21-year-old Hannah Swenson identifies herself as queer and says she was bullied when she was in high school.
“I was called names, I had a lot of people use derogatory terms toward me…even had someone go so far as to pour soda all over my head in the middle of lunch,” she recalled.
Swenson’s struggle when she was a teen is similar to many others, including 15-year-old Jadin Bell who was gay and died in a Portland hospital on Sunday. Officials said he tried to hang himself two weeks ago and had complained of bullying.
However, a new study backs up the notion that it does get better over time for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied.
“I believe there is a cultural shift and the pendulum is swinging the other way,” said Gina Duquenne, Director of Southern Oregon Pride.
Researchers in England tracked teens over seven years until they turned 19 and 20 years old. While the study was conducted in another country, experts said the results would be likely in the United States.
According to the study, at the start, over half of the almost 200 gay, lesbian and bi-sexual teens were bullied. But seven years later in 2010, numbers dropped drastically to nine percent of gay and bisexual boys and six percent of lesbian and bisexual girls.
“You’re seeing the general public who has become a lot more open to the idea,” said 19-year-old Colton Johnson.
More cultural acceptance, as the LGBTQ community gets more comfortable expressing who they are.
“It’s definitely gotten better,” began Johson.
“YouTube it, Google it, everywhere it it’s saying the same thing because it’s true.”
“There are people who will stand up for you and teach you how to stand up for yourself,” added Swenson.
New numbers, backing up what so many say, they know to be true.
The study also acknowledges that bullying in general declines with age.
Another find: during the last year of the study, young gay men were more likely to be bullied than lesbians. Researchers attributed it to the possibility that masculine tendencies in women and girls is more culturally accepted than feminine tendencies in men and boys.
However, others contend there are many gay, lesbian or bisexual young adults who do not escape the bullying because they are a part of certain ethnic groups with cultural norms or live in conservative areas. In those cases, Duquenne and others said it’s imperative to move to areas more accepting of the LGBTQ community.
Officials at the Queer Resource Center said they are open to everyone in the community, not just Southern Oregon University students.
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