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Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), Roderic O’Gorman, T.D., today (24 May) launched the ‘LGBTI+ Youth in Ireland Europe: A two-phased Landscape and Research Gap Analysis’.
The research, conducted jointly by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and NUI Galway reviewed all relevant research on LGBTI+ youth in Ireland and Europe since 2000.
The research found that:
Speaking at the launch of the analysis, Roderic O’Gorman T.D., Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said:
"It is clear to see that there is a large amount of evidence to support our objectives in the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy, in particular the importance creating supportive environments for LGBTI+ young people in schools and colleges, and on LGBTI+ young people’s experiences of bullying.
“But, there are also research gaps with regard to other important issues. We don’t know enough about the lives of transgender and intersex young people, about the views of parents and families of LGBTI+ young people and how to support them better, or about developing inclusive work environments for LGBTI+ young people. These are all issues of the highest importance and we must find a way to address these research gaps."
The report was led by researchers Dr András Költő, Dr Elena Vaughan, Dr Colette Kelly and Professor Saoirse Nic Gabhainn from the Health Promotion Research Centre in NUI Galway, with Dr Linda O’Sullivan from DCEDIY and Professor Elizabeth Saewyc from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Commenting on the findings, Lead Author Dr András Költő said:
“Most research on LGBTI+ young people is from North America, so it was important to review evidence relevant to the Irish and European context. We also documented the gaps in our understanding of LGBTI+ young people. Initiatives to improve the lives of LGBTI+ young people must be based on high quality scientific evidence, and our report clearly indicates where more research is needed. Future research needs to consider the positive aspects of LGBTI+ young people’s lives, involve their families, teachers and youth workers, and monitor initiatives to help ensure positive outcomes.”
You can read the full report here.
ENDS
DCEDIY Media queries and interview requests to: media@equality.gov.ie
Interviews available with lead authors: Dr András Költő and Dr Elena Vaughan.
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For more information visit www.nuigalway.ie or view all NUI Galway news.
Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex or belong to other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTI+), often experience worse health and life outcomes than those who identify as heterosexual and/or whose sex assigned at birth and gender identity are aligned to each other. These inequalities often start in adolescence and are affected by a range of factors including characteristics of the young person, their family, friends and schools, the health and social care systems, and wider society.
In 2018, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs published the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy 2018-2020, the world’s first government strategy that aims to improve the lives of LGBTI+ young people. The strategy sets out three goals with 15 specific objectives that support the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy mission and vision.
Goal three of the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy states the importance of identifying what research has been carried out and what research needs to be carried out in order to better understand the lives and the needs of LGBTI+ young people.
The Health Promotion Research Centre in NUI Galway was asked to investigate what research exists on LGBTI+ young people’s lives in Ireland and Europe and to map the research we found to the objectives of the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy. In this way, we can find out which objectives are well supported with evidence and where more research is needed.
We searched research databases to find relevant research studies, and then took out the information relevant to the 15 objectives of the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy. The studies were also reviewed for their quality.
We found 126 relevant pieces of research published between 2000 and 2019. Some objectives of the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy had a lot of research related to them, but others did not. The main findings are:
There are lots of different types of research on LGBTI+ youth, both in Ireland and across Europe. The research methods used and the groups of young people involved vary a lot. Some of the research is very high quality, but some is not.
Some objectives of the LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy are well covered by research. There is a lot of evidence on creating supportive environments for LGBTI+ young people and for creating supportive and inclusive environments for LGBTI+ young people in formal education settings.
There are some important issues that do not have enough evidence about. Most importantly we don’t know enough about the lives of transgender and intersex young people, or about the views of parents and families of LGBTI+ young people and support them better or about developing inclusive work environments for LGBTI+ young people.
These knowledge gaps need to be addressed using different types of research – new research needs to use trusted research methods and be high quality research. Future studies needs to involve LGBTI+ young people, their families and other sources of support such as teachers and youth workers. Rather than only focusing on what is going wrong for LGBTI+ young people, we need more evidence on how to improve well-being and resilience in order to make things