Support May Help Curb Suicide Among Gay Youths

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Thank you for your research, Mark. And best wishes on future studies.

Ed and Carolyn Holmes of WA 12:11PM April 18, 2011

Is this supposed to be surprising? If you're told day after day that you're worthless and hated what reason do they have to live? I wish the schools would actually FOLLOW their zero tolerance policy instead of just HAVING one.

Miranda of PA 11:54AM April 18, 2011

I personally do not approve of homosexuals, HOWEVER that is not my right to approve or disapprove of them. More importantly I respect them a human beings. If I had a son or a daughter who were gay it would be difficult because of my shortcomings, but I would find it within myself to love them unconditionally and support them throughout their life and if i could not do this I would not be a good father. My heart goes out to young gays who ever become distressed enough over what others think or say to the point of hurting themselves - they are of great value and have a right to enjoy life to it's very fullest. My prayers are with each and everyone of them and dealing with alot of us in the hateful straight world as it is much too often.

Royce of UT 10:16AM April 18, 2011

Suicide in the gay community is so high because the life style is still not accepted as normal and it is not normal. The gay is constantly haveing to deal with the internal struggle with doing the right thing. It is inherient to mankind to know when they are doing right or wrong, as such the internal struggle is on going with gays. Add the bullying, name calling and social disapproval and thoughts of suicide are born. Being gay is never going to be completly accepted as is proof in countries that have tried to normalise the behavior. Acting in an immoral way with the same sex has always been frowned upon and should be as it promotes immorality, decease, molestations, suicides ect., ect. which is easily documented. If this country continues to promote and try to force others to accept this unnatural behaior as normal, it will continue to decline. The morals of a nation directly affect the country as a whole.

Keith of FL 10:13AM April 18, 2011

Having a support system and being accepted for who you are makes one less likely to kill themselves. That's amazing! Also quite obvious. It sucks being GLBT in a society like ours, where family and friends are quickly ready to abandon those who don't fit the perfect mold of heterosexual, gender-normative lifestyles. I truly hope my own support system holds if I choose to go with hormone therapy instead of merely crossdressing to properly express my gender identity. I doubt I'd kill myself for it, but I'd be terribly upset.

Katherine Lorraine of VA 9:59AM April 18, 2011

This is what im not understanding, yes bullying is wrong no matter how gay or how straight you are, but being LGB is not a medical condition nor is it an ethnicity, so why should a predominately straight community cater to a group of LGB? They are not special needs children which is what this and many other articles make them out to be. Nobody's sexual orientation should be buisness at a school so why would they put rules in their handbook saying what you can and cant do based on somones SO? LGB in four counties totaled to 4% of the population, of this 4%, only 22% of them had attempted to commit suicide, which means less than 1% total tried to commit suicide due to being LGB and being harassed. but instead of focusing on suicide altogether in young adults which by the stats posted was around 5%, We should only focus and cater to this 1%? My honest answer and solution, take sexual orientation completely out of the schools and our system all together, have a zero tolerance for bullying altogether, why should you have to be gay in order for it to be a big deal? everyone should have the same rules, nobody should be put in a special class and be protected, i know if LGB were entitled to more than a straight person, i would all of the sudden be gay, and who are you to say otherwise.

blah blah of OH 9:55AM April 18, 2011