The Invisible Youth

My mother called me the other night looking for answers. A childhood friend of mine had killed herself, and my clearly shaken mother wanted to know why.

It makes sense that my mother came to me with her questions about suicide. Having worked with gay youth in various capacities for the past five years, statistically she has a right to assume that I would have firsthand experience with suicide. Studies on youth suicide rates have shown that gay youth are many times more likely to kill themselves than their peers. Fortunately, all I had to provide my mother with were statistics.

I told my mother that the gay youth I see and know of -- the ones that know of and reach out for help from gay youth centers, crisis hotlines and gay-friendly mentors -- are the ones that are often saved from any internal despair that they may be feeling. It is often the youth that are not seen -- the invisible youth -- who are more likely to fall prey to depression and thoughts of suicide. These youth may not have hope or know that there are lifelines out there for them...

Read the entire article at Metro Weekly.