While there are no statistics specific to Adventist LGBT youth suicide, religious views about homosexuality are at the root of homophobia and intolerance.
- LGBT youth are 4 times as likely to attempt suicide than straight youth.
- LGBT youth with “highly rejecting” families are 8 times more likely to attempt suicide than those whose families accept them.
If you are an LGBT Adventist, you should know that you’re not alone, you can find an accepting and affirming spiritual home (increasingly even within Adventism), and you are a beloved child of God just as you are.
If you are considering suicide or need help, call the Trevor Project now at 866-4-U-TREVOR.
If you want to talk to an Adventist who understands being gay AND loving Sabbath afternoon potlucks, contact SDA Kinship at itgetsbetter@sdakinship.org or Carrol Grady at www.someone-to-talk-to.net.
If you are a parent, educator or pastor, please know that the teens in your life (gay and straight) are learning from your example and need your unconditional love. If you think the church needs to rethink how we treat our LGBT members, stand up and say something. “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr.
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