Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced at a news conference Wednesday morning a proposal to create a new LGBTQIA+ commission, intended to support the gay and transgender community in the county.
The daylong Howard County Pride festival on Oct. 9 will be hosted in coordination with the Inner Arbor Trust at the Chrysalis in Symphony Woods in Columbia, said Jumel Howard, chair of the HoCo Pride group.
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Even though there s more visibility than ever for the LGBTQ+ community, coming out can still be difficult. If you re a parent of someone who recently came out, here s what you should know and how you can offer your support.
The average age of coming out gets younger each generation
, but the LGBTQ+ community still experiences discrimination.
Research suggests that children and young adults are coming out at younger ages and in greater numbers than earlier generations. According to a 2013 Pew Research Study, the median age LGBTQ+ people reported coming out to others is 20 years old. Individuals who are transgender (those whose gender identity is different from the gender they were assigned at birth) and non-binary (those whose gender identity isn’t exclusively male or female) reported coming out at an average of 18.5 years old, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.