Queer teens are four times more likely to commit suicide and three times more likely to have been forced to have sex. This is according to CDC and some studies concerning the mental health of today's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Axesual (LGBTQA) community.
Teens who are confused of their gender and orientation have a high risk to have depression. Activities associated to them developing the mental disorder are drug use, sex, violence, self harm, and suicide. Among the LGBTQA, the fifth group (Queer) are the ones who have high risks in almost all of these.
Queer students have higher risk for rape and domestic violence. The Verge Magazine featured an article which states that "About 18 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual students have been physically forced to have sex, compared to about 5 percent of straight students. Bisexual and gay students are twice as likely to have experienced both physical and sexual dating violence." It was also said that the queer group has a high risk for bullying hence making them feel abused and treated as outcasts.
Schools and parents have the highest responsibility for teens who are experiencing such confusion in their identity. What these teens do now will have a significant impact on their current and future mental and physical health.
Statistics say that 26 percent of LGBT youth have problems with being not accepted by their family, being bullied, and being afraid to come out of the closet. All these add up to the gradual infliction of self-harm or suicide.
Parents should not stop being parents when their children step on their eighteenth year. Each home should be a place where stress and conflict are treated and resolved. Schools can also contribute much to solve identity and gender crisis among teens by giving policies that will protect all students and fully educate them about homosexuality and its effect in communities and around the world. In many cases, homesexuality becomes and affects the ,mental condition of a person. When it becomes a trend, some just decide to enter the community. For some other cases, it is deeply rooted and is usually misinterpreted as a scientific case, which is not.
Being gay or lesbian or queer is not easy. The challenge for defense and justification is seemingly eternal. Well it is. The fight is tough. But everyone deserves to live freely.
