Study Shows Gay Teens at Greater Risk

[Renew Deal]

There are two articles here. The first is from 1999.

<snip>
"Any clinician who works with youth has long suspected that attempting suicide is an issue for a subset of gay youth," Dr. Garofalo said. "I see the results of this study as a cry for help."

Dr. Garofalo and his colleagues looked at self-reported data on sexual orientation and suicide attempts among students in 9th through 12th grade who participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Massachusetts was the first state to add a question about sexual orientation. Answers were optional and anonymous.

Of the 4,167 students surveyed, 3.8 percent identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure of their sexual orientation. Researchers found these students were 3.41 times as likely to report a suicide attempt within the previous year as were heterosexual students. The number rose significantly when only young men were considered. In the overall population, boys tend to commit suicide more often than girls, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
<snip>

http://www.soulforce.org/article/653#greaterrisk

Researchers Study Sexual Orientation and Suicide

The research said 131 male respondents identified themselves as "bisexual or mostly/100 percent homosexual." More than 28 percent of them reported suicide attempts. That is compared to more than 4 percent of heterosexual counterparts claiming suicide attempts.

Traditionally, females are up to nine times more likely to attempt suicide than males, according to American Association of Suicidology documents. Males, though, are six times more likely to complete a suicide, a fact attributed to greater handgun use for suicide by males.

The University findings placed heterosexual girls in the 14 percent range for reported suicide attempts. About 20 percent of homosexual or bisexual teenage girls responded similarly.
<snip>

http://www.soulforce.org/article/653#researchers

I went looking for statistics about gay suicides. I'm interested in knowing if there is an uptick of suicide attempts or if there is more publicity. I can't find the answer to that question.

But the numbers even from 11 years ago are troubling. Gay kids are more likely to attempt suicide by more than 3-1. That's a horrible statistic.

I think our gay friends on DU are trying to tell us something without saying it directly. Their community is facing a crisis. They need help and they need us all to know they need help. The gay community is different than other communities because in many cases they are the only people they can turn to.

Suicide prevention is an important issue for many DUers. Gay suicides are truly a crisis THAT MUST be addressed. The issue of suicides must be raised in importance to the level of other major Democratic causes. This is as much of a life and death issue as any other. We must stick together. We must support our friends. And we must get the word out that suicide is not a way to solve problems.

[MineralMan]

1. It's not surprising to me at all. Whenever a minority group is

widely reviled, ridiculed, and bullied, it stands to reason that they would respond, sometimes with the hopelessness that leads to suicide. Our efforts must be to reverse the pattern and end the negative pressure. How we do that is a really difficult question. We can make bullying and harassment a zero-tolerance thing in our institutions. That will help. But, how do we deal with the ugly preaching from the pulpit, and the ugly name-calling in the public square. That I don't have a good answer for.

One of the things we can do, however, is to speak out against prejudice, pass laws that punish those who cause harm, and support actions that permanently and completely end laws and regulations that separate GLBTQI people from the rest of us. We can't do it in a half-hearted way. We must do it in a permanent and irreversible way.

[Renew Deal]

2. I agree

How do you deal with parents that don't want their children taught equality? How do you deal with institutions that openly preach hatred in the name of goodness?

Some of your suggestions have happened including the passing of bias crime laws. But we must be full throated advocates of equality and life. That's what makes the "it gets better" message so brilliant.

[MineralMan]

3. Absolutely. It involves those of us who support equal rights and

and end to bullying and mistreatment to show up and be heard. I have a long history of showing up at things like school board meetings and city council meetings and making no bones about how I feel about an injustice. Sadly, too few people do that. More people are likely to turn out to whine about teaching children not to bully or that everyone has a right to be treated with the same respect, regardless of the things that make them somehow different from the majority.

All too often, the voices of those who want justice are far outnumbered by those who don't. That's our fault. It truly is. Writing it here has absolutely zero effect on the school board in Littletown. Walking in and saying it clearly and repeatedly does have an effect. Bringing a couple of friends to state the same message works even better.

That's activism. Discussion forums are not activism. They're just discussion, and that's a worthwhile thing in its own right, but it is not activism. Activism starts at the lowest level and works up from there. There is no substitute.