{"id":52461,"date":"2022-05-10T20:47:43","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T20:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techstyle.onehealth.com\/?p=52461"},"modified":"2022-05-10T20:47:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T20:47:43","slug":"she-walks-in-her-truth-washington-woman-works-to-help-other-lgbtq-people-of-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/?p=52461","title":{"rendered":"She Walks in Her Truth: Washington Woman Works to Help Other LGBTQ+ People of Color"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Vanessa Falcon<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban Health Media Project<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Heidi Ellis, 36, was taught to love reading, to love her culture, and to love herself. Ellis, who identifies as lesbian and came out at the age of 19, knows she was lucky — lucky to be loved for who she is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, as a Black and Latinx woman who has struggled with severe depression and suicidal thoughts over the years, she knows how hard it can be for others like her. That helped convince the former Environmental Protection Agency senior advisor in the Obama Administration to launch a company to help people who are LGBTQ+, especially those in communities of color. Last February, she also joined the board of directors for Strength In Our Voices<\/a>, a D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to mental health advocacy and suicide prevention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggles faced by LGBTQ+ youth have been amplified amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ellis said. Some young people have lost their \u201csafe spaces,\u201d due to quarantine regulations, and others never had help or safety in the first place and are suffering even more in isolation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A poll released in October by The Trevor Project found 75% of transgender and non-binary youth feel even more lonely compared to the beginning of the pandemic<\/a>. More than one in three LGBTQ+ youth also can\u2019t rely on their parents for COVID-19 updates and safety, according to the poll.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis\u2019 work includes programming with public school systems and local nonprofits supporting LGBTQ+ youth to provide safe spaces and empower the youth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith COVID happening, it has forced us to adapt and make changes to our process and how we reach out,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cI aim to reach a goal where mental health is on the same level as your physical health.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isolation can follow coming out<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ellis came out at 19 years old, <\/strong>relatives in her Catholic multicultural household started to pull away, she said. The former athlete, dancer and all-around good student found the looks of admiration and pride she had received in the community seemed to wane.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis and her mother didn\u2019t even speak for three months after she came out.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Ellis did not regret her decision: \u201cI wanted to walk in my own truth,\u201d she said. Her mother eventually came around, Ellis said, because she loved her daughter regardless of tradition and the church\u2019s teachings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother, despite being Catholic, stayed with me because she decided she wanted me in her life,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cI know other people who didn\u2019t get that.\u201d Now, she said, her mother is her biggest advocate, her \u201cace.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many LGBTQ+ youth have far more traumatic experiences — being shunned by parents, kicked out of the house, beaten, abused, ostracized, or even sent to \u201cconversion camps.\u201d Ellis is grateful that she was spared these.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 18 and 25 are 120% more likely to experience homelessness compared to their cisgender heterosexual counterparts, according to True Colors United<\/a>, an organization focused on solving LGBT+ youth homelessness. For these homeless youth, sometimes even finding a shelter is not a guarantee of comfort and safety, despite rules passed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development aimed at preventing discrimination and harm in shelters based on gender identity<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration proposed a rule in July 2020 that would give homeless shelters the right to turn away transgender people<\/a> from single-sex facilities that correspond to their gender identity.  Advocates believe it\u2019s unlikely the Trump administration would finalize it because the Biden administration would likely reverse it when they take office.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018dark moments\u2019 for LGBTQ+ youth<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The constant threat of discrimination, physical and verbal assault, and inequity for those in the LGBTQ+ community is what drives Ellis in her work, she said.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies show there are many factors adversely affecting LGBTQ+ youth. The Trevor Project\u2019s 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Mental Health<\/a> states that 40% of LGBTQ+ respondents seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months; 48% reported engaging in self-harm in the past 12 months, including over 60% of transgender and nonbinary youth. Unfortunately, the likelihood of self-harm increases by more than 2 times for every physical\/verbal onslaught committed<\/a>, according to the American Journal of Public Health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strength in Our Voices, where Ellis serves as the board member in charge of partnerships and development, helps empower students and teachers to tap their inner resources during challenging times. SIOV helps youth learn to love and care for themselves, she said.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see myself in the kids I work with, there\u2019s a sort of kinship between us,\u201d explains Ellis. \u201cThe youth I work with open my eyes and teach me lessons. From them, I have learned to not make assumptions, to open my mind.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis\u2019s greatest hope is to make the world a better place for those who are unaccepted, she said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful for the support and love I received from my family and friends throughout my journey,\u201d said Ellis, smiling proudly. \u201cIt gave me the strength to overcome obstacles, and the humility to do the work and fight for others.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: Vanessa Falcon is a senior at Miami Lakes Educational Center in Miami. She was a participant in the <\/em>Urban Health Media Project<\/em><\/a>\u2019s fall 2020 workshop \u201cSurviving and Thriving Despite Trauma.\u201d The workshop was sponsored by The National Council for Behavioral Health (<\/em>www.thenationalcouncil.org<\/em><\/a>).<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Vanessa Falcon  Urban Health Media Project  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Heidi Ellis, 36, was taught to love reading, to love her culture, and to love herself. Ellis, who identifies as lesbian and came out at the age of 19, knows she was lucky — lucky to be loved for who she is.  Still, as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lgbtqa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eloquent-brown.192-250-224-79.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}