CWS explores the social and psychological costs of being outed in middle school by school officials for being queer. LGBTQ+ youth are much more likely than gender conforming youth to consider suicide, and this episode explores how this experience impacted Donna’s connection to their family and their mental health. We also learn how these traumatic experiences echoed later in their life when they studied to become a high school teacher in South Carolina, which recently passed a law requiring public schools to report non-gender conforming kids to their parents. We also speak with Dr. Laura Erikson-Schroth, the chief medical officer of the Jed Foundation, about the importance of family support in preventing suicide.
Conversations with Sydney was produced by Common Good Productions in association
with WBGO Studios. The second season of Conversations with Sydney is a part of WBGO's "Voices of Wellness," and was made possible in part by a grant from the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey.
If you are having thoughts of suicide, please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.