Читать книгу The Savvy Ally - Jeannie Gainsburg - Страница 31

It has been known for many years that the attempted suicide rate for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people is three to four times higher than it is for those who identify as straight.² In 2015 the largest survey of transgender individuals ever done showed that the attempted suicide rate for trans-gender people is over 40 percent.³ Over 40 percent of the more than twenty-five thousand transgender people from all fifty states surveyed in this study have attempted suicide! Compare that with the 4.6 percent rate for the general public⁴ and it’s pretty clear that cisgender allies have a lot of work to do to support our trans friends. It’s important to note that this study also revealed that when transgender individuals have support and, if desired, access to medical care for transitioning, the rate of attempted suicide drops down to the same rate as the general population. Once again, this is not a problem with LGBTQ+ people, this is a problem with our society.

The word tolerance gets thrown around a lot in social justice circles and is often confused with acceptance, but the two are actually pretty different. We tolerate things that we dislike but have no control over, like traffic or a bad cold. Tolerating your identity is not a good or healthy place to be. The identity tolerance stage is when the person has come out to themselves but is unlikely to come out to others. They may think of their identity as their dirty little secret that nobody else ever needs to know. This is the stage where suicidal ideation and suicide attempts are likeliest.