Civic Duty Reaches Out to LGBT Youth Population
(PRWEB) September 19, 2013 -- Civic Duty is pleased to announce its support of The Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to the prevention of suicide among adolescents in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning communities. Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are four times more likely, and questioning youth are three times more likely, to attempt suicide than their straight peers, according to the CDC. While precise data is difficult to find, at least one study shows that approximately 50% of transgender youth seriously consider taking their own life, and nearly 25% attempt suicide. It is difficult to determine how many LGBT people die of any cause in the U.S. because sexual orientation and gender identity are not captured on death certificates or standardized in medical records. There is an effort to help improve that kind of data collection, but it will take a while for this to occur.
“The suicide attempt rate among LGBTQ teenagers and young adults is statistically far higher than many other groups, and we must to do everything we can to end this tragic phenomenon,” says Julian Omidi, cofounder of Civic Duty. “The Trevor Project gives hope and support to a woefully neglected demographic. Civic Duty applauds their efforts and advocacy, and we will continue to offer our support as long as it is needed.”
Personal experiences with discrimination and bullying are believed to be contributing factors that increase a person’s risk of attempting suicide. Many also link this tragic trend to America’s hetero-centric culture and the frequent use of LGBTQ people as a political wedge issue in contemporary efforts to halt legalizing same-sex marriages. Depression and drug use among the LGBTQ population have been shown to increase significantly after new laws that discriminate against gay communities are passed.
The Trevor Lifeline is a 24 hour, 7 days per week telephone resource for suicide prevention and crisis intervention. The Lifeline answers more than 36,000 calls per year, and was given credit for being an exemplary crisis prevention hotline by the American Association for Suicidology. The Trevor Project also hosts Lifeguard Workshops for the purpose of increasing teacher and youth counselor awareness of LGTBQ issues.
In addition to its telephone crisis counseling and telephone suicide prevention efforts, The Trevor Project has three other core crisis intervention programs: TrevorChat, TrevorText and Ask Trevor. TrevorChat is a thoroughly confidential instant messaging resource that is conducted live, seven days a week (3-9pm ET) and is available to youth at TheTrevorProject.org/Chat. TrevorText is a text messaging service that connects youth in need of help to trained specialists on Fridays, 4-8pm ET. Ask Trevor is an online forum where youth and adults can ask non-urgent questions or search the database for questions and answers about coming out, school, family, transitioning and more, available at AskTrevor.org.
The Trevor Project (http://www.thetrevorproject.org) was founded in 1998 when a group of filmmakers, whose film “Trevor”, about a gay teenager who attempts suicide was scheduled to air on HBO, decided to begin their own support system for LGBTQ youth. The Trevor Project is the only national suicide prevention and crisis intervention service devoted to the LGTBQ teen and young adult community.
Civic Duty (http://www.civicduty.org) is dedicated to mankind’s search for meaning and promotes the values of its founders, philanthropists Julian Omidi and his brother Dr. Michael Omidi. The charity’s mission is to inspire creative outreach, community service, and volunteerism through the stories of everyday people who are making an extraordinary difference in the world. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow men.” To get involved and help make a difference, send us a message using the website’s Contact Us function. More information about Civic Duty can be found on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and Twitter.
Media Relations, Civic Duty, http://www.civicduty.org/, 855-330-5600, [email protected]
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