“Kids don’t have the perspective of someone older, who can say to themselves that things will be better down the road. “I don’t think we can underestimate this,” said Leslie McMurray, transgender education and advocacy associate for Resource Center, an LGBT community resource based in Dallas. The findings were part of an alarming larger picture illustrating the stark mental and emotional health effects that plagued youth nationwide as the pandemic forced schools to close and saddled families with isolation, economic hardship, illness and loss. The survey did not collect responses for transgender youth, instead allowing youth to identify as 'other or questioning.' Nearly half of respondents who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual said they had seriously thought about suicide, while one in four lesbian, gay or bisexual youth reported attempting it, the agency found. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Queer high-school students were far more likely to have attempted or seriously considered suicide during the pandemic than their peers, according to recently released data collected by the U.S. Watch Video: 'Don't Say Gay' bills: What similar measures mean for LGBTQ youth
