Lack of acceptance, especially by family, behind many mental health issues for Golden Triangle’s LGBTQ+ community

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Pride Month in June is a time not only to celebrate the LGBTQ+ population but also a time when some organizations call for change and highlight the struggles still facing that community.

That includes mental health.

“You don’t know whether tomorrow you may be homeless, or you may be locked in your room, grounded or you may be dead because your family finds out who you are,” says Harry Jones, a senior at Mississippi State who is a bisexual man who is gender nonconforming.

He says that is the kind of anxiety many young members of the LGBTQ+ community face on a daily basis. Especially in Mississippi.

“At Starkville Pride celebrations, held every year when safe,” he says. “There are regular protesters to the parade.”

Community Counseling Services therapist Trisha Thornton says that LGBTQ+ individuals are twice as likely to experience mental health issues. She says the number one problem they often face is acceptance.

“That lack of acceptance increases depression, increases anxiety, trauma, bullying from other peers,” she says.

A recent study from the Trevor Project shows that close to 89% of LGBTQ+ youth had difficulties at home because of a lack of acceptance for their gender identity or sexual orientation.

“At a base level, they are different,” Jones says. “And when that is construed as unnatural, immoral or wrong, it can ruin trust in a family (and) between a child and a parent.”

Jones is the president of F.L.A.R.E. (Fostering LGBTQ+ Advocacy, Resources and Environments), a student organization at Mississippi State. He says that the inability for someone to be themselves around their loved ones can have lasting consequences.

“We can do family therapy to help mitigate the fallout in those situations and to help intervene with those families,” Thornton says.

Both Thornton and Jones say that education about the LGBTQ+ community is one of the most important steps towards creating a more accepting environment.

“People learning about different types of identities, different types of orientations and how natural they can be is very important to making things normal,” Jones says. “And the more that we make things normal, the less we have a struggle, specifically for LGBTQ+ youth.”

For those seeking immediate help, the Trevor Project offers a 24-hour hotline: 1-866-488-7386

Click here for more information on F.L.A.R.E.

Click here for more information on Community Counseling Services.