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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JANUARY 2024 51 During the entire month of January 2024, the Rainbow Group will have a fundraising campaign for The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services for LGBTQ young people and does research, advocacy, education, and public awareness. Hence, this month's Breeze article is devoted entirely to LGBTQ young people. The Famous LGBT Americans series will resume in February. The "Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) 2021" published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides data on a nationally representative sample of U.S. public and private high school students based on 17,232 questionnaires. Included in this report is information looking specifically at the lives of LGBQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, or another non-heterosexual identity) students. Excluded in this survey were students who identified as transgender; however, future versions of the YRBS will include them. The YRBS 2021 found the following: Reporting having been threatened or injured with a weapon at school, 6% heterosexual, 8% LGBQ+; Did not go to school because of safety concerns, 7% heterosexual, 14% LGBQ+; Electronically bullied, 13% heterosexual, 27% LGBQ+; Bullied at school, 12% heterosexual, 23% LGBQ+; Ever forced to have sex, 5% heterosexual, 20% LGBQ+; and Sexual violence by anyone, 8% heterosexual, 22% LGBQ+. Additional data are equally alarming. The "2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health: California" by The Trevor Project reported 44% of LGBTQ youth (including 54% of transgender/ nonbinary youth) seriously considered suicide in the past year; 14% of LGBTQ youth (including 19% of transgender/nonbinary youth) attempted suicide in the past year; 69% of LGBTQ youth (including 75% of transgender/nonbinary youth) reported anxiety; and 58% of LGBTQ youth (including 65% of transgender/ nonbinary youth) reported depression. Other studies conducted since 2011 also report higher rates of depression, suicidality and self-harm among transgender youth compared to their peers. These facts are the motivation for the Rainbow Group's fundraising campaign for The Trevor Project. For more information, visit the website of The Trevor Project at https://www. thetrevorproject.org/ and also view the film, Trevor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1geRc8LaZfs), which won the Academy Award in 1995 for Best Live Action Short Film and served as the basis for the creation of The Trevor Project. You may use the QR code (inset) to make your contribution to the Rainbow Group's fundraising page at The Trevor Project's website. Please consider making a donation to help make this campaign a success. Thank you. ~ Dan Hazeltine and Frank Galvan Rainbow Group Garden Club The Garden Club is back on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 10 am in the RCN for our next free speaker event: Gardening and Critical benefits to your Well Being and Health. The physical benefits have been well documented, but researchers are spotlighting the ways that gardening supports our mental well-being. These benefits are of value to all of us especially as we age whether we physically work in our gardens or just enjoy our natural surroundings. In addition, we will discuss what to do in the garden for our area during the winter months. Please mark your calendars for the next two Garden Club supported events presented by Inland Empire Resource Conservation Department. Check next month's Breeze for more details on these events below. Feb. 22 at 10 am – Workshop on Irrigation March 28 at 10 am – Native Plant Workshop and Plant Sale. For info, email pwayne1@outlook.com. ~ Pat Wayne Bonnie and Mona show off their butter boards in a workshop sponsored by Park West in December