The rain within the rainbow: improving understandings of LGBTQ+ suicide and suicide prevention in the UK.

My post-doctoral fellowship proposes a bold and ambitious programme of work to address the urgent health and social challenge presented by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) suicide. Whilst it is well established that LGBTQ+ people are more likely than heterosexual, cisgender (non-trans) people to think about and attempt suicide globally, there is a lack of research seeking to understand why this health inequality exists or how to prevent it from the perspectives of LGBTQ+ people with lived experience of suicidal distress. My post-doctoral fellowship will address this tragic health inequality, working in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral ways to enhance understandings of LGBTQ+ suicide and demonstrate the transformative potential of tailoring suicide prevention approaches when working with marginalised or oppressed groups. This ambitious aim will be achieved through four inter-related work packages, which have been co-designed and will be co-produced with community and practitioner partners. WP1 will map service provision for LGBTQ+ people experiencing suicidal distress; WP2 will explore lived experiences of LGBTQ+ suicide; WP3 will learn from deaths by suicide, working with people bereaved by LGBTQ+ suicide; whilst WP4 will draw together learning from WP1-3, co-producing a toolkit tailoring suicide prevention practices for LGBTQ+ communities in the UK.