Out.com: Doing Something About LGBTQ+ Teen Suicide

Seven months ago, I began a project I believe will be the beginning to the end of today's teen suicide epidemic. Teen suicide is the number one cause of death for ages 10-17 in my home state of Utah. Most of these kids are LGBTQ and it is the state's homophobic, heteronormative cultural and social dynamics—not the weather or the altitude—that embed themselves in our youth’s developing minds and cause internal damage—damages that some do not deem fit to redirect or avoid. 

Utah's dominant religion, Mormonism, strongly impacts the state's LGBTQ community. The Utahan people are not taking responsibility to better safeguard the minds of their struggling queer youth, largely because the word "queer" is seen through the lens of sin. The condemnation of queer, however, does not justify the neglect of Utah’s high rates of teen suicide. Regardless of whether the prevalence of teen suicide is due to religion or one of the many reasons the state hides behind, Utah needs change now.