Chiara, a 19-year-old transgender woman, committed suicide in her room on October 24th in Naples, while her mother was away.Chiara had called Gay Help Line 800.713.713, a toll-free number against homophobia and transphobia, for the first time when she had recently turned 17. She told our operators about the violence, bullying, and marginalization she had long suffered for having decided to express her female identity.”"Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with this? I feel like a woman," she told us. "I'd like to wear makeup, dress like a woman, not like a boy. I'd like to have more space and be calm...not be afraid. I hope you can help me, I really don't know what to do anymore and I feel like I'm in a labyrinth with no way out." Problems at home, the school she had to leave to protect herself from bullies, the violent rejection of those who continued to point her out on the street had led her to ask to move away from her neighborhood, to be welcomed into a context that recognized her vulnerability. After the complaint, which Gay Help Line helped her file through OSCAD (the joint observatory of the Ministry of the Interior against discriminatory acts), Chiara found shelter in a community and the support of LGBT+ associations. Yet the road for those who report is uphill, especially for minors: the lack of protection protocols and immediate removal from the perpetrators of violence, the long and exhausting justice process that pushes young victims to justifying themselves, the lack of communities for minors that welcome trans girls and boys based on their gender identity rather than their sex, the risk of being victimized by staff unprepared to embrace identities without prejudice. Chiara had had to face all of this, and had been able to do so. She had been through it. But she didn't make it. According to the latest report from the Fundamental Rights Agency, the incidence of self-harm and suicide among LGBT+ youth is double that of their peers. Gay Help Line data tells us that those who bear the brunt of violence are the youngest 42%, victims of domestic abuse, bullying, and discrimination, including in educational settings. For this reason, it is essential and urgent to find structural solutions to stop violence, training educational and social-health personnel who are aware and ready to support the physical, psychological, and social development of LGBT+ youth, as is their right.”
Alessandra Rossi, Head of the Gay Help Line at Gay Center, declares:
”"I followed Chiara almost from the beginning until a few months ago, and I add my condolences to those of the association, and of her loved ones, and in her memory we will work to welcome more and more girls and boys like her who are marginalized by society and/or by their families, until we can hope that the institutions do not abandon us, but rather support us more strongly."” Sonia Minnozzi, Head of the LGBT Refuge Family Home at Gay Center, declares: