“I’ve always been an advocate for adding more categories to powwows to allow the Two Spirit community to participate,” Menchaca said. In 2010, Menchaca helped organize and host the first Two-Spirit special during the annual Delta Park Powwow. Get rid of western influence as much as we can.”įor Renea Menchaca, Pascua Yaqui and White Mountain Apache, cultural arts advocate at NAYA, that means a need for ceremony spaces inviting in Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous people. “Yes we do need to decolonize, and within the communities we need to re-Indigenize. When you talk about decolonizing, the focus is on the colonial aspect rather than the Indigenous cultures,” Hoffer said. “Not just decolonizing but re-Indigenizing is really important. Staff at NAYA are already actively working to support LGBTQ2S+ youth, with conversations about decolonization at the forefront. Re-Indigenizing support for queer identity The report also recommends ways to address these disparities - namely the need to decolonize systems and increase cultural competency in health care settings. Ronita Nath, vice president of research at The Trevor Project. “It can’t be underscored enough that the enduring impact of historical legacies of trauma paired with the continued underinvestment of tribal and Indigenous communities, really play a role in the equation here,” said Dr. “Indigenous LGBTQ young people experience disproportionate structural inequities compared to their non-Indigenous peers, with nearly half (48%) experiencing food insecurity, over one-third (34%) reporting experiences with homelessness, and over one in 10 (12%) having been in foster care,” the report says. All are among the lasting impacts of settler colonialism and modern racism faced by Indigenous people. In the report, researchers point to a number of structural, societal inequities that contribute to such disparities. One of the top findings of the report: “Indigenous LGBTQ young people had 66% higher odds of a past-year suicide attempt compared to their non-Indigenous peers.” For many people, and especially LGBTQ2S+ folks, there is a lack of community resources to help address those struggles. Mental health struggles continue to be stigmatized, in general, and in Indigenous communities as well. “Mental health services have been weaponized against us,” Hoffer said. One of the reasons for a lack of data in the past is that some Indigenous people hold a well-deserved distrust in the medical and mental health industries, due to the legacy of medical violence perpetrated against them. For this study, researchers collected data from a survey of youth 13 to 24 - 1,792 queer Indigenous youth participated. The study acknowledges a lack of research on LGBTQ2S+ Indigenous youth in the past. In its most recent study, “The Mental Health and Well-Being of Indigenous LGBTQ Young People,” researchers found major disparities in rates of mental health struggles for queer Indigenous youth compared to their non-Indigenous, queer peers. The organization provides crisis support free of charge and works to advocate for queer youth. The Trevor Project, a national organization founded in 1998, has a mission to end suicide among LGBTQ2S+ youth across the country. “I think those are out there so much to scare us into not being who we are, when in reality I don’t think that that’s actually the majority of people’s experiences.” Report findings “We’re not just houseless and without family and all those things they say we are gonna be if you’re queer or trans,” they said. Hoffer helped organize NAYA’s Queer Prom this year. In a study released Thursday by The Trevor Project, researchers found that Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ youth face disproportionate rates of mental health struggles including suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression.įinding ways to reduce those numbers is extremely important, as is highlighting queer and trans joy and examples of thriving Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ people, according to Silas Hoffer, Yakama and Grand Ronde, Two Spirit programming advocate at NAYA. It was exactly the sort of event called for in a new report by the Trevor Project, finding that Indigenous LGBTQ2S+ youth face a significantly higher rate of mental health struggles compared to their white peers.Īt Queer Prom, Native American Youth and Family Center organizers worked to create a space of love and acceptance - a celebration of all that it means to be queer - a prom many queer adults never had the opportunity to attend. Hundreds of youth dressed as their authentic selves laughed, danced and watched Indigenous drag performers at a night celebrating queer joy last May.
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