Marzetti, Hazel, Chandler, Amy, Jordan, Ana and Oaten, Alexander (2023) The politics of LGBT+ suicide and suicide prevention in the UK: risk, responsibility and rhetoric. Culture, Health & Sexuality . ISSN 1464-5351
Full content URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2023.2172614
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Marzetti et al The politics of LGBT+ suicide and suicide prevention in the UK risk, responsibility and rhetoric.pdf - Whole Document Restricted to Repository staff only until 13 February 2024. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International. 907kB |
Item Type: | Article |
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Item Status: | Live Archive |
Abstract
Suicide is a major public health concern, patterned by systematic inequalities, with lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) people being one example of a minoritised group that is more likely to think about and attempt suicide worldwide. To address this, UK national suicide prevention policies have suggested that LGBT+ people should be prioritised in prevention activities. However, there is little research seeking to understand how LGBT+ suicide is re/presented in political and policy spheres. In this article, we critically analyse all mentions of LGBT+ suicide in UK parliamentary debates between 2009-2019 and in the eight suicide prevention policies in use during this period. We argue that LGBT+ suicide is understood in two contrasting ways: firstly, as a pathological ‘problem’, positioning LGBT+ people either as risks or as at risk and in need of mental health support. Alternatively, suicide can be seen as externally attributable to perpetrators of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate, requiring anti-hate activities as part of suicide prevention. In response, we argue that although these explanations may appear oppositional; they both draw on reductive explanations of LGBT+ suicide, failing to consider the complexity of suicidal distress, thus constraining understandings of suicide and suicide prevention.
Keywords: | LGBT+, Suicide, UK Parliament, Policy Analysis |
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Subjects: | L Social studies > L410 UK Social Policy L Social studies > L230 UK Government/Parliamentary Studies L Social studies > L200 Politics L Social studies > L431 Health Policy L Social studies > L400 Social Policy |
Divisions: | College of Social Science > School of Social & Political Sciences |
ID Code: | 53232 |
Deposited On: | 09 Feb 2023 09:36 |
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