John Shore blogs for Huffington Post and just posted an interview with the Executive Director and CEO of The Trevor Project. Within the interview are some basic suicide facts…
- In the United States, more than 34,000 people die by suicide each year (2007 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]).
- Of all American teens who die by their own hand, 30 percent are LGBTQ.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12 percent of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently (2006 National Adolescent Health Information).
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (2008 CDC).
- For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey).
- Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts 2007 Youth Risk Survey).
- LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al., Pediatrics 123(1): 346-52).
- Almost 85 percent of LGBTQ teenagers are harassed in high school because of their sexual orientation, with 61 percent of gay youth reporting that they felt unsafe in school and 30 percent staying home to avoid bullying (2009 Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network survey).
More and more startling statistics are coming out in the wake of recent LGBT teen suicides due to bullying. Read Shore’s interview HERE
