Most people assume that lesbians don't need to worry about birth control. That's because birth control is designed to prevent a pregnancy, which just isn't going to happen from sex between same gender couples.

But simply because a girl identifies as lesbian, or a guy identifies as gay, that doesn't mean that they will never have sex with an opposite sex partner.

In fact, a study done of teens in British Columbia, Canada found that the majority of lesbian and bisexual girls and almost half of the gay male teens had done so in the past year!

Sometimes this happens when kids are trying to hide the fact that they are gay. And sometimes kids who are openly gay have sex with opposite gender partners simply because they are curious or interested in having the experience.

This wouldn't be an issue, except for something else the study found: High unplanned pregnancy rates among GLBT teens. As the report states:

Both bisexual and gay/ lesbian youth were more likely than their heterosexual peers to report having been pregnant or having caused a pregnancy. Compared to heterosexual peers their same age, bisexual and gay males were more than 3 times more likely to have been involved in a pregnancy, while lesbian and bisexual females were 2 to 3 times as likely to have been pregnant than heterosexual females.
I was really surprised to hear this, but there are a lot of reasons that could contribute to the situation.

A big one is that when GLBT teens do have sex with someone of the opposite gender, they aren't as likely as heterosexual teens to use birth control. Here are some reasons why:

Sex education directed at GLBT teens rarely emphasizes birth control.
Doctors and other health care providers are less likely to talk about pregnancy with teens they know are gay.

A GLBT teen might not be realistic about the risk of pregnancy and might assume it can't happen.

For gay teens with low self esteem, it can be to hard to insist on using birth control.
This study shows is that everyone needs accurate information on birth control and safer sex, regardless of sexual orientation. It is also an important reminder that putting people in boxes, puts them at risk!