More to be done - Village Magazine

April 2016 2 1

he situation is stark according to the report

issued in late March. 56% of LGBTI people

aged 14 to 18 year old have self-harmed, 70%

have had suicidal thoughts and one in three

has attempted suicide. Compared to the ‘My

World National Youth Mental Health Study’, lesbian,

gay, bisexual, trans, and/or intersex (LGBTI) young

people reported twice the level of self-harm; three

times the level of attempted suicide; and four times the

level of severe or extremely severe stress, anxiety and

depression. Being LGBTI does not accounts for this situ-

ation. It is caused by the unnecessary and preventable

stresses that LGBTI children and teenagers still encoun-

ter as they grow up.

This situation was revealed in The ‘LGBTIreland’

Report – the biggest ever survey - launched by former

President Mary McAleese. She made the telling point

that things will not improve by chance, only through

change.

It is important for LGBTI young people and their fami-

lies to know they are not alone. There are LGBTI youth

and community services across the country. Schools,

mental-health services and other support agencies are

being increasingly proactive about creating safe and

supportive environments for the LGBTI people in their

care. The report highlights, however, the urgent need

to accelerate this work.

Last May Ireland changed what it means to grow up

LGBTI: ﬁrst with a resounding ‘Yes’ in the marriage

equality referendum and then with the Gender Recogni-

tion Act. The research did ﬁnd that the majority of LGBTI

people aged 26 and over are doing well. They report

good self-esteem and are proud of their LGBTI

identity.

However, these positive ﬁndings are not shared

across all age groups. LGBTI people still face consider-

able barriers to good mental health, including bullying

at school, fear of rejection, discrimination, harassment

and violence, and negative attitudes and stereotypes.

We still have much work to do to

achieve the equal and inclusive

society so many voted for.

The LGBTIreland Report was

Ireland’s largest ever study

of the mental health and

wellbeing of lesbian,

gay, bisexual,

transgender and

intersex people. The

study was funded

by the National

Ofﬁce for Suicide

Prevention and

commissioned by

BeLong To and GLEN.

The study provides vital evidence that must now drive

change. However, the ﬁndings were of little surprise to

us here in BeLonG To Youth Services. We see these high

levels of mental health challenges amongst the hun-

dreds of young people we are supporting every week in

our frontline services in Dublin and throughout our

national network of youth services. There has been a

doubling in the numbers of young people in crisis who

have come to our services in recent time.

Homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools,

communities and even homes, is a major cause of these

harrowing ﬁndings. The study found that 67% of those

surveyed had witnessed anti-LGBT bullying and 50%

had experienced it. It found that the majority of second-

level schools do not provide safe and inclusive

environments for LGBTI students. However, it did ﬁnd

that a growing number of teachers and principals are

making an effort to change this.

25% of post-primary schools took part in BeLonG To’s

‘Stand Up!’ awareness campaign in 2015. This cam-

paign, supported by the Department of Education, aims

to end homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools

by increasing awareness, friendship and support for

LGBT students from other students. Clearly there is a

long way to go from a base of 25% but it does represent

an encouraging start. The study points to the urgency

of building on this work.

A 2014 evaluation of the Stand Up! campaign found

that LGBT students, attending schools that participated

in the campaign, reported a greater sense of empower-

ment and ownership of their education, and that the

school was a more inclusive and accepting place after

the campaign. They highlighted that they were more

conﬁdent that the staff in the schools would be recep-

tive to their needs and that they were more willing to

approach a member of staff, and in particular the

Social, Personal and Health Education teacher or Guid-

ance Counsellor.

BeLonG To has declared May 22

as #BeLonGTo-

TheFuture day to raise funds to ensure LGBT young

people have access to youth support services such as

peer support, resilience programmes and suicide/self-

harm prevention programmes and to ensure more

schools create environments that are fully inclusive,

safe and supportive for LGBTI young people. Everyone

has a part to play in creating this new culture, a culture

that can save young lives. We achieved so much last

May but there is still a job to be ﬁnished so that all LGBTI

people are equal, safe, included and valued across Irish

society.

Moninne Grifﬁth is Executive Director of BeLonG To

More to be done

One in three adolescent LGBTI has attempted

suicide, three times the average

The majority of

LGBTI people

aged over 26 are

doing well and

are proud of their

LGBTI identity

by Moninne Grifﬁth

Mary McAleese at the launch of the LGBTIreland report