Factors In LGBT Teen Suicides

365gay.com is reporting that a new study is being done to determine the root causes of the high rate of suicide among LGBT youth. It will be interesting to see what the results show, although I think some of the factors should be pretty self-evident: (1) a still largely homophobic society where gays are denigrated and looked at as less than full citizens, (2) frequent harassment and name calling at school, (3) anti-gay religious propaganda by the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations (not to mention the Hindu and Muslim faiths) that carries a constant message that being gay is inherently evil and that gays are going to hell, (4) judgmental parents who disown their gay children, and (5) the dissemination of the "choice myth" thereby making gay youth think that they should be able to change.

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Like I suspect many of us, even before I intellectually began to accept my sexual orientation, I knew I was different and that no matter what I did I could not change it. As a result, I cannot even count how many times I thought of suicide both as a teen and later on in my life. Then, when I had mentally admitted I was gay but not come to terms with it - and as the life I had known began to disintegrate - I actually attempted suicide and came close to succeeding. So, I think I understand exactly how many LGBT teens feel: it seems like suicide is the only way to make it all stop. It is a sad commentary on our society and on allegedly "Godly Christians" who work tirelessly to make life a Hell on earth for gays. One of the reasons for my activism is that I do not want future generations of gays to suffer the discrimination and abuse that so many of us have experienced. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

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(Tucson, Arizona) A University of Arizona professor is embarking on a major study to determine the root causes of the high rate of suicide among LGBT youth. It is widely known that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth face discrimination, but less is known about the factors that make them twice as likely to attempt suicide. University of Arizona professor Stephen T. Russell's study will use information gathered about students from their teenage years through young adulthood.

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In his proposal for the grant, Russell wrote that his study will attempt to explain “the sexual orientation disparity in suicide ideation and suicide attempts among U.S. adolescents through the examination of risk and protective factors that characterize the important contexts of adolescents’ lives: individual emotional and behavioral health and risk, family and peer relations and the school environment.”

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“The study will allow me to follow kids into the young adult years and do a better job of understanding factors – school, family life, faith, friends and peers – that contribute to or ameliorate the risk for suicide and other mental health problems,” he added. . . . Russell said he wants to be able to identify risk factors for suicide and will also try to determine what roles prejudice, discrimination, victimization, depression and anxiety play in suicidal behavior. His results also will inform suicide prevention and intervention programs and efforts designed specifically for LGBT youth.