By Patrick White, Globe and Mail
May 17, 2007
The sting of high-school homophobia brings dozens of teens to the office of LeeAndra Miller.
As a counsellor for Central Toronto Youth Services, she speaks with dozens of lesbian and bisexual girls who tell her they want to make "one last-ditch attempt at having a boyfriend," just to avoid schoolyard taunts.
"There's nothing like a pregnancy to prove you're straight," Ms. Miller says, with a laugh.
A study released Tuesday by the McCreary Centre Society in Vancouver found that teenage gays, lesbians and bisexuals in British Columbia are three times more likely to be involved in a pregnancy than are their heterosexual classmates.
While some organizations that advocate on behalf of this community expressed outright surprise at the survey results, others have theories.
Some ascribe the elevated pregnancy rate to the lack of sex education aimed at gays and lesbians in Canadian high schools and the risky behaviour that can result. "It's an experimenting phase for gay and lesbian youth," Ms. Miller says of teenagers questioning their sexuality. "There is a lot more risky behaviour."
Many of them undergo so much pressure to fit in with their heterosexual friends and family that they feel pregnancy is the only way to prove how straight they are.
"Kids are trying to suppress feelings toward the same sex, so they act out," says Cherie McCleod of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in Ottawa. "With boys, they try to prove their manhood by having sex with girls."
Others just don't clue in to the dangers of unprotected sex. Most sex-education classes focus on heterosexuals, and the curriculum can ring hollow.
"The education they might be receiving isn't geared toward them so they check out," says Lauren Goldman, an educator with Options for Sexual Health in Vancouver who says she deals with many pregnant teens who identify themselves as queer. "Other times they have been attracted to members of their own sex their entire lives and they don't consider the consequences of having sex with the opposite sex."
Another reason offered for the study results is the number of homeless youth who are gay or lesbian. Elizabeth Saewyc, who led the most recent McCreary survey, conducted another study a month ago that showed that one in three female teens and one in 10 male teens living on the street call themselves homosexual - a much higher percentage than the general population.
Street youth - many of whom are victims of sexual abuse - are more likely to engage in unprotected sex than other teens, said Dr. Saewyc, a professor at the University of British Columbia.
"They don't feel like they can negotiate something like that."
Meanwhile, many who deal with gay, lesbian and bisexual teens were surprised by the study findings.
"It's almost non-existent [among our group]," said Clare Nobbs, co-ordinator of community programs at Supporting Our Youth in Toronto. "We have 250 to 300 youths in our programs at any one time. I can't think of a single teen pregnancy."
