As a physician working in Bozeman’s local emergency department, I bear witness to the escalating mental health crisis in Montana daily. Year after year Montana is one of the leading states in the nation in terms of suicide rates, and the rate of individuals in mental health crisis is steadily rising under stressors like COVID and the economy. Rather than working to seek solutions to this unfolding crisis, our state Legislature is currently debating multiple bills that will discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals if they pass. Evidence shows that discrimination against any population worsens mental health outcomes and stressors, and these bills will worsen the suicide risk for individuals in our state. Worse yet, these bills have been put forth as locally written, yet they mimic almost word for word bills put forth in almost 20 states across the nation showing they stem from a coordinated national effort.
Call or write your state legislators to let them know these bills are not right for Montana. Tell them Montana does not support the discriminatory aims of these anti-LGBTQ+ bills coordinated by national groups outside Montana. We need our state legislators to get to work on state level solutions that actually support Montanans.
Eric Lowe MD
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 3/2/21