One in Five High Schoolers Isn’t Heterosexual, CDC Survey Finds

(Bloomberg) -- One in five high school students does not identify as heterosexual, and many said they faced mental health challenges in the past year, a federal study released on Thursday finds.

The Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention polled just under 8,000 U.S. high school students between Jan. and June of 2021. The study focused on students' experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and took into account respondents' identities such as race and sexuality. In the report, some 22.5% of respondents said they were gay, lesbian or bisexual, or that they identified in some other way or were questioning their sexual identity.

The findings are in keeping with a Gallup poll released last month, in which almost 21% of Gen-Z respondents aged 18 and over identified as members of the LGBTQ community — more than any other generation.

While one in three students said they experienced poor mental health consistently during the Covid-19 pandemic, the CDC found the numbers increased for LGBTQ students. They were more likely to report poor mental health as well as thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts. They were also less likely to report feeling close to others at school than those who did not identify as LGBTQ. Three in four LGBTQ students said they had been subjected to emotional abuse by a parent in the past year, and LGBTQ students were twice as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to say they had been subjected to physical abuse by a parent or another adult in their home.

“Students need our support now more than ever, whether by making sure that their schools are inclusive and safe or by providing opportunities to engage in their communities and be mentored by supportive adults,” said Kathleen A. Ethier, the director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health.

A 2021 survey for the LGBTQ advocacy group The Trevor Project found that half of LGBTQ youth say school is an affirming space for their sexual or gender identity compared with one in three who said they have an affirming home life. Environments that support their identities can prove to be a lifeline for LGBTQ young people, and correlate to lower rates of suicide attempts. Over 70% of respondents said they turned to online spaces for that support.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in December issued an advisory addressing the mental health crisis for young people, and CDC Acting Principal Deputy Director Debra Houry said the new data “echo a cry for help.”