I am a gay teen. I havent attempted suicide, but I have had that thought in my mind so much during my coming out. I never attempted, beccause I looked to what future I would have. I wanted to make a difference , and become who I felt inside that I am supposed to be. I realized that looking back when I’m older, I would say that i was strong. I’m glad that I read this. Thank you!!!

The notion that “psychological autopsies” somehow discovered “30 percent of LGBT youth among these dead teens” is a preposterous statement.

First, what was undoubtedly meant was that 30% OF THE SUICIDES were LGBT, not that 30% of ALL LGBT TEENS commit suicide.

That’s a huge distinction, and not a subtle one.

Second, the methodology of these “psychological autopsies” (guesswork?) is not described here.

Yet that’s precisely what we need to know before we even consider accepting the notion that LGBT teens commit (or attempt) suicide at higher rates than straight teens.

Basically this article asks us to take its premise on faith (as its author does).

In recent decades, this rumor of high suicide rates in the LGBT community has been repeated so often that it has gained currency as a some sort of established, scientific fact.

Yet there is no science behind it.

I gather that it stems from, and is perpetuated by, and feeds into, a reflexive and habitual woe-is-me attitude that usually follows this pattern:

1.) Yeah, we have it tough.
2.) I can imagine how some kids might not be able to cope (even though I muddled through somehow).
3.) I can imagine how some kids might kill themselves (although I didn’t).
4.) Somebody ought to do something about it!
5.) Yeah, we have it tough!

And around and around this rumor goes!

The funny thing about labels is that in many cases the more detailed they try to be, the less accurate they are. I persoanlly find most labels distasteful and when I am asked what I prefer to be called, I simly reply “human”. I also believe that being labeled by our sexuality does us more harm than good. It takes from us our humanity and sums us up as merely an object. Personally I find my orientation to be one of the least important aspects of my whole being, somewhat in the same manner that some black people feel about being defined by the color of their skin. I proposed in my commentary on another article that perhaps it is time to do away with sexuality-based labels since this pretty much defines the struggle as one of sexual preference, rather than civil rights and equality. I tend to favor the term Second-Class Citizen (SCC) Community in that it clearly defines our struggle much more accurately. It does not detract from our “gayness” but rather accentuates what it is really all about…equality.

“Penn State University psychologist Anthony D’Augelli [...] says their rate of suicide attempts is more than double the average of heterosexual teens.
[...]
That means LGBT teens are between 30 and 40 percent more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.”

That doesn’t make any sense.

Megan – The big picture is being seen. I lived in NYC until I was 10 and then in NJ until I was 22 and returned to NYC then. I know what a lonely and isolating place NJ can be and I was going through all that in the mid to late 80’s! Long before the “Will & Grace” era. To be honest, I doubt you would have gone through the same experience if you had been in NYC. There are/were numerous outlets and resources for GLBT people there. I’ve made many friends who grew up entirely in NYC and they didn’t go through half the coming out stress that I did. I also know about anti-gay violense. I was pushed by some straight guy at a straight bar who I guess thought I was gay – when I wasn’t looking – and went through a glass window that cut open my head, face, arms and back. I was in shock and didn’t know I was as hurt as I was. Bleeding profusely, I was allowed to merely walk home and almost bled to death on my living room floor that night. Peeling my head off the carpet the next morning, making my way on the train to the hospital but passing out at one of the stations – only to be awoken in the Emergency Room. To make matters worse, the police, gay community and gay press here in Chicago not only didn’t help – they made matters far worse. So I do come from a sense of knowing the larger picture and when I can, I support as many programs as possible in their outreach efforts. As hard as it stillis for many young GLBT people, times have been harder. My concern is that with all the progress we have made, why so many young people are still so prone this state of feeling about themselves. My only guess is that anti-gay sentiment is still very high in school and that children of people that are very gay (usually very religious) still internalize so very much of all that. I grew up in a very religious catholic family and it did nothing but f**k with my head and destroy my family relationships. It can be a tough ride – coming out, gaining a sense of yourself, especially when it feels you do so much of that by yourself – but slowly, I’d like to think that we are making progress. This article was helpful in addressing the issues before us and I’m glad 365gay.com has included it here.

RichieNJ – That’s exactly why it was used – in an attempt to take what had previously been a negative word and to “disempower” the word by using it as a term of our own. I think it met with marginal success with groups such as “Queer Nation” and TV shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” – but ultimately, you really can’t disassociate a word from its own long and sordid history completely and it seems to have lost favor lately – which I’m actually happy for.

John – I understand completely. It really isn’t an ideal word by any stretch of the imagination. On the other hand, there are now people using acronyms that are so long – they are laughable – to represent our entire community. The sad truth is that I haven’t heard any word that encompasses most everyone that sounds good either.