Gay Primary Source

Friday, April 4, 2008

New York US Senator Hillary Clinton Supports LGBT Youth

PGN: How would you improve services for GLBT youth ?HC: I would be guided by advice by the LGBT community about the additional kind of services that would be needed on top of the general services that were available. For example, I’ve done a lot of work in supporting the LGBT community here in New York to deal with the special problems that adolescents face: the high suicide rates, the sense of alienation and the experiences with bullies. I think there’s a lot of very specific and difficult challenges that LGBT young people face. Obviously, I want to protect our young people and I want to give them access to the services that they need. I believe the idea of guidance at schools is important so that schools are well aware of how much more intense the mistreatment of LGBT kids happens to be. I think we need to do everything we can to try to protect our kids and give them a chance to have a productive and safe childhood and adolescence, and I would certainly zero in on that." Senator Hillary Clinton, interview in Philadelphia Gay News, April 4, 2008