An upcoming seminar at a Des Moines church will put the spotlight on suicide prevention in the gay, lesbian, transgendered and questioning youth community (a demographic also known by the acronym LGBTQ.)
Scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at the Saltwater Unitarian Universalist Church, the seminar will discuss how adults working with teens can better understand the factors putting these youth at a higher risk for suicide or self harm. It also will outline resources for getting help for LGBTQ teens, and what people can do to support these teens in their struggle for identity and acceptance by others.
“If we increase support for them, it will reduce the risks,” said Heather Carter, of the Seattle-based Youth Suicide Prevention program, who will be leading the seminar.
The program is geared toward people who work with teenagers – everyone from educators and school administrators, to the church community and to parents themselves.
Educators are often the first considered, when talking about who should attend a seminar about working with LGBTQ teens, but Carter said the church community and parents should consider attendance as well.
“The faith community is a huge protective factor in the LGBTQ community, when they are in support of who they are,” she said. “Family is very important, in what they can do to help ensure what their children do to make the right choices.”
Carter noted that with an estimated 1 in 10 teens identifying with gay, lesbian and transgendered issues, there’s a better-than-average chance that adults who interact with teens are going to know someone in that demographic.
“Even if they don’t come out to you and say, ‘hey, I’m gay,’ you’re working with them,” she said.
Teen suicides over gender issues recently have gained attention in the public eye.
Over the past few months a number of highly publicized suicides by teens in the LGBTQ community have been reported in the media, a number of them prompted by harassment from other teenagers.
But harassment over gender identification has been around for years, and so too have the organizations that track the issues. Carter outlined a study that’s undertaken every two years by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which surveys GLBTQ students across the nation about school climate.
In the most recent survey, undertaken in 2009, 86.4 percent of students who were surveyed reported being harassed; 40 percent reported being physically harassed and 18.8 percent reported being physically assaulted.
Often, what puts teens at a higher suicide risk than adults is not yet having the coping skills of dealing with personal problems.
“Part of it is just that split-second decision-making,” Carter said. “Adults may process through things longer.”
And in general, she said, just being a teenager can be difficult enough.
“It’s hard to be a tennager, and the more things you have piled on you, the more difficult it is.”
Learn more
What: Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Questioning Youth: An Introduction to Youth Suicide Risks and Resources
When: 7-9 p.m. Nov. 16
Where: Saltwater Church, 25701 14th Place S., Des Moines
Contact: The church at 253-839-5200, info@saltwaterchurch.org, or Heather Clark at Youth Suicide Prevention at 206-297-5922, ext. 116, heather@yspp.org.
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