#ShowThemYouCARE #SuicidePrevention - September is National Suicide Prevention Month

According to The Trevor Project’s research, 40% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months, with more than half of Trans and Nonbinary youth having seriously considered it.

Check out this video from The Trevor Project, explaining how to Prevent Suicide with CARE: which stands for Connect, Ask, Respond, and Empower



As Patricia says in the video,

"Acceptance from at least one adult can decrease the risk of LGBTQ youth suicide by 40%."

Learn more about how to help LGBTQ youth in crisis here: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/CARE/

Stay safe, 

know that the world needs your light,

and that the light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you.

Lee

Jerkbait - Twins struggle with one of them being a secretly gay ice hockey star, and the other having a very different dream

Jerkbait by Mia Siegert

Even though they're identical, Tristan isn't close to his twin Robbie at all--until Robbie tries to kill himself. Forced to share a room to prevent Robbie from hurting himself, the brothers begin to feel the weight of each other's lives on the ice, and off. Tristan starts seeing his twin not as a hockey star whose shadow Tristan can't escape, but a struggling gay teen terrified about coming out in the professional sports world. Robbie's future in the NHL is plagued by anxiety and the mounting pressure from their dad, coach, and scouts, while Tristan desperately fights to create his own future, not as a hockey player but a musical theatre performer. As their season progresses and friends turn out to be enemies, Robbie finds solace in an online stranger known only as "Jimmy2416." Between keeping Robbie's secret and saving him from taking his life, Tristan is given the final call: sacrifice his dream for a brother he barely knows, or pursue his own path. How far is Robbie willing to go--and more importantly, how far is Tristan willing to go to help him?

Add your review of "Jerkbait" in comments!

Stand For The Silent - A Powerful Anti-Bullying School Presentation

Featured in the upcoming movie BULLY, Ty Smalley was 11 when, after years of being picked on and bullied, he finally had enough and physically reacted to his bully's taunts.  Ty was caught for 'fighting'.  Suspended from school.  And he killed himself.

Ty Smalley

Ty's parents Kirk and Laura have made it their mission to stop this epidemic of bullying, and they're taking action through STAND FOR THE SILENT.

I was fortunate to attend Kirk's assembly program at a Los Angeles Middle School this week.  It was powerful, and wrenching.

Kirk had the kids on his side, supporting him as he told the story of his son, and of other children like Ty who took their own lives because of bullying.

He asked for a show of hands, who there had ever been bullied.  Every single person raised their hand.

He asked for another show of hands, who there had even been a bully.  Four hands went up.

He told us that every seven seconds, someone is bullied in our world.

There's work to do.

And then, he got the entire auditorium of 800 plus students to take this pledge out loud:

"From this day forward I promise to respect those around me as well as respect myself.  I am somebody, and I can make a difference.  I can make another feel loved.  I can be the helping hand that leads another back to a path of hope and aspiration.  I will not stand silent as others try to spread hatred through my community.  Instead, I pledge to lift up these victims, and show them that their life matters.  I will be the change, because I am somebody."

It was such a powerful moment.

Kirk spoke with passion and deep emotion, and I cheer him on.  We need all our voices raised to empower children and teens to stop bullying and make their world - our world - better.

Here's a CNN story on Kirk - and in it you can see how raw and honest he's able to be about his loss, and the promise he made to his son on the Father's Day after Ty's death, that he'd stop this from happening to another child.







So let's do it. Let's stand with Kirk. And let's Stand For The Silent.

Let's each of us do everything we can to end bullying.


Namaste,
Lee

Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives To Suicide For Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws

By Kate Bornstein

"Celebrated transsexual trailblazer Kate Bornstein has, with more humor and spunk than any other, ushered us into a world of limitless possibility through a daring re-envisionment of the gender system as we know it.

Here, Kate bravely and wittily shares personal and unorthodox methods of survival for navigating an often cruel world.  A one-of-a-kind guide to staying alive outside the box, Hello, Cruel World is a much-needed unconventional approach to teenage suicide prevention for marginalized youth who want to stay on the edge, but alive.

Hello, Cruel World features a catalog of 101 Alternatives To Suicide that range from the playful (Moisturize), to the irreverent (Disbelieve the Binary), to the highly controversial (Get Laid.  Please.)  Designed to encourage readers to give themselves permission to unleash their hearts' harmless desires, this book has only one directive: "Don't be mean."  It is this guiding principle that brings its reader on a self-validating journey, which forges wholly new paths toward a resounding decision to choose life.

Tenderly intimate and unapologetically edgy, Kate is the radical role model, the affectionate best friend, and the guiding mentor all in one kind and spirited package."


And I have to share a bit from a great review of this book by Jack Radish:

"Bornstein’s book is the thing that could help all those people sitting in front of their computer screen looking at “It Gets Better” videos and getting hope answer the question, “how can I make it better now???” You would think that all the people orchestrating [the "It Gets Better"] project would want those people to get those answers. But what happens when those answers are weird, dangerous and freaky? What happens when the answer is not that life gets better for depressed queer people when they neatly assimilate into mainstream culture? What happens when the answer is that queer people and trans people and other people who are different can make their lives better by embracing the things that make them freaks and weirdos and outlaws and deviants and say “f[-] you” to mainstream culture that tries to stop us from doing that?" 

Add your review of "Hello Cruel World" in comments!  

And if you are in crisis and need to talk to someone, The Trevor Project's lifeline has people 24/7 on their phone lines.  Call them at 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386).

It's Suicide Prevention Week... How To Help Someone In Crisis

Watch this.  It gave me goosebumps:






And here's more info:







There's an interesting back and forth in the youtube comments on that second video, about how they didn't include the "T" in GLBT when giving the statistical data on suicide risks - the explanation given is that they didn't intend to exclude transgender teens or to minimize the importance of stopping transgender teen suicide, it's just that there isn't enough research on transgender teens to include them in the statements about being at additional risk.



The Trevor Project's website has lots more about Suicide Prevention Week and what you can do to help here.



And if you need to talk to someone, anytime, call the Trevor Lifeline: 866-4-U-TREVOR (that's 866-488-7386)



There's a fear that by mentioning suicide in a GLBTQ environment, that maybe we're reinforcing stereotypes that all queer youth are unhappy and suicidal... Which of course isn't true. But it is true that queer youth are harassed and targeted more than non-queer youth in schools, and that our culture is awash with many homophobic currents. And it's critical to talk about that - and to be responsible to those in our community who are suffering and let them know about the resources available.



Let them know that life gets better.



Let them know that so many of us are working to make things better.



Which of course, makes me want to share MY "It Gets Better Video" with you all. So if you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.



Namaste, know it gets better, and be good to yourselves!

Lee

ps - a big hug to my husband for letting me know about the Trevor Project Flash Mob video!