The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 in the U.S. seriously consider suicide each year.
(Sean Hogan, WFIU/WTIU News)
The world’s largest LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization is partnering with Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute to share data and conduct research.
The California-based Trevor Project provides 24/7 intervention services including a suicide hotline as well as online and chat support.
It also advocates for equality and conducts research on developing best practices for helping LGBTQ people in crisis or considering suicide.
That’s where the Kinsey Institute comes in.
Founded by Alfred Kinsey in 1947 at Indiana University in Bloomington, the institute is a global leader in research on gender and sexuality.
The Trevor Project is hoping to leverage that experience and history and apply it to LGBTQ youth suicide prevention.
“By taking all of their historical background and knowledge in that area, and then applying it to something that's such a huge public health crisis like LGBTQ youth suicide, we're hoping to really move things forward in that field where things have just sort of gotten worse over time,” says Amy Green director of research at the Trevor Project.
Researchers at the Kinsey Institute see opportunities for finding new data on youth suicide and other issues affecting LGBTQ youth.
“The goal is to apply for some grants together and to do a series of scientific publications around LGBTQ mental health. And it fit with our strategic priorities,” says Justin Garcia, acting executive director of the Kinsey Institute.
“One of my goals has been to increase the capacity and the visibility of the current work being done on LGBTQ issues. We did have work but not as much in that area as I think some people would hope to see coming out of Kinsey, so it was an opportunity to do that.”
The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 in the U.S. seriously consider suicide each year.
The Kinsey Institute says its library and special collections encompass over 500,000 items spanning 2,000 years of human sexual behavior.
