It occurred to me that I’ve been so busy working on papers for school, projects for work, and a personal life that I’ve neglected to chronicle my experiences. For me, as I’ve recently discovered, I learn by writing down everything and reviewing it later (this has especially become important in all of my classes…). Anyway, I think it’s growing increasingly important for me to write down my thoughts, reflections, and experiences so that I can look back on these and determine how much I’ve grown or remained stagnant.
Anyway, back to the point of this post. In the past few weeks, I’ve grown increasingly drawn to the media’s attention on the subject of the number of LGBT youth suicides occurring all over the nation. It is somewhat natural for me to be drawn to this subject given my background in with those issues and my own identity. But what I’ve noticed more is the amount of attention that individuals other than those in the LGBT community are paying to this matter. Every day I log onto facebook and the “Wear Purple” event shows up in my newsfeed with an additional 25 or so individuals attending this or proclaiming their support for the event. While this is very touching, I find frustration with this. It begs the age old question that asks why does it take such a mass tragedy to bring attention to this matter?
According to a Massachusetts study, Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (see http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-signs for more information). With this shocking statistic, it really is of no surprise to me that these individuals are taking their lives. Also not of shock to me, that because of the incident at Rutgers University, the media has grabbed a hold of this and publicized all of these recent deaths. My point being this: hundreds of individuals across college campuses struggle with their sexuality every day. Some of those individuals feel so isolated that they choose to end their lives. While the media’s publication of this is great for shedding light on the issue it is not a new issue, just recently more publicized.
What are you doing on your campus to ensure that all individuals feel included? Do you have a safe zone poster on your office door? Have you established yourself as someone who is an ally for LGBT students? Are you advocating for their needs on your campus? What more can you do?
I am finding myself asking these questions: Is support for LGBT youth on campus a popular fad right now? What does it take for administration and students to make a commitment to the underrepresented minorities on their campus? Will a death have to occur at every institution for each institution to make an commitment to the under represented LGBT community?
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