<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/28/diverse-sexuality-australian-high-school-students-gay-bisexual-pansexual>
"More than one in 10 Australian teenagers identify as gay, bisexual, pansexual
or asexual, a survey of high school students has found.
Researchers surveyed 6,388 year 8 students between 2019 and 2021, finding that
12% of the teens reported diverse sexualities, while 3.3% identified as
gender-diverse.
The findings, the study’s authors say, highlight an “urgent need” for support
services in schools and healthcare settings to mitigate against an increased
risk of stigma, discrimination and violence.
“We need child health policies that provide inclusion and support of diverse
gender identities and diverse sexualities from a young age,” said the study’s
lead author, Dr Jennifer Marino, a senior research fellow at the University of
Sydney. “School and health settings particularly need to be safe spaces for
very young adolescents.”
Teens who identified as transgender or non-binary were twice as likely to
report having a disability or a mental health diagnosis.
Marino said that finding warranted more research. “We have long known that both
sexuality- and gender-diverse … older adolescents and adults have increased
risk of various mental health issues relative to their cisgender, heterosexual
peers. The evidence all points to minority stress as being the principal driver
of that – discrimination and stigma that affect health and social standing,”
they said. “I don’t have any reason to think that younger adolescents would be
any less vulnerable than their older peers.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
