Homosexuality

Suicides among gay and lesbian youth

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A suicide prevention fence on a bridge.

A quotation:

• By a concerned mother: "My child is of sacred worth. Both my children - one lesbian, one straight -- are of sacred worth. I will faithfully work until my church truly reflects God's love for both." ₁

Essays about suicide by lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) youth:

We hesitate to explore this topic, because the main protagonists -- religious/social conservatives vs. the LGBT community and their allies -- tend to have very strong, fixed, and conflicting views on the rate and causes of suicide among gay and lesbian youth. It is certain to motivate many readers of all viewpoints to send us angry Emails.

There has been a great deal of debate on suicide among homosexual and bisexual youth. There is a general agreement that it is much higher than among youth with heterosexual orientation. But there is a great deal of debate over the cause or causes of elevated rates of suicide among this group. We will attempt to wade through the misinformation, disinformation, and conflicting data on this topic.

Topics covered in this section:

• Early estimates of suicide rates among gay and lesbian Youth.
  
  
• Current beliefs by U.S. religious groups about suicides by gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth.
  
  
• Does religious involvement increase or decrease the suicide rate among LGBT youth?

Reference used:

1. Quotation extracted from The Reconciling Ministries Network's home page at http://rmnetwork.org

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