#mindthefacts - vote ’YES’ for better youth mental health
As many as 3000 youth suicide attempts could be averted each year with a 'YES' vote for marriage equality, the nation's leading youth mental health organisations have revealed today. Launching their national #mindthefacts campaign, the Black Dog Institute , headspace, ReachOut, Brain and Mind Centre at University of Sydney, and Orygen, the National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health, are encouraging Australians to carefully consider the real and devastating links between youth suicide rates and discrimination against young LGBTIQ people when they cast their vote over the next six weeks. #mindthefacts uses real facts and evidence to urge Australians to cast a 'yes' vote, drawing attention to the peer reviewed studies confirming the negative health impacts caused by discrimination against LGBTIQ people. The campaign follows urgent high-level talks between the mental health groups after a surge in demand for mental health services in recent weeks, as a result of the same sex marriage postal survey. "This confronting statistic highlights both the human impacts of the current discrimination against LGBTIQ relationships, and the positive future that marriage equality can achieve for Australia," said Jono Nicholas, CEO, ReachOut speaking on behalf of the campaign coalition. "That is why we are asking Australians to #mindthefacts and vote 'YES' when filling out their postal survey form over the next month. "As Australia's leading youth mental health organisations, we see, hear and feel the real and devastating link between LGBTIQ discrimination and youth suicide rates and mental illness every day.
