UC Davis

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents and emerging adults experienced social and structural inequities and evinced more psychosocial adjustment difficulties than cisgender, heterosexual youths before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unique array of stressors confronting SGM youths during the pandemic - including separation from affirming and supportive peers, teachers and communities, and mandated co-residence with potentially rejecting family members - may have exacerbated these discrepancies. Conversely, social distancing and remote learning may have reduced direct exposure to discrimination outside the home, and many SGM youths leveraged their personal and social resources to cope with pandemic-related stressors. This review considers the empirical literature on the academic, psychological, and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for SGM youths.