TW//: Mentions of suicide

Breaking news, it’s not pride month anymore so you can put away your dollar store flags and start writing some hot and fresh anti-LGBTQ+ legislature. Just like we do every year. It’s time for a change, and it’s apparent now more than ever.

According to a study done by healthline and the Trevor Project, 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months. This can be due to many things, including an abusive household, fears of coming out, being forced to contradict your identity, and numerous other reasons. The fact that it came out as almost half of LGBTQ youth is a catastrophe. It’s unimaginable the amount of suffering these kids have to go through. And yet still the adults of our country continue to not run but sprint backward towards the times when being gay was practically a death sentence. 

“A bill recently introduced in Congress would restrict federal funding from organizations, local governments, and schools that include LGBTQ content in events, programs, education, and more.” This quote – which was pulled from abc News – is in regards to a new bill that was presented that goes by the name of “Stop The Sexualization of Children Act”. Really it’s a national version of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It would be “Prohibiting the presentation of sexually oriented materials to children under the age of 10.”

That includes discussions in school about sexual orientation, pornography, sexual acts, and gender transitioning. The cause of this motion was to make it so that only parents have the right to decide what, when, where, and how their children learn about those topics. 

The people who proposed this act – and those willing to vote for it – aren’t protecting their children’s innocence, but rather denying that such a big part of our society exists entirely. That is the hidden truth of this bill. Its intentions are anything but pure, and its purpose certainly isn’t to protect the children of this country.

On page (5), lines 16-22 of the “Stop The Sexualization of Children Act” depict “sexually-oriented material” as the following:

• Any depiction, description, or simulation of sexual activity
• Any lewd or lascivious depiction or description of human genitals
• Any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects.

All content in relation to the LGBTQ+ community would be swept under the rug and left to dust while kids who could potentially be questioning their identity are left scared and confused because some parents are just too terrified at the thought that people’s differences can be embraced rather than ridiculed. 

These are real people we’re talking about, not just statistics. Take Junior Michael Martin (He/They) for example. He is someone who had a less fortunate experience as a POC queer youth in America, not having been as privileged as I am to have the support I do.

“I found out about different sexualities in the 5th grade, and in 6th grade, I found out being trans was a thing, which then I thought, ‘ah, that makes sense for me.” Martin came out to their mom at one point and her reaction was everything but supportive. “My mom yelled at me, she basically said ‘what do you want me to do? I can’t afford any of those surgeries. I’m not gonna call you a different name or pronouns, you’re my daughter.”

His experience coming out as pansexual wasn’t any more pleasant, as you can imagine. “When I came out to my mom for being not straight she yelled at me and I almost had to go stay with my sister because she was afraid my mom was going to do something.” They were scared even being home because of the risk of getting verbally berated or invalidated. 

“She gets very upset, she wants to know everything so she knows I’m not being fully honest with her because I’m afraid she’ll get angry because the last time I came out she kind of shoved me back into the closet,” said Martin.

I offer you a portion of Michael’s story to maybe humanize the situation more. To give you a renewed perspective on the reality of it all. Kids are dying because of the lengths their supposed loved ones are willing to go to not accept them and make them feel less-than. We cannot keep going like this. The system we have now not only isn’t working, but it’s also making things worse. No longer can we allow far-right, anti-LGTBQ politicians to take positions in our government. Go home, and discuss with your parents about who they’re deciding to vote for. And if you’re 18, it’s time for you to take action. You have rights, and the ability to influence change. Just make sure you’re doing it for the better.