The Struggle Is Real: The Attack Against LGBTQIA2S+ Community

I was hoping to end the year with a kind of summation of where we "are" in the LGBTQIA2S+ community and the world in which we live. However, opening up Oregon Public Broadcast (OPB) latest news on their website, such was not the case. 

Elizabeth Miller of OPB wrote the following: "A new survey of LGBTQ youth across the country finds 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in 2021, the year survey responses were collected. At the same time, 60% of youth who wanted mental health care were not able to get it."

"In Oregon, 44% of LGBTQ youth surveyed have “seriously considered” suicide in the past year. That figure is only slightly lower in Washington, where 41% of LGBTQ youth surveyed considered suicide."

"Ninety percent of Oregon LGBTQ youth say recent politics have harmed their well-being “sometimes” or “a lot.” That number is 89% in Washington."

This is scandalously high.

Having worked in non-profits who house LGBTQIA2S+ young people who are homeless, many of these young people are in this situation because they were kicked out of their homes, rejected by parents and family systems, or were bullied in schools, and found no place or help or support in religious organizations.

There is a mental health problem among LGBTQIA2S+ young people in our country, with a high number thinking of taking their life. 

A large part of this is because the surrounding culture, including religious institutions, e.g., churches, have not helped in being part of a healthy support system. LGBTQIA2S+ young people have been attacked by conservative Republican legislatures and governors. There is Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bills, along with people attacking drag queens as "groomers" when they take their place in libraries, reading children's books to young children. The Republican legislatures targeting transgender youth and athletes, along with school boards that are rejecting and throwing away books that have an LGBTQIA2S+ theme continues to make the world in which we live unsafe and a threat to the lives of LGBTQIA2S+ people. Young people who are LGBTQIA2S+ are listening and reading and absorbing these hurt-filled messages.

The struggle for equality, free from the attacks from the conservative legislatures, is real. And it is having a real effect upon the lives of young LGBTQIA2S+ people. 

What makes a difference? Miller cites people using the pronouns chosen by the young LGBTQIA2S+ people. Affirming spaces and people makes a difference. Pride Parades make a difference. And having out LGBTQIA2S+ teachers in schools makes a difference. My hunch is that out-LGBTQIA2S+ religious leaders would also make a difference. 

Here's a link to the article: https://www.opb.org/article/2022/12/26/oregon-washington-lgbtq-queer-gay-lesbian-trans-youth-children-teens-suicide-trevor-project-statistics-data/

The struggle for having an affirming sense of "self"/mental health of LGBTQIA2S+ young people is real. The idea of suicide as a way "out" is too high. 

The question for us in religious communities is simple. What is our role and function in the lives of LGBTQIA2S+ young people? Is it to hurt and abuse LGBTQIA2S+ young people by denying them a place at the table or congregation's life? Or is it being a place and people who affirm and respect one and all, including LGBTQIA2S+ people. After all, we who are in the LGBTQIA2S+ community are also created the image of God, equals in the body of Christ, and beloved of Christ. And as a marginalized community, we worship a Christ who purposefully reached out, and reaches out, to the marginalized; the Outsider; those considered "less than" by others.

May it be so.