Michigan Group Tackles GLBT Youth Suicide

Statitics show that one in every three GLBT youth will either attempt or commit suicide.  A Kalamazoo, Michigan based nonprofit organization named Project Light is stepping up efforts to do something about it.

A little over a year ago, Adam Taylor, the Director of the program made the decision to start a forum with the goal of getting people involved and helping depressed GLBT teens. Taylor has given over 1,000 hours of his time in the past year to build the organization, by raising funds and recruiting volunteers.

Today, September 13, Project Light will participate in the Out of the Darkness walk at Prarie View Park in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The goal of this event is to raise to $30,000, in conjuction with other groups which will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

And one of the key groups affected - gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people - will benefit, said Taylor. He should know: Taylor used to be a depressed youth.

Now a college student at Western Michigan University, Taylor, like many gay youth, had a difficult time coming out during high school. “Personally, for me, when I was coming out I had a huge amount of depression for about two years.,” he recalled. “I call it the balloon syndrome. You keep pumping and pumping air into a balloon and eventually it’s going to go flying off and make that cool sound and everything’s OK and happy or, it pops.”