COLO. CONST. art. IX, § 2;

CONN. CONST. art. VIII, § 1; DEL. CONST. art. X, § 1; FLA. CONST. art. IX, § 1 (amended 1998); GA.

CONST. art. VIII, § 1, ¶. (1); HAW. CONST. art. X, § 1; IDAHO CONST. art. IX, § 1; ILL. CONST. art. X, § 1;

IND. CONST. art. VIII, § 1; IOWA CONST. art. IX, 2nd, § 3; KAN. CONST. art. VI, § 1; KY. CONST. § 183;

LA. CONST. art. VIII, § 1; ME. CONST. art. VIII, part 1, § 1; MD. CONST. art. VIII, § 1; MASS. CONST. pt.

2, Ch. V, § 2; MICH. CONST. art. VIII, § 2; MINN. CONST. art. XIII, § 1; MISS. CONST. art. VIII, § 201;

MO. CONST. art. IX, § 1, cl. a; MONT. CONST. art. X, § 1; NEB. CONST. art. VII, § 1 (amended 1972);

NEV. CONST. art. XI, § 2 (amended 1938); N.H. CONST. pt. 2, art. 83; N.J. CONST. art. VIII, § 4, ¶. 1; N.

M. CONST. art. XII, § 1; N.Y. CONST. art. XI, § 1 (amended 2001); N.C. CONST. art. IX, § 2; N.D. CONST.

art. VIII, § 1; OHIO CONST. art. VI, § 3; OKLA. CONST. art. XIII, § 1; OR. CONST. art. VIII, § 3; PA.

CONST. art. III, § 14 (amended 1967); R.I. CONST. art. XII, § 1; S.C. CONST. art. XI, § 3; S.D. CONST. art.

VIII, § 1; TENN. CONST. art. XI, § 12 (amended 1977); TEX. CONST. art. VII, § 1; UTAH CONST. art. X, §

1; VT. CONST. Ch. II, § 68; VA. CONST. art. VIII, § 1; WASH. CONST. art. IX, § 1; W. VA. CONST. art. XII,

§ 1; WIS. CONST. art. X, § 3 (amended 1972); WYO. CONST. art. VII, § 1.

2022] CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ YOUTH 181