Posted on 05/31/2006 2:38:19 AM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
VANCOUVER -- Lesbian teens are nearly five times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual girls, according to a survey presented at a national conference of public health experts in Vancouver Monday.
The survey found 38 per cent of lesbian girls and 30.4 per cent of bisexual girls said they had attempted suicide in the previous year, compared with 8.2 per cent of heterosexual girls.
The results were from a 2003 survey of 30,000 students between grades 7 and 12 done by the B.C.-based McCreary Centre Society, which asked students if they had attempted suicide in the previous year. By contrast, 8.8 per cent of homosexual boys, 2.8 per cent of bisexual boys and 3.3 per cent of heterosexual boys said they had attempted suicide.
McCreary Centre Society research director Elizabeth Saewyc said that one reason attempted-suicide figures may be so high for lesbian and bisexual girls is that they tend to be an "invisible group."
They don't get talked about as much as homosexual boys, and the resources and support aren't directed to them as much. "Girls are not as readily identified for help," when it comes to depression, for example, and they are at risk of violence and harassment in the community.
Another possible reason for the high statistics for girls, she said, is that girls in general are more likely to attempt suicide, while boys are more likely to actually commit it. Which means that they actually died, so they aren't around to be asked whether they attempted suicide the previous year.
Saewyc noted that suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents, surpassed only by sudden injuries such as car accidents.
During her presentation, Saewyc cited previously unpublicized statistics from controversial and ground-breaking McCreary adolescent health surveys done in B.C.'s public school system in 1992, 1998 and 2003.
Besides the higher suicide-attempt rate, she said, the studies revealed that homosexual, lesbian or bisexual youths are far more likely to smoke or abuse drugs than youths who say they are heterosexual.
For instance, almost 15 per cent of the girls who described themselves as lesbian or bisexual in 2003 were daily smokers, compared with about four per cent of the girls who reported they were heterosexual.
The same pattern showed up for boys: 11 per cent of the homosexual or bisexual male students smoked cigarettes daily, compared with four per cent of the boys who identified themselves as being only attracted to people of the opposite sex.
And despite well-established anti-bullying programs in schools that encourage students to respect different races, cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations, she said the surveys show homosexual and lesbian youth are far more likely than heterosexual youth to report being discriminated against, insulted or physically assaulted at school because of sexual orientation.
According to the 2003 survey, some 55 per cent of the homosexual or bisexual boys reported being discriminated against due to their sexual orientation.
Saewyc, who is also an associate professor of nursing at the University of B.C., suggested the higher levels of abuse, harassment and violence that "sexual minority youth" suffer help explain why they are more likely to engage in risky, health-threatening behaviours -- even to the point of trying to kill themselves.
"More kids are choosing suicide attempts as a way of coping," she said in an interview after her presentation at the Canadian Public Health Association conference in Vancouver, because they don't feel they have the support of the family, their school and their community.
Maybe it's just faddish for lesbians to say they've attempted suicide. I do think there is something happening here -- but there's no evidence given that it's because of abuse or violence against lesbians. I wonder what part the counselling these girls get plays in this situation. If they're upset about their attraction to other girls, and a counselor tells them that they can't do anything about it, because they were born that way; perhaps that sends them into despair. Maybe if they were told that some gays can change their orientation, some of them would be able to cope better. That's just speculation on my part -- but it seems that I have as much evidence as the experts quoted in the article have for their opinions.
Some freepers do think that homosexuals can change. My read is, that if they do change, it's cosmetic. Even that is okay by me.
Behavior is all, as far as I'm concerned.
Suicide is the loss of all hope and courage and so very sad, for anyone, especially young people. I'm not surprised by the attempted suicides. One sees it in homosexuals, abused children, American Indians -- those young people who have been dealth a bad hand in life. Many people are dealt a bad hand in life, but most learn to cope one way or another.
I still can't believe 68% (30% +38%) even attempted suicide. something is flawed in the statistics.
For many girls, a suicide attempt is a way to get attention. When a boy decides on suicide, he more likely to actually want to off himself
Something is flawed in your logic. Take two deep breaths and ask yourself if the stats were 52 and 50, would it be 102%?
I think they are barking up the wrong tree. One reason I oppose this casual approval of the homosexual lifestyle is that it, in itself, is very violent and dangerous. Look to how they treat each other.
But still, look at the actual numbers.
roughly, 30,000 surveyed, lets say 1/2 were girls. leaving 15,000.
of that 15,000, lets say 10% were homosexual or bi...1500
of that 1500, 68% attempted suicide in last year, that is 1,020 attempts IN THE LAST YEAR!!!
All i'm saying is that the statistics are very suspicious.....Bob
It isn't 68%.
It's 38% of lesbian girls, and 30% of bi girls.
They're in two different groups.
I don't believe the stats much either. AT BEST, they MIGHT show a trend, nothing more...MAYBE much less.
Too many polls are rigged by special interest groups who get their own special pollsters to find data that EXACTLY proves the point of the special interest groups.
Besides, people LIE through their teeth. So this survey may be baloney.
I do believe the 40+ years of surveys that seem to show
1. how few homosexuals there really are, that is, only about 1% of the population;
2. how abnormal they feel and abnormal they KNOW they are; and
3. how many homosexuals take to drugs and alcohol.
Those things [1-3] seem to add up to a hopelessness and depspair that might bring about attempted suicides. But then, drugs and alcohol are used by a LOT of dysfunctional people. Who really knows how many homosexuals are driven to attempt suicide? I'm not surprised, though, at their attempts....it's a pretty awful condition under which to exist.
You didn't take the two deep breaths I told you to.
Of that 15,000 let's say 10% were homosexual or bi, 1500.
Of that 1500, let's say 750 were homosexual and 750 were bi.
Of the lesbian 750, 38% attempted =285
Of the bi 750, 30% attempted = 225
=510
What an idiotic comment.
The statistics on actual suicides are readily available. Just add them in for boys and girls.
Although they probably don't keep stats on the sexual orientation of suicides.
Breath #1...
breath #2....
The article said they were 2 different groups, the lesbians and the bi-sexuals. That would make the percentages additional, not progressive.
If it were 50 and 52%, I would KNOW the stats were wrong (or perhaps a couple of them attempted suicide twice). LOL
Despite the vast majority of research dollars being controlled by liberal academics with a pro-homosexual agenda, there's no evidence of homosexuality being a genetic trait. To the contrary, environmental factors have long been held to be primarily responsible.
If the Sunday sermon started off like this, I may actually pay attention.
;-)
"It's 38% of lesbian girls, and 30% of bi girls."
right. So that would be 68% of 200, or about 34% of the two groups combined.
Not necessarily. For something to be inborn, it doesn't have to be genetic, which means an actual mutation or change in the genes is involved.
Most birth defects are not genetic, they're caused by failure of the genetic code to be implemented properly during development. For instance, the thalidomide babies have perfectly normal children. Their bodies are damaged, not their genes.
Why cannot the same be true of (some) homosexuals: Inborn defect but not genetic in nature?
Right, so why are you adding the PERCENTAGES instead of the TOTAL if the groups are seperate?
Only if you conflate the two and don't subtract the overlap, counting many people twice, do you get a ridiculous percentage like 60%. The actual figure from this survey is somewhere between 30 and 38, depending on the proportion of lesbians to bisexual girls. No lower than 30, and no higher than 38 for the total group of lesbians and bisexuals.
It appears that girls were divided into three groups: lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexuals. Of the lesbians, 38% claimed to have attempted suicide in the previous year. Of the bisexuals, 30% attempted to kill themselves. Of the heterosexuals, 8% attempted to kill themselves. The percentages are not additive, as they apply to different groups. For example, if the Green Bay Packers win 70% of their games this year, and the Dallas Cowboys win 60% of their games, that doesn't mean that the two teams win 130% of their games.
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