Bullying a Strong Risk Factor for Suicide in Gay Youth

Yet another study has confirmed that anti-gay bullying is a strong factor in pushing LGBT youth towards suicide and again demonstrates the lie of the "family values" crowd that claims bullying is a rite of passage. The continued opposition to anti-bullying policies and laws by "Christians" despite the growing body of evidence that the toxic atmosphere they seek to maintain for LGBT youth is deadly suggests - at least to me - that these "Christians" actually want to see more LGBT youth suicides. Thus, every time Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins, the Catholic bishops, etc., make their anti-gay pronouncements, they are in effect encouraging anti-bullying and the deaths that go with it. To say that I find this inability on their part to see LGBT youth as equally human as others is both disturbing and disgusting. Here are highlights from a U.S. News & World Report story:

New research confirms the trend of disturbing headlines that have appeared in media reports in the past two years:

-- For Many Gay Youth, Bullying Exacts a Deadly Toll

-- Gay Buffalo Teen Commits Suicide on Eve of National Bullying Summit

-- Tennessee Teen Commits Suicide After Years Of Anti-Gay Bullying

-- Indiana Teen Commits Suicide After Anti-Gay Bullying at School

[T]he research is the first to show what happens over time to teens who are bullied and victimized, said study co-author Brian Mustanski, an associate professor at Northwestern University's Department of Medical Social Sciences.

It may seem obvious that bullying and a lack of support from loved ones would make people more suicidal. But "sometimes the things that we think are important still have to get confirmed with science," Mustanski said.

"It's surprising how negative those effects are," he added. "Victimization turned out to be really important. It was far and away the most important risk factor."

N. Eugene Walls, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Denver, said the study confirms other findings about the effects of anti-gay bullying.

"As more and more research accumulates, those who wish to ignore anti-gay bullying or dismiss it as normal adolescent behavior and teasing are going to have an increasingly difficult argument to make that bullying is not that serious," he said.

What should parents do? "Research indicates that they are unlikely to be able to change their child's sexual orientation. So even though it may be difficult, sexual orientation is likely to be something about their child that will require acceptance," said Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, a professor of psychology at the University of South Alabama.

Obviously, this message about anti-gay bullying has been utterly lost by the Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly who have done everything but to declare anti-gay discrimination the state's official sport of choice. God save us from the "loving Christians."