ENewsPF: “Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–February 27, 2014. Today, as President Barack Obama hosts an event unveiling a new White House initiative on young men of color, the Center for American Progress released a report that stresses the importance of including LGBT youth a part of this crucial conversation. The initiative, which looks for ways to address why young men of color are disproportionately affected by poverty and prison, also presents a great opportunity to consider the unique factors exacerbating those inequalities for black LBGT youth.
“It’s great to see the White House begin to tackle the problems faced by young men of color, especially issues of school push-out and overcriminalization that incarcerate rather than educate far too many of our black youth.” said Aisha Moodie-Mills, co-author of the report and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. “LGBT youth, especially those of color, experience similar challenges with school discipline policies as black boys, so any effort to address these issues will go a long way toward boosting outcomes for LGBT youth as well.”
Last month, the Department of Education released groundbreaking legal guidelines on discipline for the first time to address and reduce racial discrimination and disproportionality in school discipline, which has been found to perpetuate a school-to-prison pipeline for black youth, especially boys. This guidance makes tremendous strides in reporting on the stark racial disparities in school discipline, and CAP’s new report sheds light on the similar impact of hostile school climate and zero-tolerance policies on LGBT youth.”
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