The US has had a long history of becoming more and more LGBTI-friendly. According to an index for queer travelers, the USA is already in 24th place, just behind Germany, making it one of the safest travel destinations. In some cities in particular, the LGBTI community is welcomed with open arms and celebrated with grandiose Pride festivals. If you want to travel to the USA, you should consider California as the most LGBTQ+-friendly state.
For the same reason, it isn’t really difficult to find gay rehab centers in California, which are considered to be of high quality. The pessimistic statistics show that people are more likely to develop substance abuse and addiction in the LGBT community than any other sector of society. The reasons for that would be discrimination, social stigma, abuse, bullying, rejection, and judgmental behavior from their families and society. In this article, we’ll talk of social problems in LGBTQ+ and California as a great place for them with the best attitude and LGBT rehab centers.
Queer people don’t want to remember their school years
LGBT+ people often have a difficult childhood or youth, especially if we talk about countries where homosexual relations are prohibited or condemned.
The new British study was conducted between July and August 2022 and surveyed 3,976 UK adults aged 18 to 65 – 1,001 were LGBT+ and 2,975 were not.
The study showed what memories people have about their educational institutions. Statistics help to understand what difficulties teenagers face during their studies.
New independent research by Just Like Us has found that LGBT+ adults are half as likely to have fond memories of their time at school and 36% were bullied, compared to 17% of their non-LGBT peers.
Of all those surveyed, 22% of LGBT+ people agreed with the following statement: “I don’t have pleasant memories of school, I have erased it from my memory.” In comparison, only 12% of heterosexual people agreed with this statement.
It is unfortunate that current statistics among teenagers indicate poor results. A recent LGBT+ Adult Report published in the US found that 42% of LGBT+ pupils/students today experience bullying during the educational process. This is almost double the percentage of non-LGBT+ students.
LGBT+ adults were more than twice as likely to feel lonely at school. Moreover, 25% said that they had very few or no friends at all. They described the school years as “a very lonely time”. At the same time, only 11% of non-LGBT+ respondents agreed with this statement.
More than half of the queer people surveyed said they had no role models to look up to when they were in school.
Highlighting the significant difference in school experiences between LGBT+ and straight people, the study found that almost 72% of non-LGBT+ students enjoyed their time at school, while this statement applied to only 58% of LGBT+ respondents .
Almost one in five queer people surveyed said they tried everything they could to avoid going to school. Only 10% of non-LGBT+ adults made this statement.
Another 12% said they had a terrible relationship with their teachers, twice as many as non-LGBT+ people.
Dominic Arnold, Chief Executive of Just Like Us, says: “It’s terrible that so many LGBT+ people have had terrible experiences at school. That they had to erase him from their memory. The fact that teenagers still feel this way in 2022 is outrageous. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed as much in recent decades as we would like to think, as LGBT+ students are still twice as likely to be bullied, have mental health problems and are much more likely to feel unsafe at school.”
Representation of LGBT+ teachers, psychologists, administrative staff and other staff is urgently needed in schools. We should talk openly about queer people and not make this topic a taboo.
The most LGBTQ+-friendly city
The Californian metropolis on the Bay is often called the “Gay Capital of the World” for a reason. San Francisco has long been recognized as one of America’s most LGBTI-friendly cities, where all the colors of the rainbow come together. With one of the largest and best-known LGBTI communities, numerous gay-friendly neighborhoods and bars, and the absolute highlight of the year, the San Francisco Pride Festival with 50,000 visitors annually, the city by the bay is a real queer hotspot.
Even away from the festival, the best entertainment awaits the community. For example, the Castro District is one of the premier gay neighborhoods in the entire United States where LGBTI culture is lived, loved and celebrated. Among other things, the Castro Theater and the GLBT History Museum as well as the LGBT Walk of Fame can be visited and admired here. Events like the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival and the Dyke March are well worth a visit and offer colorful spectacles.
Talking about LGBT addiction treatment, California also has a lot of options to offer. In their LGBT rehab facilities, there is no place for discrimination or judgments. Gay rehab centers in California offer a safe space, comfort and privacy for overcoming substance abuse problems without being judged for sexual orientation. The programs at these facilities teach patients to cope with the daily struggles unique to the LGBT community.
LGBT substance abuse treatment centers are designed to specifically help members of the community. They hire professionals who got special training in understanding psychological and social issues related to the LGBTQ community or are willing to undergo it. Also, there are a lot of LGBTQ among medical personnel, which helps patients receive more empathy.
There are facilities that exclusively give treatment to people of a specific sexual orientation. So, if a queer person doesn’t want to deal with heterosexual people while the treatment, there are a lot of possibilities for that.
