Abstract
ABSTRACT Over the course of the last decade, data has reflected that LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. In many jurisdictions, the majority of LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately represented are also youth of color. The precise mechanisms of these intersecting forms of disproportionality are underexplored; however, a flattened single narrative of family rejection is often presumed to be the driving force behind LGBTQ+ youth of color’s disproportionate representation. This assumption is, in part, informed by a biased and hyperbolic notion that communities of color are less tolerant of queer and trans children and lends itself to practical responses that may be punitive toward families and disinhibit familial engagement. Moreover, this assumption fails to acknowledge the historical role that the child welfare system has played in regulating, surveilling, and fracturing families of color and in criminalizing youth and parents of color alike. In this paper, we argue for a more nuanced understanding of the roles played by structural and institutional forms of racism, homophobia, and transphobia in understanding LGBTQ+ youth of color’s disproportionate representation.
Published Version
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