Research empirically shows structural discrimination negatively impacts LGB youth and adults

“This study provides evidence that supports the belief of researchers and advocates that national policies protecting the human rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people have an impact on individual development,” University of Delaware Assistant Professor Eric K. Layland said. “For LGB people, many of these identity and social milestones occur during the critical developmental period of adolescence. Results of this study add to other research showing protective policy can benefit LGB health by showing more protective policy can contribute to an environment where young LGB people can openly share their identity with others and spend less time in isolation.”

For this study, Layland and his coauthors used data gathered by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Human Rights on LGB participants’ age, gender identity, sexual identity and the relevant developmental milestones. These data were from the European Union Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (EU-LGBTI) Survey II, which was administered online between May and July 2019. The overall purpose of the survey was to monitor the fundamental rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people across European Union member states. The survey was developed by a cross-European team of LGBTI topic experts and translated into 31 languages. In total, 137,508 participants across the 28 EU countries responded, including participants from adolescence to older adults.