LGBT Youth Suicide

Preventing queer youth suicide is not the work of a few organizations. It should be the part of all our missions. The statistics are alarming for all queer youth (LGBT youth are more than four times as likely to commit suicide than their straight peers), and when one considers that queer youth of color and transgender students are even more likely to be targeted, the disparities become increasingly apparent. Youth of color are anywhere from 20-40% more likely than their white peers to have attempted suicide before age 18, and nearly half of all trans youth have considered suicide. Factors contributing to queer youth suicide rates are diverse and accordingly, our work on this subject, as a youth-led national advocacy organization, operates on three levels.

First, we highlight resources for LGBT youth who feel unsafe or threatened because of their identities. Through work with queer youth suicide-prevention groups like The Trevor Project and the It Gets Better Project, we engage with the organizations that have laid a strong foundation and continue to foster dialog and provide safe resources.

Furthermore, we support the creation of safer spaces on college and high school campuses through the creation of NMB branches and sales of equality rings. Strong support networks in schools and communities are critical to queer youth mental health. Schools that have GSAs, for example, offer more robust resources for queer youth. The existence of GSAs in turn is correlated with the existence of state or local anti-discrimination laws and support from external LGBTQ advocacy organizations. Our intend is to serve as a body of support for high schools looking to get involved in activism. Wearing and seeing equality rings are simple signals of a supportive community, of safe spaces.

Finally, we believe that a more inclusive legal system will start to dismantle some of our communities’ institutionalized homophobia. This is not a one-to-one process, obviously, and much work will remain long after same-sex marriage equality is instituted federally. Still, we believe that discriminatory laws such as same-sex marriage bans, promote and legitimize homophobia, strengthening the risk factors associated with LGBTQ youth suicide. A few risk factors associated with LGBTQ youth suicide include a lack of social support, a sense of isolation, and mental disorders, along with many other factors. Stigma and discrimination, perpetuated by legal inequality, strengthen these risk factors. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center
“Stigma and discrimination are directly tied to risk factors for suicide. For example, discrimination has a strong association with mental illness, and heterosexism may lead to isolation, family rejection, and lack of access to culturally competent care… The legal system continues to reinforce stigma through discriminatory laws, and the absence of laws protecting sexual minorities from discrimination in employment, housing, and services.”
It is important, then, that we move our fight to the federal level as well, ensuring that youth feel their voices heard at all levels of society: personal, institutional, and federal.

Sources:
Some Challenges Facing Queer Youth Programs in Urban High Schools
Gay Straight Alliances in High Schools: Social Predictors of Early Adoption
Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
National Strategies for Suicide Prevention
The Trevor Project
Generation Out
Healthy Place