One-Third of Gay Middle Schoolers In S.F. Have Attempted Suicide, Study Claims

[Newsjock]

Source: SF Weekly

The recent coverage of gay teen suicides has the country on high alert, with even President Obama's Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, speaking out against bullying. While many of the "It Gets Better" videos on YouTube feature people talking about their horrendous experiences growing up in less liberal and gay-friendly locales than our flaming city of St. Francis, a frightening percentage of queer kids here have attempted to kill themselves. According to recent studies, 34 percent of gay middle schoolers, and 23 percent of high schoolers had attempted suicide in the last year alone.

Those stats are just part of the results from two surveys conducted in the city's public middle and high schools from 2007 to 2009, tallying responses from more than 80 percent of the student body. Here's some more:

>> 34 percent of middle schoolers identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) had attempted suicide in the last year -- compared to 7 percent of hetero kids. Forty-three percent of LGB students had made a suicide plan; 56 percent had seriously considered suicide

>> In high school, the numbers go down -- a bit. Twenty-three percent had attempted suicide in the past year, compared to 31 percent who'd made a plan, and 38 percent who'd seriously considered suicide.

Read more: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2010/10/lgbt_suicides_34_percent.php

[Taverner]

1. Jesus FUCK!

Not good....

[xchrom]

2. And this is in one of the more positive LGBTIQ areas of the country. Nt

[QC]

7. Exactly. What if these kids were in Picayune, Mississippi?

Or any other of thousands of small, remote places.

[The Philosopher]

3. Patience

If we're only patient, this will all go away someday.

[JerseygirlCT]

4. That's terrifying. nt

[Starry Messenger]

5. .

:( I just wish I could hug all these kids.

[lightningandsnow]

6. ....

:cry:

And I bet the rates are even much higher than that for trans teens.

[TheDebbieDee]

8. I can't believe that would be true in SF of all places!

Poor kids..........I wonder what the stats are like in less tolerant cities, like, the REST of America!

[lightningandsnow]

9. It's been my experience that "tolerant" cities aren't so tolerant.

I live in Toronto, and while it's definitely true that there are more resources for queer/trans kids here than most places, the groups and services for queer/trans youth are mostly concentrated in the downtown core, and often, access to them is contingent on the parents letting their teenager go, or the teen moving out.

I wasn't allowed to go to Supporting Our Youth, a local queer/trans group, until my parents split up and I moved in with my dad.

There's a lot of nasty homophobic and transphobic bigotry here that doesn't get talked about, as well. In middle school, a teacher brought anti-homophobia workshops to my school. Many parents complained - after all, how dare they teach their kids it's okay to be gay without their permission! The workshops did not happen the year after.