Gay youth still killing themselves

It's so weird, Evan and I were talking this morning during breakfast about how much easier it was for people to come out when he was in school than when I was. The fact is that 2 of the guys that I was friends with (who were in my wedding even) were gay and closeted - not to mention the groom.

And yet, here we are still with young people killing themselves - because somehow they aren't good enough to live as they are. How pathetic, how sad. That anyone now a days has to think that they aren't good enough to live.

In the gay community, youth suicide continues to be a persistent problem, experts say.

Among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youths, as many as 40 percent are likely to attempt suicide, said Cassie Blume, youth programs coordinator for the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center in San Jose. The national data is derived from several studies, Blume said.

"They are three times more likely to attempt suicide" than straight young people, Blume said. "Our work can be just about keeping them alive."

University of Minnesota pediatrics professor Gary Remafedi's book, "Death by Denial," found that 30 percent of gay youths said they had attempted suicide at least once as a teenager.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report from 1989 concluded that gay youths are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than straight teens. Gay and lesbian teens accounted for about 30 percent of youth suicides, the department found.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/bayandstate/ci_6977529

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