Union Coffee, at 3705 Cedar Springs Road, is the location for Dallas Hope Charities’ 2025 World Suicide Prevention Day vigil
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
Sept. 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. To remember and honor those lost to suicide, a group of vendors, musical acts, spoken word poets, speakers, photographers and videographers are participating in the LGBTQIA+ Suicide Prevention Vigil set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at Union Coffee.
“This event honors those we’ve lost to suicide, uplifts those who are still here and shines a light on the disparities that continue to impact the LGBTQ+ community,” according to Dallas Hope Charities, the lead organizer of the event. This is the second year DHC has hosted a vigil.
“Last year was a really beautiful event,” said organizer Sidney Yerger. “We had some of our community partners speak. This year, we’ve doubled the number of vendors.”
She said the community response has been really good, and she is trying to keep the program well-rounded. “This year, we’ve added a spoken word component to share their art,” Yerger said.
She said the counseling organization Room for Change is one of the partners in the event. “We have a longstanding partnership with them,” she noted. “Especially for higher-risk cases, they’re our go-to.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists suicide as the second-leading cause of death among 10-to-14-year-olds and third-leading cause of death among 15-to-24-year-olds. LGBTQ+ youth “are at significantly increased risk,” CDC notes.
The Trevor Project, which provides phone and online counseling support for LGBTQ+ young people around the clock, quotes studies that show LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers. The organization estimates 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth ages 13 to 24 seriously consider suicide in the U.S. each year. And at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds.
For the past six years, The Trevor Project has conducted the U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People. Its latest survey found that 39 percent of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year. Among transgender youth and nonbinary youth, about half have considered suicide.
The event at Union Coffee is designed to be uplifting, to inspire hope rather than express pain. In notes to presenters, the event organizers gave some suggestions that are useful to the community at large when talking about or dealing with suicide or a suicide attempt: When talking about a suicide or suicide attempt, avoid including details. Research show hearing those details may be triggering to someone who is struggling.
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, there isn’t a single cause for any suicide. “It most often occurs when stressors and health issues converge to create an experience of hopelessness and despair,” AFSP writes on its website. Depression, anxiety, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, serious physical health conditions and more, especially when left untreated, increase the risk.
AFSP lists protective factors including access to mental health care and being proactive about mental health. Connection to family and community support and religious and cultural beliefs that create a sense of self-esteem discourage suicidal behavior.
Unfortunately, too many families are unaccepting of their LGBTQ+ child, as are too many religious leaders.
Warning signs are divided into three categories: talk, behavior and mood. Some are more obvious than others, and some people show no signs of planning.
Talking about killing themselves, feeling hopeless, having no reason to live, being a burden to others, feeling trapped or feeling unbearable pain are all obvious signs. But some talk may be much more subtle.
Behavioral changes include increased use of alcohol or drugs, searching online for methods, withdrawing from activities, isolating from family or friends, sleeping too much or too little, visiting or calling people to say goodbye, giving away prized possessions, aggression or fatigue.
People considering suicide often display one or more of the following moods: depression, anxiety, loss of interest, irritability, humiliation or shame, agitation or anger and relief or sudden improvement. That final one may indicate the person has settled on their decision and is at peace with it.
If you are worried about an LGBTQ+ youth, encourage them to call The Trevor Project. If they won’t call, you can call the helpline to discuss what you might do to help that person.
LGBTQIA+ Suicide Prevention Vigil starts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 at Union Coffee, 3705 Cedar Springs Road.