I am not spreading misinformation and did not imply that Utah had the worst youth homeless rate in general among all states, we’re talking specifically about lgbt youth homelessness, and the greatly increased dangers of being kicked out of your home and many other types of abuse that LGBT youth face. This is a major problem across the entire country, including Utah. So I think in any state there should be a lot of thought put into whether schools should just start disclosing information like gender or sexual identities to students families, without assessing if that might be putting the student into danger.
Unfortunately Utah refuses to formally gather information on things like gender identity and sexual orientation in its youth homeless population, data that is gathered in many other states, so Utah has deliberately made a direct comparison between states not possible on this issue. You would also need to factor in that many homeless individuals relocate to areas with increased services to help. You would also need to consider if youth feel safe even disclosing this information to a state agency run by a very conservative lgbt hostile state government. If Utah wants to prove it’s better on this issue and that the anecdotal evidence and evidence gathered directly at homeless shelters is wrong, than they can start gathering the data themselves, they’ve had plenty of chances to do so. I’m gonna assume the worst when they refuse to look. Go to any of the lgbt youth homeless centers in Salt Lake City before belittling this problem, and spreading awareness about it is not misinformation.
I am not spreading misinformation and did not imply that Utah had the worst youth homeless rate in general among all states, we’re talking specifically about lgbt youth homelessness, and the greatly increased dangers of being kicked out of your home and many other types of abuse that LGBT youth face. This is a major problem across the entire country, including Utah. So I think in any state there should be a lot of thought put into whether schools should just start disclosing information like gender or sexual identities to students families, without assessing if that might be putting the student into danger.
Unfortunately Utah refuses to formally gather information on things like gender identity and sexual orientation in its youth homeless population, data that is gathered in many other states, so Utah has deliberately made a direct comparison between states not possible on this issue. You would also need to factor in that many homeless individuals relocate to areas with increased services to help. You would also need to consider if youth feel safe even disclosing this information to a state agency run by a very conservative lgbt hostile state government. If Utah wants to prove it’s better on this issue and that the anecdotal evidence and evidence gathered directly at homeless shelters is wrong, than they can start gathering the data themselves, they’ve had plenty of chances to do so. I’m gonna assume the worst when they refuse to look. Go to any of the lgbt youth homeless centers in Salt Lake City before belittling this problem, and spreading awareness about it is not misinformation.
http://www.nomorestrangers.org/homeless-youth-in-utah/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lgbt-morman-youth_b_1597617
https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/2/03/suicides-or-not-lds-harming-lgbt-youth#toggle-gdpr
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-plight-of-homeless-yo_b_10205650