A Witness for LGBTQI Suicides

Suicide has become a topic of national conversation. In recent weeks, four teenagers committed suicide after being bullied for being gay. These tragedies, coming one after another, have forced this country to look at the real harm caused by prejudice and bigotry. While many people would like to believe that the fight for LGBTQI rights is an unnecessary political movement, these recent suicides reveal the depth of despair to which many people in the LGBTQI community are driven. While tremendous strides have been made in forming community for LGBTQI folks, and while gains have been made in the political arena, kids still fear rejection by family, bullying in school, persecution within their faith communities, and even violence. This real danger of being LGBTQI in our country is evidenced in the recent gang torture of three gay men in New York City. Being gay may be easier today than it was 25 years ago, but it is not easy.

On October 8-9, The Vine Christian Ministries in Seattle, hosted a 24-hour prayer vigil followed by a community march called "Take Back the Bridge" to raise money for The Crisis Clinic, Seattle's 24-hour crisis line. A complementary campaign called "Take Back the Bridge for Everyone" was created to highlight the disproportionate number of people in the LGBTQI community who attempt suicide.

The Aurora Bridge is second only to the Golden Gate Bridge as a tool used for suicide. A campaign has been underway to erect a suicide barrier along the Aurora Bridge. The WSDOT hopes that the barrier will be completed by the end of 2010. I was proud to walk with the Take Back the Bridge for Everyone campaign and the Take Back the Bridge campaign on October 9 as we walked along the Aurora Bridge.

The Take Back the Bridge campaign is in its second year. As part of his duties as a firefighter, The Vine Christian Ministries' pastor Heath Rainwater was called out to the foot of the Aurora Bridge during 2009. He watched as a jumper leaped from the bridge. In response to this incident, Pastor Rainwater organized his church to raise money for Seattle's Crisis Clinic as well as raise awareness about the power that lost hope can have on people.

This year, given the recent spate of queer youth suicides, it seemed important to educate the public about the number of LGBTQI youth who contemplate suicide. Thirty percent of youth suicides are related to sexual orientation or gender identity. Seventy-four percent of LGBTQI students feel unsafe in school. Over 1,400 LGBTQI youth between the ages of 10 and 24 complete suicides with an additional 15,000 contemplating suicide. These numbers should frighten us. They should also chastise religious communities that continue to demean the realities of queer youth. And, this is why the Take Back the Bridge for Everyone campaign is important.

Religious communities, families, schools, friends, and mentors have a sacred responsibility to help young people grow and mature into adults. This is true for all kids. All kids struggle with feelings of isolation and despair. Growing up is a difficult process. Differentiating from parents, structuring ethical beliefs, and forming a core identity are hard work for any young person. Add to this the stigma of real difference - of liking boys when the world says you should like girls, of liking girls when the world says you should like boys, of liking both when the world says you should like only one - and a recipe for tragedy is in the works. But this doesn't have to be the case.

LGBTQ suicides can serve as a teaching tool for all kids and their needs, for the important work of suicide prevention hotlines, and of the power of words to heal or hurt. Regardless of your theological stance on homosexuality, I would hope that you don't want young people to kill themselves. If that is true, learn about suicide prevention, about the power of prejudice to kill, and teach your non-LGBTQ young people not to bully or harass others whom they suspect to be gay.

If you are queer and are contemplating suicide, please reach out for help from a safe place. Contact the Trevor Project. If you live in Seattle, please contact the Crisis Clinic at 206-866-4CRISIS. Take care of yourself and know that there are those in this world who want you to thrive and live into the fullness of that beautiful creature God has made you to be.

Last, I want to thank the folks at The Vine Christian Ministries for welcoming those of us who hold very different theologies from them. They welcomed us warmly into their worship space and were gracious in allowing us to walk with them. They embodied a generous spirit of hospitality.

*On the use of "queer" - Queer is a word that has been used to demean and belittle people in the LGBTQI community. Yet, as someone within that community, I feel comfortable in using it as a "catch-all" phrase for the diversity of my community. By the 1990s, many universities had begun to offer degrees in "Queer Theory," "Queer Identity," and "Queer Theology," and the word began to be reclaimed. I recognize that this is a loaded term with which many people will be uncomfortable. Please know that I use it in the most positive way possible. After all, I think I'm a bit queer...and only part of that has to do with sexual orientation.

Haiti Health Kit Ecumenical Response

Several weeks ago, Woodland Park UMC offered to be a collection site for health kits made by churches in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church. At that time a need had been expressed by the Salt Lake City Depot of the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) that it had shipped out 23,000 kits and needed replacements. With ongoing efforts around the world, health kits and other kits are always needed, but with UMCOR's response in Haiti and the Philippines, this call was an urgent one. I was hoping for a good response from the United Methodist congregations in the area. What surprised me was the ecumenical outpouring of support.

Most United Methodist congregations appear to be sending their kits to the depot as soon as they make them. However, some churches are bringing kits to WPUMC. But, churches outside of the UMC connection -- churches and individuals without an ongoing relationship with UMCOR -- have been bringing incredible numbers of kits to WPUMC. The response has been tremendous, and I have so very grateful to be a part of this local response.

When we notified the annual conference that we were willing to receive kits made by other churches, we also said that we would go pick them up from places if that would be helpful. The Church Council of Greater Seattle saw the announcement and publicized it in their email updates. This broadening of the recipient base was a wonderfully unexpected gift; it meant that dozens of churches outside of the UM connection were learning about UMCOR and its response to Haiti. Additionally, our church puts out a weekly email update to many people who no longer attend the church but like to be kept abreast of happenings in our congregation; these folks saw our announcement and they responded. I received a call from a woman in West Seattle. "I have four kits. Can you come get them?" A church from Mercer Island had a few dozen. A UW campus group from the LDS church had a trunk load. Another LDS ward had a few. Mt Zion Baptist Church had a trunk load. And the calls kept coming. We've had kits delivered or picked up from:
Quakers
Mennonites
Mormons
Baptists
Roman Catholics
United Methodists
Lutherans

As a matter of fact, we've an interfaith response. People in the area who identify as Buddhists, Jews, and Muslims have all responded to the call as well.

In addition to area congregations sending kits, so have individuals. Our church printed flyers for all of the groups who use our building. 12 Step Programs, the Suzuki Music School, various musical groups, and other renters all received flyers with instructions on how to make kits. So far more than a dozen kits have been turned in through this outreach effort. Additionally, we have printed letters of invitation for our neighborhood. These letters are being hand delivered to neighborhood businesses and homes right around the church.

Our concentrated focus on this effort is scheduled to last until Easter Sunday. As time goes on I expect the response to taper off, but I hope that kits will continue to come until Easter. It's tempting for people who belong to a small church to think that their outreach, their efforts, and their abilities to have a deep and lasting affect on the world are limited. After all, a health kit won't make a great difference in a devastated nation's recovery. Yet, the response to our call for health kits has also shown that a few kits here and a few kits there add up to a truck load of kits that will make a difference for a family, a village, a community. This is a tangible way for people in Seattle to reach across the miles and say in real ways that they care. It is proof that when given clear needs and clear instructions on how to meet those needs people will respond with grace and love and kindness.

I am overwhelmed at the ecumenical response that we've received with this effort. I thank all of the pastors and lay folks who have publicized the kits, those who have sat down and assembled kits, and those who have shared information with neighbors and friends. I am proud of the kids of our church who spend an hour every week diligently going through every kit turned in to check them for accuracy. We want every kit sent to UMCOR to be complete and ready to be shipped out to whatever place and people need them.

Several hundred kits litter our chancel area. I hope that the chancel becomes nothing more than a communion table surrounded by kits from the floor to the ceiling. I want to see boxes stacked all around. These boxes of kits stand as proof that God's healing breaks into the world one little $12 kit at a time. This is proof that small churches, single families, and individuals make a tremendous difference in the world when we respond together. When I think of Lent and the brokenness that is laid bare during this season, I am moved at this healing response.

We will be receiving kits through Easter Sunday. If you are part of a congregation and would like more information on how to get your kits to us, please call Woodland Park UMC at 206-784-6969. Information on assembling health kits can be found on UMCOR's website. We also accept layette and birthing kits. Any contribution to WPUMC for help in transportation and shipping is tax deductible.