Oh, golly, it’s not just the gay kids:
Suicide attempts by gay teens — and even straight kids — are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don’t have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found.
Those factors raised the odds and were a substantial influence on suicide attempts even when known risk contributors like depression and being bullied were considered, said study author Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Columbia University psychologist and researcher.
His study found a higher rate of suicide attempts even among kids who weren’t bullied or depressed when they lived in counties less supportive of gays and with relatively few Democrats. A high proportion of Democrats was a measure used as a proxy for a more liberal environment.
[...]
“Is it surprising? No. Is it important? Yes,” said Dr. Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health.
A dirty little secret about the Religious Right’s opposition to inclusive anti-bullying policies, and gay rights in general, is that they’re not just hurting gay kids, which is their goal, but also straight kids. We’ve said it many times, but when gay rights groups push for laws and policies which respect all students equally, we’re trying to protect all kids, but, quite frankly, it’s not our kids that need protecting as much. It’s kids who are trapped in social conservative hinterlands, gay or straight, who need our help, because they’re not getting it from their own communities. Climates that foster support and respect for gay kids are naturally also climates that foster support for everyone. Of course, many TWO readers will see this story and say, “Duh.” But it’s nice to have a solid study to back up what we all intuitively know.
I wonder how Pete and Bam Bam are gonna spin this.
When I attended an Assemblies of God youth group in Florida, we were told that suicides went to hell. We were told we needed prayer and pastors, not pills or psychologists. We were told to put on what I termed “that happy Christian face,” because that was part of our “witness.”
I can easily imagine a community where these sorts of religious attitudes are in the majority having a higher rate of suicide overall. School psychologists and guidance counselors would be considered unimportant at best, toxic to a teenager’s values at worst. And as a depressed bisexual teen, I can tell you, these attitudes sure didn’t encourage me to talk openly to anyone.
[...] I interviewed Wayne Besen for a school article which went very well. Anyways, I was looking at his blog today (I was hesitant to put the link on but there you go) and he had an article about a new survey [...]
Conservatism, especially the extreme social kind, is by nature authoritarian and toxically shaming, simply for being a human being who enjoys the physical world and has flaws. When I was in graduate school in Nashville, TN (in the 70s), a group of us went out to a restaurant after classes one day and a woman in the group (a school teacher working on an advanced degree) was terrified that someone from her church might see her drinking a glass of beer. Being from the northeast I was totally incredulous and said, ‘who the hell cares what they think, it’s none of their business’. She said, ‘you don’t know what they’re like’. I wanted to say, ‘honey i’m gay and know exactly what those a******s are like’, but was polite and just dropped it.
ps..Suicide in the vast majority of cases is the result of mental illness, it is neither a crime nor a sin. Anyone who dumps that ‘they’re going to hell’ s**t on the family of the bereaved is not only ignorant beyond belief, they’re also sadistically cruel.
Thanks, Gary. My brother comitted suicide (he was 35), and if ANYBODY tried to tell me he was in hell, it would take enourmous self-restraint for me to not punch that person in the face.
As someone who had attempted suicide twice and live in a conservative household, church atmosphere. I can understand the idea may be there, but I’m more likely to go with the idea that conservative households and communities breed psychological harm -> thus leading to the higher suicide rate.
Nothing to back that up, but my opinion and what Gary (NJ) said.