Suicide sometimes seems the solution when you are from a transgender, transsexual or gender diverse group. It can affect up to 70% of us – you are not alone.

It can be tough at times facing family rejection, discrimination, bullying, blocked for education, public toilets, homelessness, being denied health care and documents.

I know because I have been there as a teenager and when I had PTSD later in life. Yes, I have experienced it all.

I also think – it’s the individual’s choice whether you suicide or not.

What I want to tell though there is light behind every dark cloud when you choose to push that cloud out of the way.

It may seem as if the whole world is collapsing in on you. There’s however a whole host of good people in the world. We can help you get past those suicidal thoughts and care about you.

You may be depressed, anxious, have PTSD or are angry at the terrible way other people treat you.

If you work through suicidal thoughts and urges, it’s not permanent. You can learn to go on with your life and create a good life no matter what the odds are against you.

After trying to transition at 11 years old in 1967 my angry mother committed me to old fashioned mental institution, padded cells and all.

A magistrate described children like me as “A danger to the public”. I spent three years in a locked door institutions until I was 15, sometimes in a cell 6 ft by 8ft 16 hours a day.

When I could not get the care I needed in the 1960’s and early 1970’s I attempted suicide 3 times. I had no one to talk to about what happened in those days because my doctors and mother forced me to keep everything a secret.

If I told anyone the specialist told me he would throw me out of his clinic again. He did that several times and I would make appointments under different names and go back. And it was the only clinic in the country at that time.

The turning point came for me when I met some really caring legal people at a help center who told me my right to care.

I got involved in suicide rescue of the other patients he had thrown out of his clinic. In those days I also had to do that work in complete secret for fear of prosecution. I could not even tell the man I lived with what I was doing.

But you know what – I decided to get stronger and decided not to give up on life. And here’s the thing it turned out amazing as it can for you too.

If you are suicidal us the WOC Protocol

Withdraw step down from the noose, put the pills down the toilet, the knife back in the draw, step down from the bridge or rooftop.

Out of the circumstance you are in. Immediately go somewhere else.

Call a friend, relative, helpline, doctor, pastor. Someone to whom you can just talk about what you are going through. We are here to help without judgment.

Long term you need to seek professional help. Make sure it’s a clinician who is trans and gender diverse friendly. Someone who will respect you and be kind.

Do not put off doing these things – if you are suicidal do them now!

Go with Peace

Dr Tracie O’Keefe DCH, BHSc, ND is sexologist, clinical psychotherapist and a mental health professional with 50 years experience in suicde rescue in sex and/or gender diverse communites.

Author of:
TransXUall: The Naked Difference (1997), Sex Gender And Sexuality: 21st Century Transformations (1999), Finding The Real Me: True Tales of Sex and Gender diversity (2003), Trans People In Love (2008), Suicide in Intersex, Trans And Other Sex And Gender Divers Groups: A Health Care Professional’s Guide (2021).

Sex And Gender Education (Australia)
https://sageaustralia.org/

Dr Tracie O’Keefe
Intersex, Trans, Suicide Recovery Sydney and Worldwide
https://tracieokeefe.com/intersextra...