http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth-programs.htm
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are at elevated risk for many health risk behaviors, bullying, violence, discrimination, and associated health and mental health outcomes. Recognizing these serious health risks, CDC works with national, state, and local partners to address the health, education, and safety needs of LGBTQ youth.
CDC provides funding for state, territorial, and local education agencies; state health agencies; and tribal governments to conduct the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which monitors health risk behaviors among U.S. high school students. CDC encourages its sites to add optional questions about same-sex sexual contact and sexual identity to their state, territorial, or local YRBS questionnaires. Collecting such data enables sites to better understand the health and safety risks among sexual minority youth and then adjust prevention priorities accordingly.
During the 2011 YRBS—
- Five sites asked only about the sex of students’ sexual contacts
- One site asked only about students’ sexual identity
- Twenty-one sites asked about both the sex of students’ sexual contacts and about students’ sexual identity
In 2011, CDC analyzed data from YRBS to identify associations between sexual minority status and health risk behaviors. The findings of this analysis are described in a CDC report, “Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9–12 in Selected Sites—Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, United States, 2001–2009.” The report documents the disproportionate rates at which sexual minority students experience many health risks, including tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; sexual risk behaviors; and violence.