Lil Nas X Honored For Mental Health Awareness Efforts
Artist Lil Nas X has received the inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award.
The award was bestowed by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention and crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning young people. They organization cites Nas X’s “openness about struggling with his sexuality and suicidal ideation, his continued advocacy around mental health issues, and his unapologetic celebration of his queer identity.”
“He has done it in a way that has resonated and impacted communities where these conversations are often taboo, but where they are so needed,” said Amit Paley, CEO and executive director at The Trevor Project, according to The Washington Post.
Adding, “The fact that he has been so open, so vulnerable about his mental health journey, his thoughts of suicide, he is really helping to destigmatize conversations that are too often shrouded in shame.”
In Feb. 2021, Lil Nas X opened up with his fans sharing a series of Tik Tok videos that documented his experiences with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts while the “Old Town Road” artist was rising to fame.
In May, three months later, he released a music video that showed the artists uplifting a teenage version of himself.
“WROTE THIS SONG LAST YEAR! THIS ONE IS SO SPECIAL TO ME,” he captioned an Instagram post premiering the video.
“It’s particularly inspiring to see someone who is Black and LGBTQ and proud and unapologetic,” Paley adds. “And to see someone talk about their experiences with depression and anxiety and suicidal ideation and to talk about those as part of their art and part of their platform to make other people comfortable talking about the challenges that they are going through.”
According to a 2021 national survey conducted by The Trevor Project on LGBTQ youth mental health, at least 42% of LGBTQ youth “have seriously considered attempting suicide this past year with more than half identifying as transgender and nonbinary.”
