"“LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than half the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities.”"
"“I've been called a faggot more times than I can count,” Muñoz said. She recounted a few memories including one where she was denied entry to a church because of her appearance, noting that she was sporting a Pride pin that day. Another time, an acquaintance found out Muñoz had dated a woman and told her to repent while she still could."
"“You can't even really express the judgment and, like, disdain that is pushed upon you until you're just walking the street with your friend and somebody yells out 'faggot!' and tries to hit you with a coke can,” Muñoz said, describing an incident she experienced at a Hollister Farmers Market."
"Muñoz said her family's religion factored into her guilt about her sexuality and impacted her mental health, she said. At one time, part of her believed that God didn't love her, that she had disappointed Him because she was in love with somebody that was not a man. Muñoz said she started therapy around the second grade during a tumultuous childhood."
A 2024 survey of nearly 34,000 youth reports that LGBTQ+ young people living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than half the rate of those living in very unaccepting communities. A 14-year-old omnisexual girl who moved to Hollister describes feeling less welcome there. She reports repeated harassment, including being called a slur and being denied entry to a church while wearing a Pride pin. She also recounts being told to repent after dating a woman. She says her Catholic immigrant family’s beliefs contributed to guilt, including believing God did not love her. She began therapy in early childhood and later received a major depressive disorder diagnosis, while finding limited services after moving.
Read at Kqed
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]