Happy Pride Month! Pride is a wonderful time for LGBTQ+ folks to celebrate their identity and community, and a good time for aspiring allies to show their support. It’s also an important time to talk about LGBTQ+ mental health.
According to the Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health 2021, 75% of LGBTQ youth reported that they had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at least once in their lifetime. This discrimination can have a big negative impact on mental health, and is one of the reasons that LGBTQ+ youth suicide rates tend to be higher than their cis, straight counterparts.
On a hopeful note, the same survey also found that LGBTQ+ youth who had access to spaces that affirmed their sexual orientation and gender identity reported lower rates of attempting suicide. This goes to show that working to create safe, affirming, and welcoming spaces in your school can go a long way for protecting LGBTQ+ mental health.
*If you are an LGBTQ+ person looking for resources immediately, please follow this link.*
At OMM, we think it’s important that the work for LGBTQ+ mental health goes beyond Pride month. Here’s what we have in store for this June and beyond:
Club Guide
Check out our recently launched LGBTQ+ Minds Matter Club Guide! Inside are activity suggestions, simple steps to make your club and school a safer place immediately, a glossary so you can brush up on your terms, and lots of resources for LGBTQ+ young folks and allies alike. Maybe your club is taking a break for the summer, or maybe you’ve got a few more meetings to go this year. Either way, it’s never too late or too early to get started on making your OMM club a warm, welcoming, and exciting place for ALL people, including LGBTQ+ students.
Social Media
Follow along with us on Instagram all month long for our Pride Campaign! We’ll share content about identities, how to be a better ally, and some exciting upcoming events. Speaking of events…
This Matters
Tune in for an IG Live on Monday, June 27th at 7pm with OMM’s own, Mo Butler and special guest Lauren Bullock! This important conversation will be the second installment of our This Matters series, which is designed to give folks a space to discuss topics that are relevant to teens and mental health. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Pride Month than talking about LGBTQ+ Joy! Check out Lauren’s bio:
Lauren Bullock is a queer genderfluid multiracial writer, performer, teacher, events organizer, and model. Lauren’s work appears on AFROPUNK.com, Button Poetry, The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, The Human Rights Campaign, and more. Lauren earned acclaim for pop culture commentary through editorials on Black Nerd Problems and serving as poetry editor for FreezeRay Poetry. To date, Lauren has organized 7 international and regional arts conferences or festivals, and 5 monthly series. Lauren’s modeling work has been featured by publications such as Gmaro Magazine and Out-and-Out Magazine. When not creating Lauren enjoys fighting crime as a costumed vigilante of many aliases. Keep up with Lauren on social media: @GoLaurenBullock and @BridgesLegit!