Rejection and beyond: How and why LGBTQ+ youth arrive at out-of-home care

Background: LGBTQ+ youth are at greater risk of being rejected and even maltreated by their families, which can often prompt them to leave their parents’ homes and arrive at out-of-home care. Objective: The purpose of this article is to explore the different circumstances of LGBTQ+ youth arriving at out-of-home care in the Israeli context. The research questions were: (1) What are the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth before arriving at out-of-home care? (2) What are the circumstances that led them to homelessness, in their eyes? Method: The study employed a grounded theory approach. Thirty-one in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with LGBTQ+ youth aged 16–32 (average 21.5) and analyzed. Results: The analysis indicates three main types of profile: (1) The Runaway Survivors who encounter severe rejection from their families, prompting them to leave their parents’ homes; (2) The Abuse Survivors who left their homes as a result of abuse or maltreatment from their parents, which was not necessarily related to sexual orientation or gender identity; (3) The Hidden Identity Survivors who decided to leave their parents’ homes to be who they are, to fulfill themselves and make the gender transition or come out as LGBTQ+. Conclusions: Our findings emphasize that the lack of acceptance of the child's sexual orientation and/or gender identity by parents and the lack of validation of their LGBTQ+ identity constitutes a form of emotional abuse. Additionally, we discuss the practices that should be used in out-of-home care according to the arrival circumstances of the young person.