How Incarceration Impacts LGBTQ Youth's Mental Health

“Being locked up by itself is fairly traumatizing."
Image may contain Symbol Flag American Flag and Tent
Getty Images

Dayvon Williams says he was first incarcerated when he was 18 after being convicted of residential burglary.

"My experience in the beginning was like, I was like really devastated," Dayvon, who is now 27, tells Teen Vogue. "I wasn't used to [jail]."

Dayvon, who identifies as gay, said he ultimately realized he had to adapt for his environment for the seven months he was incarcerated. But still, it impacted his mental health. "You’re segregated from a lot of the normal things in life," he says. "It's something you’re not really used to, especially when it's your first time."

Today, he works as an organizer for Youth Justice Coalition, an organization that empowers currently and formerly incarcerated youth and families. Numbers show that Dayvon's work matters.

The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world. The rates of incarcerated young people are no exception. According to the Justice Policy Institute, the U.S. has almost six times the number of youth incarcerated than any other comparable nation, which includes countries like Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Of the young people behind bars, as many as 20% identify as LGBTQ.

According to a report co-authored by the Center for American Progress and Movement Advancement Project, between 12 and 20% of incarcerated youth identify as LGBT, questioning, or gender non-conforming — a disproportionate representation of the share of LGBT youth in the general population, which is between 7 and 9%. One of the surveys the report referenced did not include the "Q" in LGBTQ, which is why it is omitted here. Already at risk for mental illness, sexual assault, and violence, LGBT youth face even higher risks while incarcerated, research shows. According to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition, despite the disproportionate number of LGBT youth in the system, law enforcement officers, schools, district attorneys, judges, and juvenile defenders aren’t prepared to handle their specific needs, which may be taking a toll on their mental health.

But to understand how incarceration specifically impacts young LGBT people’s mental health, Shannan Wilber, youth policy director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said we first have to understand why LGBT young people are disproportionately locked up.

“Not that incarcerated youth generally haven’t been traumatized, but when you look at the sort of the typical pathways into law enforcement and juvenile justice for queer and transgender youth, there’s often family conflict, and rejection, and homelessness, and some kind of involvement in street economies,” Wilber tells Teen Vogue. “All of which mean they’ve already gone through a lot of isolation and trauma before they get into the system.”

LGBT young people are twice as likely to be detained for truancy, warrants, probation violations, running away, and prostitution, according to a report published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law. According to the Williams Institute, about 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT, meaning they’re also disproportionately represented among that population, too. (Of those LGBT homeless youth, many are experiencing homelessness because of family rejection and abuse.)

On the outside, LGBT people are more likely to experience sexual assault and violence, which research shows is also reflected while incarcerated. According to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, rates of youth-on-youth sexual assault in detention centers are higher for young people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. This is further compounded by the fact that 85% of LGBT youth incarcerated are people of color, meaning racial inequalities pile on top of inequalities presented by orientation. This, Wilber says, is likely why many young LGBT people’s mental health suffers while incarcerated.

“It seems to me it would be fair to say, and fair to conclude, that particular additional burden they carry certainly would have additional impact on their mental health and emotional stability,” she says.

Ashby Dodge, clinical director of the Trevor Project, says LGBTQ young people stay incarcerated for longer on average than their straight peers, increasing the negative impacts on their mental health.

“LGB youth spend more time in prison, much more time than straight youth. They’re more likely to be sexually victimized. Then you have sexual minority people of color disproportionately incarcerated. LGB youth are at higher risk of traumatic stress, depression, suicidal ideation, and substance use once they’re in custody,” Dodge says, noting that she omits the “T” in LGBT because there is little research available on incarcerated transgender people. “This group of people is already at three times higher risk of suicide than the general population. Then you put them in prison, increasing their vulnerability, increasing their lack of resources.”

Dodge says the lack of official data on transgender youth behind bars may be because a structural one. “It is a problem because a lot of people, especially transgender people, are housed with their sex assigned at birth,” she says. “That seems to increase the vulnerability of being a victim or getting attacked when they’re incarcerated. Transgender people are 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than cisgender people in prison. That’s a big jump there.”

Wilber notes that the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 requires staff at detention centers to identify vulnerabilities of each inmate at intake, including those posed by sexual and gender identity. Basically, that means facilities can’t have “automatic” rules that define where you’re housed just based on either your genitalia or your identity.

“It’s supposed to be a case-by-case determination, which considers, among other factors, what the young person themselves says about their comfort level,” Wilber says.

Williams said he was in an LGBTQ-only section of the jail he was incarcerated in. He classified it as a "safer environment."

This, of course, doesn’t mean that facilities are fully considerate of how incarceration will impact a young person’s mental health based on their orientation or identity. But Wilber says it's a sign of hope. For example, in New York City, the Probation Department must use the pronouns and name someone identifies with. In Illinois, facilities in Cook County must provide LGBTQ-affirming literature in libraries.

Still, the increased risks of trauma both inside and outside detention facilities also increases the risk of negative mental health impacts, Wilber says.

“I think it’s really clear that any young people who are particularly susceptible to harassment, or assault, or sexual assault, any kind of mistreatment while they’re locked up, are definitely at a higher risk for mental health and suicidality,” she said. “Being locked up by itself is fairly traumatizing. If you’re bullied or victimized in any way, it’s more risk of significant mental health impacts.”

This story is part of Kids Incarcerated, a Teen Vogue series on youth incarceration in the United States for National Youth Justice Awareness Month.

Related: Why Young Girls Die Behind Bars

I Was a Teen Behind Bars — Here's How I Survived the System

Youth Incarceration in the United States, by the Numbers

Why Some Colleges Can't Ask About Students' Criminal History Anymore

I'm on Probation and It's Like Another Form of Incarceration

Why Disabled Youth Are More at Risk of Being Incarcerated

How the School-to-Prison Pipeline Works

Bail Is a Broken System in Need of Reform