Growing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric causing rise in suicides: advocates

[Behind the Aegis]

A combination of factors, from isolation during the pandemic to growing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in politics and extremism, is leading to poorer mental health outcomes for young people in the LGBTQ community, new data from the Trevor Project shows.

"I think the pandemic is certainly a factor," said Ellen Kahn, Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Human Rights Campaign. "But when we talk to folks in our community, across the board - southern states, northern states, red states, blue states, purple, rural, urban - there is a sense that there is kind of a renewed attack on our community," she said.

In the past year, more than 250 bills were introduced in state legislatures targeting the LGBTQ community, of which 24 have passed so far.

In an opinion supporting the Supreme Court's decision to remove federal protections for abortion access, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should also reconsider other due process cases - including the legalization of same-sex marriage and the prevention of states from outlawing consensual gay sex.

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