LGBTQ Health Disparities Zine 2016 1 | Page 7

LGBT people are more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual people and cisgender people. In the article “Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Youth” published in 2016, Russell and Fisher noted, “US and international studies consistently conclude that LGBT youth report elevated rates of emotional distress, symptoms related to mood and anxiety disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior when compared to heterosexual youth...and that compromised mental health is a fundamental predictor of a host of behavioral health disparities evident among LGBT youth” (Russell and Fisher).