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What leads gay, straight teens to attempt suicide?

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Dan82, Apr 18, 2011.

  1. Dan82

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    http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ial-influences/2011/04/17/AFxqXPvD_story.html


     
  2. RedState

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    Sadly it is a tragic social problem, but not really a surprising one I afraid. If a gay teen is from a more conservative region, or have rigid parents, sometimes they feel trapped, isolated and that no one will ever be able to understand them and everyone will reject them...and tragically some feel they have no where to turn and do the only thing they know will take their pain away.

    The general teasing and name-calling that is typical of high-school doesn't help with these situations either.

    That isolation, that loneliness is a scary thing to deal with--especially when you feel you have no one to talk to. I had to deal with it to an extent when I first came to terms with my own sexuality a few years ago...and it is not a good place to be.
     
  3. Emberstone

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    and this is why it is about time conservatives really need to step back from their culture warring, and look at the price people have to pay for their intolerences of minorities.
     
  4. RedState

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    Goddamn for once can you just stop?
    These issues go far deeper than simple Republican or Democratic politics, and they are obviously much more important. It is much more complicated than that.
     
  5. Aya McCabre

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    The political divide doesn't seem to be as extreme here.... but I could see how the suicide rate might go up with a conservative government. In the last term, benefits have been cut, student loans will have to be repaid faster, fewer people are able to get their therapy paid for... and at the same time the cost of living has risen, taxes have been increased..... all of those things sound to me like they could increase the suicide rate, and they happen to coincide with having a party in power who are less supportive of gay rights. I doubt the link is as clear as they say it is.

    Still, putting it that way makes it more likely something will be done about it. If gay issues cause an increase in straight suicide then it could still be your kid even if there is absolutely no way that your kid would ever be gay because that simply couldn't happen to you. Getting more people linked in to it is a good thing.
     
  6. Emberstone

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    so your saying conservative led homophobia in govermental and societal processes has no relevancy to the suicide rate of LGBT youth?

    The liberals moved to support equality for LGBT *along with many other minorities* ages ago, and it is the conseratives who still force the fight to keep LGBT citizens *and other minorities* second class citizens.

    And people are dieing as a result of such intolerences on the part of homophobes *and those who engender racisem, sexisem, and other forms of intolerence towards minorities*.

    Like it or not, the facts of the matter are that conservatives are the roadblock to civil equality in all spectrums of society where opression continues. That fact is not going away, because whenever people fight for the opressed, the conservatives are out in force to stand in the way of civil rights progress. It is a history that is well documented, and is still playing out at this very moment.

    DOMA, the attempts to block DADT repeal, prop 8, Yes on 1, etc... all the anti-gay intiatives are being pushed by conservatives, even when in the case of DOMA and DADT repeal, numerious scientific polls show a large majority support repeal of those laws.


    It **IS** time for conservatives to stop denying the rights of minorities like the LGBT community they frequently attack and abuse. You yourself admited that it was hard facing your sexuality growing up in a conservative place... but it seems beyond that, you dont like people being sick and tired of facing that same bigottry and intolerence from the same source: conservative american politicing.
     
  7. Danielle

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    Conservative people generally live in smaller areas and thus factors such as isolation have to be thought of.

    I would wager to say that more liberals (most at risk groups generally would lean liberal eg LBGT community, younger people) kill themselves than conservatives but that doesn't mean liberals are bad people or that conservatives are better.

    This issue is not political and it is a sad state to see that some people think it is.
     
  8. Revan

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    RedState, Emberstone, stop it. Every single freaking time I feel like I wind up having to step in and reign you two in, a couple other people too have to do the same. If you want to fight/argue then do it on your walls not posts.

    As for the article, I'm not really surprised, I don't think it's necessarily Republican fault, it's more just the Republicans who have such a closed-minded view. Not all Repubs are bad just like not all Demos are good. This article is surprising tho to state that anti-gay hatred affects both straight and gay people. I mean I suppose I should have actually probably figured but it's just surprising to me.
     
  9. RedState

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    >>>This issue is not political and it is a sad state to see that some people think it is
    I couldn't agree more...and I think it makes people look rather foolish, ahem, to try and make it a political issue to be honest.
    As I said it is much more complicated, and deeper than that. Religion, culture, family background, generational thinking, geography, and simple high school immaturity are the biggest factors in situations like this imo.
    I struggled not because of some stupid policy handed down by Washington, but rather it was because how I grew up and my general culture as a Southern boy.
    I do think that each generation is getting a little more accepting, i do believe that. Today's generation is obviously more accepting than that of my grandfathers...which is a good thing and hopefully that will continue.
     
    #9 RedState, Apr 19, 2011
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2011
  10. I agree with this completely, but I don't think that waiting for the climate to change for LGBT people is the answer. In the meantime, people are dying. I'm not saying that you don't understand that, I'm just adding that although things are changing, it really has to be something we all work for not just something we wait for.

    As far as politics goes, that's only a very small part of what's going on here. Yes, there is institutional discrimination going on, but how much does that contribute to the huge number of suicides in our nation's youth? I don't know. I really think it's the hatred on the ground that is a bigger factor. The reality is, in a lot of places, maybe even most places, it's socially acceptable to hate on the LGBT community. It's even expected in some places. That's awful and wrong and has little to do with politics and everything to do with our culture.

    The politics will start to reflect people's views. It will stop being a political issue on people's platforms when it stops being okay to hate the LGBT community. That's what I honestly see around me right now. It might be different elsewhere, I guess.