ROANOKE, Va. – At 16 years old, Keely Meadows tells 10 News there’s a lot she’s still discovering about herself.
“I’m still discovering my sexuality and things like that,” Meadows said.
She considers herself to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and tells us she’s worked to navigate who she truly is, gender-wise.
“That has been pretty integral to me finding out who I am, and discovering my gender identity,” Meadows said.
But that process has come with challenges, especially when it comes to mental health.
“I attempted suicide three times. It’s been quite the journey to go from there to get where I am today,” she said.
Keely isn’t alone. The Trevor Project is a nationwide nonprofit focused on suicide prevention efforts in the LGBTQ+ community.
According their 2023 survey, 41% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.
We sat down with psychiatrist Dr. Ryan White, to dive into that staggering statistic.
“It’s not that they’re necessarily by themselves prone to these disorders by being on the LGBTQ spectrum, but because of the marginalization, the stigma just of being who they are,” White said.
That hits home for Keely. She tells us she was bullied in a public school, and now is home schooled.
“I don’t know what about that environment was enabling for those kids to bully me, but it happened almost every day,” she said.
White tells us that inclusive school communities are critical.
“With kids specifically, one of the natural places is to help create inclusive school communities. They say it takes a village to raise a child, usually that village is coming out of school systems,” White said.
White said schools are sometimes a safe haven for kids whose parents may not be accepting of them.
He tells us early intervention and therapy are important, but the same Trevor Project survey says 56% of LGBTQ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it — whether because of unsupportive parents, or another reason.
While that was the opposite of Keely’s experience, she said her heart goes out to the kids who don’t have anyone to talk to.
“Not having supportive parents, and not having a safe place to go to is extremely detrimental, and a lot of times can lead to suicide or self-harm,” she said.
In May, the Botetourt County Rotary Club gifted $3,000 to Botetourt County Public Schools to help cover a portion of their online mental health resources for parents and students. Read more of our coverage of that story here.
LGBTQ+ Mental Health Resources
- LGBT National Youth Talkline - 1-800-246-7743
- LGBT National Hotline - 1-888-843-4564
- TrevorLifeline - 1-866-488-7386
- TrevorText - Text START to 678-678
- Trans Lifeline - 877-565-8860
