Policy Reformation Warranted Against High Suicide Risk for Minorities

High risk of suicide may be linked with structural racism and anti-LGBTQ policies among young Black gay, bisexual and other sexual minority men as per a study at the Rutgers University, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence special issue "Black Lives Matter!: Systems of Oppression Affecting Black Youth Special Series: Dismantling Racism and Systems of Oppression." The study analyzed a group of 497 Black and 1,536 white gays, bisexual, and other sexual minority men between the ages of 16 and 25, compiled from a 2017–2018 internet-based U.S. national survey.

It was found that anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ policies were associated with suicide risk factors like depressive symptoms, perceived burdensomeness, heavy drinking, thwarted belongingness, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among young Black sexual minority men.

“Our research suggests that structural oppression is a matter of life and death for young Black sexual minority men. The data indicates that racist and anti-LGBTQ U.S. state policies, like those that discriminate against Black and LGBTQ communities in housing, incarceration and economic opportunity, are linked to higher risk for suicide for these young men,” says lead researcher Devin English, assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

The study thereby highlights the need for structural and policy interventions like federal protections, Equality Act for LGBTQ communities, dismantling structural racism, racist policing, and the numerous manifestations at all levels of US society.

Source-Medindia