an article that i found in The Advocate caught my attention when it said that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that the suicide rate in the 10-24 age group jumped 8% between 2003 and 2004. that’s the biggest spike in suicides in 15 years. however, since the CDC didn’t report about sexual orientation in their study, they are unsure how many of those who ended their lives were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning. the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (which are anonymous) were able to get some statistics that show that the rates for suicidal ideation, sucicide attempts, and suicides in the 10-24 year old GLBTQ population are higher than that for their straight peers.
many people think that with pop culture becoming more gay-friendly and and a plethora of new resources for gay adolescents would help decrease the overall number of gay teens who commit suicide, but that’s not the case. as recently as 2005, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 3,522 students in Massachusetts found that the students that identified as being GLBTQ were 2.5 times more likely to purposefully hurt themselves, 3 times more likely to seriously consider attempting suicide, and a whopping 4 times more likely to actually attempt suicide than their straight peers. and that’s in the only state where gay marriage is legal. just think what it might be like in Mississippi or South Dakota.
Charles Robbins, the executive director of the Trevor Project, said that out of the 12,000+ calls that the hotline gets every year from troubled gay teens, “The majority of the calls come from outside large metropolitan areas,” alot of which have come from small communities in the Midwest and South.
“It’s not about seeing an open lifestyle on TV,” Robbins says, “When they’re at home in a small town and petrified about coming out, not a lot has changed.”
a study conducted by San Fransisco State University’s Cesar Chavez Institute on gay teen suicides is expected to be released next year. the researchers involved in the study looked into a cross-section of GLBT teens and their families to identify the link between familial reactions to a child having come out to their family and the risk of HIV infection, substance abuse, depression, and suicide ideation. Caitlin Ryan, the study leader for the CCI, has said that she was guarded about the results of the study, however insists that it gives the most in-depth evidence that is currently available as to a link between family rejection and suicide.
Ryan stated that parents were “shocked” and “in tears” when they found out “that they could play a role in causing their children to think of taking their own lives.” researchers had talked to parents who had forbidden their children from doing things such as sitting with them at church, walk with them down the street, and visiting relatives.
Ryan adds, however, that there is evidence of a large amount of resilience among GLBT youth, in addition to a willingness from parents to change their attitudes towards gays and be more accpeting of their gay children.
there’s alot of things that need to be done, though, in order to reduce the number of teens who find themselves wanting to, or worse attempting to, end their own lives.
