Suicide prevention workshop to keep name

PORTLAND – The words “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual” and “transgender” are being restored to the title of a government-sponsored workshop on suicide after a federal health agency was bombarded with e-mail protests over their removal.

The local organizers of the panel discussion said they had been warned that if they did not change the title, the workshop might be canceled by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is funding it.

“I was told that the workshop ‘might not fly,’ ” said Ron Bloodworth, chairman of the Northwest chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

So Bloodworth and his colleagues changed the title from “Suicide Prevention Among Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Individuals” to “Suicide Prevention in Vulnerable Populations.”

Flooded with hundreds of e-mailed protests from Oregon mental health advocates, the federal agency this week told the organizers they could revert to the original wording.

Mark Weber, a spokesman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said the agency’s name-change idea was purely a suggestion, not an order.

The workshop is one of more than 20 panel discussions that are on the agenda of the three-day conference, which begins Monday.

Charles Curie, top official of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, plans to attend.

The dispute over the title of Bloodworth’s workshop began after the federal agency received a draft outline of the conference.

Weber said that after reviewing the draft, the agency sent suggestions to the Newton, Mass.-based Suicide Prevention Resource Center, which is under contract to stage the conference.

One of the recommended changes, said Weber, was to change the title of that particular workshop.

“This is a conference for professionals and you don’t want to label the folks who are attending – you want to open it up to a broader audience,” he said.