A trapped draft of the budget of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States Department reveals that 50 million dollars could be cut by federal funding for the Youth Suicide prevention programs of the LGBTQ+community. More than 100 celebrities – including Pedro Pascal, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Jamie Lee Curtis and Daniel Radcliffe – have signed an open letter asking the legislators to reconsider the proposal.
“As artists, creators and public characters, we have responsibilities”, says the letter. “And today, this responsibility is clear: we must speak to protect the mental health and the life of the young people of the LGBTQ+community. We will not be silent. These are people, not politics. In a moment of deep division, we let this topic be something on which we can all agree: no young man should be left without help in his darkest moment. of the LGBTQ community+ a message that their lives do not be worth saving.
The letter underlines how almost 1.3 million young people from the LGBTQ+ community have been helped by the program since it started in 2022. “The suicide among the young people of the LGBTQ+ community is a public health crisis and should be treated as such”, says the letter. «These guys have more than four times the probability of trying suicide than their peers. The Trevor project estimates that more than 1.8 million young people belonging to the LGBTQ+ community in the United States seriously consider suicide every year – and at least one of them tries suicide every 45 seconds “.
The letter concludes with a direct message to members of the LGBTQ+community: «We see you, we appreciate you. You have the right to feel safe, supported and loved exactly as you are. Deserve access to rescue services that honor your humanity. You could hurt you. You may be afraid. You may feel that nobody listens to you, but we will do it. We will continue to introduce ourselves and speak. You won't stop fighting for you ».
Alan Cumming, Aly & Aj, Bob the Drag Queen, Cara Delevingne, Christina Aguilera, Conor Oberst, Darren Criss, Dwayne Wayde, Gabrielle Union-Wade, Kelsea Ballerini, Margaret Cho, Paul Feig and Troye Sivan are some of the names that have signed the letter. Others will probably be added in the next few days. In the meantime, a petition on Action Network has been opened to support this cause.
From Rolling Stone Us.
