The Trevor Project is encouraging lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth across America to “be proud and speak out” by sharing stories about experiences and issues they encountered living openly and proudly as LGBTQ young people. As the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth, The Trevor Project launched the “Rated Q” video initiative on National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11, 2009. The initiative is designed to empower young people to listen to and support one another in an interactive and dynamic forum.

“The ‘Rated Q’ video initiative is really about celebrating bravery, encouraging empathy and harnessing the power of creativity and community in self-expression,” said Charles Robbins, executive director and CEO, The Trevor Project. “Since LGBTQ youth remain up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, it is important to think outside the box and provide fresh, ingenious outlets for them to share their feelings and experiences in a safe, supportive environment.”

Every day, counselors on The Trevor Helpline, the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQ youth, talk to young people across the country struggling with issues surrounding sexual orientation, gender identity, family/peer rejection and feelings of despair and hopelessness. For every youth in crisis, there are many more who find acceptance from a friend, teacher or loved one. The Trevor Project is challenging LGBTQ youth to express their life experiences about topics including feeling harassed, bullied or singled out, finding support from others, and coming out to family and friends.

Should it matter who I love?

Contributed by Elizandra Martinez, President of Eros (Gay-Straight Alliance) and Active Minds (Mental Health Advocacy) at
Regis University, Denver, CO

Dominique de Menil said, “What should move us to action is human dignity: the inalienable dignity of the oppressed, but also the dignity of each of us. We lose dignity if we tolerate the intolerable.”

My senior year in high school started strong. I was captain for varsity athletics in basketball and soccer and was looking to lead my teams further than the previous seasons. I also had the opportunity to serve my school as Student Body President, and I was tied for first academically in my class. My senior year all changed in the matter of months. Many can’t wait until their 18th birthday, but I was one of those who were dreading it. After that day, my life would be forever changed. Now that I was considered an adult, the parents of the girl that I was in a relationship with now had the law on their side. Her parents took the matter to the school and told the administrators that we were not allowed to have contact. We happened to be on the same basketball team, so of course we would talk. After we had contact the administration told me that I disobeyed authority. Over the course of the next two months I was suspended from school, got kicked off my sports teams, had a suicide attempt and spent a night in jail due to a mutual restraining order violation (which was dismissed), all because I was a lesbian. Then the school took my responsibilities of student body president away they said, “we cannot have someone like you leading our school.”

I am not alone in experiencing a desire to die from the pain that intolerance causes.

Did you know?

My name is Ernesto Dominguez; my friends call me “E.” I am a 21-year-old youth living in Portland, Oregon. I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and grew up in the beautiful city of Salt Lake. If I had to define my sexual orientation today, I would say Queer – I tend to mostly just think of myself as a sexual being that is attracted to other sexual beings. If I had to define my gender identity today, I would say I consider myself cisgender, but also gender queer. At its core, what that means is, my gender expression tends to fluctuate (sometimes dramatically) from month to month, or sometimes day to day. On the other hand though, I have always really enjoyed my male body and never felt a need to change it in any way.

My coming out experience was different from my non-people of color (POC) peers for a number of reasons, thus making it quite different than other youth’s experiences. Because I was not white, my mother would always tell me to try and fit in, instead of standing out – that simply by being gay, I was making myself stand out from the rest of the population and subsequently was making my family stand out. My sexual orientation was a reflection not just on myself, but also on the rest of my family. Our family already had a “strike” against us for being from another country, and my sexuality only served to give my family another one.

The opportunity to volunteer at Trevor came to me at the end of a quest for something that would have a deep and lasting meaning for me and for others. I was seeking an enriching experience that would be of use to those who are in need. I was looking for an outlet and a source of nourishment for the nurturing side of my personality – an aspect that finds little employment in my line of work. Besides, I wanted to be in the company of people who are sincere believers in a worthwhile cause; who are warm, passionate, and compassionate; who are able to suspend their needs - even just for a few hours to take care of the needs of others. After 20 or so shifts over the last few months, I still cannot believe my good fortune at having found all this at The Trevor Project.

When two 11-year-old boys died by suicide in April of this year after enduring relentless anti-gay bullying at their separate schools, shocked citizens across the country were forced to come to terms with an uncomfortable but blatant epidemic. The hallways of schools, homes, churches and other places where all young people should be able to safely learn and grow are plagued with its tragic prevalence. Youth who identify as or are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide at a disproportionately high rate as a result of the increased risk factors sexual minorities face.

A new study released in August by the UCLA School of Public Health found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people are twice as likely as heterosexual men and women to seek help from mental health professionals. This recently-revealed conclusion perfectly illustrates the already often-noted statistic determined by a Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey published in 2007: LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers – a fact we’re all too familiar with at The Trevor Project. Perhaps more off-putting than this distressing statistic is that only 14 states even bother to collect sexual orientation data in their Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. The remaining 72% of states ignore the opportunity to obtain vital information about a subculture of young people who are already all too often left without the support networks and resources they desperately need. As disheartening stories such as Carl Walker-Hoover’s and Jaheem Herrera’s (the two 11-year-old boys) surface more frequently, the harsh realities force us to address the preventable nature of these tragedies.

The week of September 6 through 12 marks National Suicide Prevention Week, a time when all of us should confront a taboo subject that has impacted the lives of more people than many of us care to acknowledge. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves young lives through its free and confidential helpline (866.4.U.TREVOR), in-school workshops, educational materials, online resources and public policy advocacy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, and the third leading cause of death among all people ages 15 to 24. Additionally, research has shown that LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers – a tragic outcome of the way so many young people are treated in their homes, schools, communities and religious institutions. Consider this brief story about a college student who reached out to The Trevor Helpline a few months ago: