Engaging Families to Support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: The Family Acceptance Project.

Abstract

During the past two decades, lesbian, gay, and bisexual—and more recently, transgender—young people have increasingly been coming out during adolescence. Although families provide much of the nurturing and socialization for children and adolescents, research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth has focused on peers, school, and community experiences. Little research has explored the experiences of transgender youth in general, or of LGBT adolescents in the context of their families. Nevertheless, research on families of LGBT adolescents has important implications for child and adolescent development, health and mental health outcomes, services, and professional training.