Cycling to save Queer lives
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Oscar Dethridge doesn’t consider himself an athletic person, but he is undertaking a 2000-kilometre ride around the Canberra region for a very important cause. To Help Save Queer Lives.
As a 21-year-old student (studying Law, Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the Australian National University), Oscar felt compelled to overcome his lack of athletic abilities to raise awareness about the dangerous state of Queer mental health across Australia.
He is also raising funds for QLife, a peer-to-peer support service that provides online, anonymous and free support to any Queer person in need.
Devastatingly, last year, QLife reported only being able to answer 47 per cent of the calls they received, even after optimising their internal processes to reach more people.
“The Queer community more broadly faces some of the highest rates of mental health conditions and suicidality. 75 per cent of Queer people have reported seriously considering suicide at some point in their life, whilst a further one-third have actually attempted suicide. These statistics speak for themselves and serve as the basis for why I am doing this fundraiser,” Oscar says.
“To me, the concept of 53 per cent of those callers – who may be in the most dire mental health crises – waiting on the phone to reach the only person they think can help them is tragic.”
Oscar has experienced his own mental health challenges, which began at around 12 when he experienced symptoms related to depression.
“It was only with time and age that I began to identify the root cause of these extreme emotions, and it was my sexuality. I shut myself out of things due to fear of being exposed. I sat quiet as people around me expressed hatred towards my community and I stayed silent.
“The effect that this had on my younger self is something I won’t ever be able to quantify, the fact that it still sits with me today – not as a debilitating facet of my life – but as the biggest hurdle I have overcome says enough about the enduring impact of these experiences.”
While he has never been into physical activity, Oscar has found clarity and a sense of well-being through long hours of cycling. Knowing he is raising money and awareness for Queer people also brings him immense satisfaction.
He has also received enormous support from friends, family, the queer community and complete strangers from around Australia.
“What surprised me and touched me was the people I hadn’t spoken to in years that reached out to show support, and even more amazingly, were the people I had never met before, who saw my videos and donated, or reached out with words of support, or even joined me on one of my rides! I couldn’t have done this fundraiser without any of them.”
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Oscar has so far raised more than $6000, although he would like to raise more before the fundraiser ends at the end of this month, with every single dollar helping more Queer people experiencing crisis to find a caring voice at the other end of a helpline.
You can follow Oscar’s daily cycling journey on Instagram and make a donation to Help Save Queer Lives here.
And if his story inspires you to get involved, you can ride to support Oscar on the finale stretch of his 2,000km journey. Meet at The Jetty in Parkes (beside the Lake Burley Griffin) on Sunday 31 May at 12pm and do a loop around lake. If you’re not quite up to that length of ride you can merge at The Jetty from 1.30pm with the other cyclers and do a final bridge-to-bridge lap (5km) before celebrating back at The Jetty over coffee.
