How NYC Drag Brings Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness and Onto the Stage
“My journey with AFSP began with suicide loss; unfortunately, not with just one, but two suicides in my family. As a closeted, emotionally immature teenager, I couldn’t process the loss of my gay uncle Mike (my father’s brother) in high school and instead chose to compartmentalize my feelings related to his suicide. It wasn’t until I lost my mom to suicide nine years later, two years after coming out as gay, that I began to reflect on what these losses meant for me.
Two months after I lost my mom to suicide, I volunteered at my first Out of the Darkness Walk, and eight years later, I became the chair of the board of the NYC chapter.
More than three years ago, the NYC board started thinking about other ways we could support marginalized communities — communities that are disproportionately affected by suicide — when we decided to combine suicide prevention with one of the most culture-defining and norm-breaking art forms: drag.
AFSP NYC’s third annual Drag Away the Stigma event, held during Pride Month at Brooklyn’s House of Yes, was a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as a tribute to those from the community lost to suicide or affected by suicide.”