Sheila Jackson Lee: “I include in the Record an article from the National Education Association, ``New Survey Data Shows LGBTQ+ Youth Mental…”

“I include in the Record an article from the National Education Association, ``New Survey Data Shows LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health Crisis.'' [From the National Education Association, May 25, 2022] New Survey Data Shows LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health Crisis Last year, nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered killing themselves, including more than half of trans youth, according to new data from The Trevor Project. These figures reveal a deadly, mental-health crisis among high school and college-age LGBTQ+ youth of all races, which has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic and by recent, political attacks on LGBTQ+ students by state legislators across the nation. ``The [Trevor Project] study is actually on my computer screen right now to send it to my colleagues,'' says Florida high school teacher Michael Woods, whose state recently passed a law that enables parents to sue school districts for teaching LGBTQ-positive curriculum. ``Especially here in Florida, with the `Don't Say Gay' law, which should also be called `Don't Say Trans,' we have a lot of kids in stress,'' he says. The study, which involved 35,000 LGBTQ+ high school and college-age youth, of various races and identities, also shows how schools and colleges can help. A little more than half of LGBTQ+ youth identified their school or college as ``an LGBTQ-affirming space''--and those students reported lower rates of attempted suicide.…”