A recent article quoting Associate Professor of Communication and Media, Rob Cover, suggested that legalisation of same sex marriage would not improve suicide rates in young GLTBI people. As medical doctors, we can confidently state from the scientific literature that this view is incorrect, and in fact the evidence shows that marriage equality will improve public health.
It is well observed that institutional discrimination and stigma against non-heterosexual persons worsens mental health and increases suicide rates amongst this community. In US States where laws were amended to specifically ban same sex marriage, there was a measurable increase in psychiatric disorders including mood disorders, generalised anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse disorders.
Dr Amanda Villis and Dr Danielle Hewitt are representatives of Doctors for Marriage Equality.