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PARENTS
Information aimed at providing parents and families the tools needed to offer authentic acceptance of their LGBTQ+ loved one
ESSENTIAL SUPPORT, RIGHT NOW
A closer look at basic statistics of the transgender world should leave everyone with a burning desire to ceate postive and lasting change that can be effective immediately.
Our research has found that the support a young person finds from their family and immediate friends during their transition can be vital to their growth as a person. Those with a support network that allows for them to show their authentic self are much more likely to live a life of less inner turmoil than those without the same support. The self esteem of a young person from a supportive family, is noticeably and dramatically different when compared to the self esteem of one who hasn’t the same support. Another striking fact to take note of is that only 15% of ALL TRANS PEOPLE report their family as being accepting just because their parents joined organizations such as PFLAG – a support group that seeks to educate parents and friends of gay and transgender teens.
With a focus on the emotional wellbeing of the teenage trans community, we started to look at how the numbers compare in relation to the general population of teens. Among the shocking results, we find the most overwhelming one to be that 40% of trans teens have made a suicide plan. Teens should never be made to feel so awful about themselves that a suicide plan has as much value as they give it. There simply as to be a better way for these young people to find love and acceptance. It is heartbreaking to see the statistics for Trans Teens who are just asking to be loved & accepted as their true authentic selves.
The trans community struggles to find acceptance outside of the home as well. Tolerance at school, in places of worship, or within their own community is often nill or unfound – 9% is a devastatingly low number. We must do better. It starts by educating ourselves, our friends, and our families. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, while 9 out of every 10 Americans know of someone who is GAY, a whopping 4 of them know of someone who is trans.
The Colors of Love Advocacy & Outreach team was tasked with reviewing the materials presented in this article and provide their overall impression when viewed in it’s totality. Here are their thoughts in their words.
These statistics should bring with them a sense of outrage to all people. Outrage that the world is so uneducated and yet so intolerant. Outrage that young people are being out-casted by the very same people who are supposed to love the
It is still so incredibly surprising to me how LGBTQ families can be so unsupportive and down right mean to their family members. It is just unimaginable that an LGBTQ teen(or adult) sitting up at night, feeling hopeless, thinking about how they will hurt themselves then has to struggle through their next day in a world that shuns them. Then the thought of them even thinking of a plan and that that they might be better off dead since they don’t even have that family support is mind-blowing. An increased amount of education for families is so very crucial!”
The responsibility of educating family members, or society as a whole. should NOT land on the shoulders of LGBTQ+ people. We, as allies NEED to do more to educate the masses. Much, if not all of the adversity faced by LGBTQ+ people today, is the result of someone with little education of the subject matter and even less restraint in proving how intolerant the world is for those who dare ask the world for authenticity.
EDUCATION! EDUCATION! EDUCATION!
Let’s get to work!
