Comments on: Familial Rejection of Gay Teens Can Lead to Mental Health Problems Later

By: MikeD

MikeD — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:03:27 +0000

There isn’t a specific word for a person who is attracted to long legs, or large breasts, a certain hair colour or ethnicity. The fact that there are so many words to describe someone who is attracted to their gender is a clear symptom of destructive prejudice. Having the distinctions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc… are not socially helpful for anyone.

From the religious perspective, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, his response was love (in the sense where love is a general respect for humanity). Jesus is supposed to be the embodiment of God, he helped anyone who needed help regardless of their life choices and background. That is not at all consistent with the church of today. Things have improved but we have a long way to go still.

By: Frank

Frank — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:11:09 +0000

To Dana C. LaRocca,

Organizations like “Act Up” and “Bash Back” are effective precisely because they teach GLBT youth that they have a right to defend themselves even if they are gay. The prevailing religious and social environment with its millennia bias against gays does all it can to deny them that right.

By: Dana C. LaRocca

Dana C. LaRocca — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:26:27 +0000

I share the concern for GLBT youth and I believe that we need to address the issues of depression and suicide through direct action in our communities. Frankly, I think that organizations like “Bash Back” and “Act Up” do more to support our youth than academia can dream of doing.

Though I am confident that social worker Caitlin Ryan’s research is well intended and well funded it falls short in intellectual rigor. It is intellectually dishonest to rubber stamp it merely because it agrees with our opinions. That is foolish and silly.

That is not science.

By: Ronald R.

Ronald R. — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:20:24 +0000

The suicide rate among gays is measureably higher. Religion-caused hate is epidemic, just look around you in the media, in families, everywhere. There are protests at gay events. Protests at churches were not seen widely in this country until Prop 8. The “We hate you because you exist” speech is all around us, it’s undeniable. So don’t paint yourselves as nice people. You’re NOT. The cadavers are still piling up. It’s insidious. And don’t think those words don’t affect others. Think Matthew Shepard here.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:21:16 +0000

Oh and for the recod despite that fact that I am religious I still have many close frinds who are gay, lesbian and bi-sexual.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:20:17 +0000

I am a very religious person, and I find it morally disgusting that people would reject someone due to their sexual orientation hinding behind the guise of religion. Get over yourself, be honest, and admit that you are prejudice for all of our sakes!

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:42:08 +0000

I agree with the report. As a Gay adult and 41 years old I was rejected by my family and it caused huge emotional, physical and mental anquish. I tried to commit suicide multiple time and was very into the drug scene and alcohol MY friends disowned me except for one was bullied in school. But hey now I am a 41 years old retired firefighter who is gay and I have been decorated to the hilt. I have a great partner of 16 years and life is good. My mom now accepts us and I still have that 1 good friend. For all of those who think this report is ignorant look in the mirror. All hate kills no matter what it is and if you hate you will eventually be responsibly for someones death. Try being differant for 1 day you couldn’t handle it. try writing left or right handed just for a day. You will explode inside. Now think of being gay I dare you

By: jim

jim — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:08:27 +0000

Roboguy: Yes they are. Anyone who can’t see how much more value a living human being is than an invisible friend is mentally ill.
jim

By: Dana C. LaRocca

Dana C. LaRocca — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:47:40 +0000

Sad to say I was conducting my own research last night on the annual practice of ethanol consumption and its effect on cognition. Needless to say my math was way off base, by a factor of ten times.

That said, the sampling was still much too small. The attempted suicide rate for Ms. Ryan’s study would have been five out of 244 (not a half a person as I previously stated). It would have been accurate if she had merely stated that five subjects attempted suicide. Instead she said that the suicide rate was eight times higher.

There is a danger of extrapolating that “eight times” to larger and different populations. Ms. Ryan does not mention the use of a control group with the same demographics. So my guess is that she is comparing these 244 young people to a national norm. There is nothing wrong with that but it should at least be mentioned.

As a serious scholar I would want to know if these subjects shared any common traits other than GLBT (east coast for LGBT). For instance, if they came from the same community some other factor may have played a role. Two copy-cat suicide attempts within a close knit group, for instance, would more than double the instances in this small a sampling.

So no, Nancy, it isn’t that I think a small sampling is useless for a scientific study. But at best, in this case, it suggests the need for further study with a much broader sampling. As for Sigmund Freud’s studies; those were case studies. They did not pretend to provide statistical probabilities.

I have no doubt that gay youth are much more at risk than the general population. But Ms. Ryan’s study is hardly groundbreaking or newsworthy.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:23:21 +0000

So, you think 300 subjects is too small a sampling to constitute a valid scientific survey? Funny … I’ll bet you have no such qualms about the validity of Sigmund Freud’s studies in the field of psychotherapy, which he founded on a sample size of … three, exactly THREE, aristocratic Viennese women.