legal ways to leave home at 15

[Shannon]

Hi,
I am a 15 year old non-binary "child". I don't have the worst home life but I do not feel comfortable or happy living in my home. I have tried to commit suicide and have struggled with mental illness for years. I am a lesbian and my parents do not support me. They are keeping me from my friends and from my girlfriend when they know that is how I get a lot of my support and help that I need. I live in new jersey can you please help me explore options to get me out of my current living situation?

[ccsmod0]

Re: legal ways to leave home at 15

Hey there,
Thank you for being brave enough to share what you have been going through at home. Your situation sounds terrible. You deserve to be loved and accepted for who you are. You mentioned that you have been struggling with mental issues for years now, have you talked to a mental health professional about how you have been feeling? They might be able to help you navigate your feelings a little better. Attempting suicide is pretty serious and if you ever feel like might be having those thoughts or feelings again you can try reaching out to the Trevor Hotline1-866-488-7386. They specialize in assisting GLBT teens who are in crisis.
It sounds like you would like to go through options that you have so that you do not have to live at home anymore. Have you had a chance to talk to any other adult about how you have been feeling? Sometimes it helps to have another adult on your side advocating for you. They might be able to help talk your parents into letting you go and live somewhere else temporarily. Even if that does not work you still made the effort in letting your parents know that what they are doing is affecting you negatively. You can try talking to a trusted teacher, coach, even a religious figure head, if you have one. It is all about what you feel comfortable with. It seems like you are going through a really difficult situation and we want to make sure that you are only doing what you want to do.
We want you to know that you have a lot of options available out there for you.
If you want you can give us a call and one of our trained liners can help you brainstorm some ideas, of how to handle your situation. 1-800-RUNAWAY