Citation

Bagley C, Tremblay P. Crisis 2000; 21(3): 111-117.

Affiliation

Department of Social Work Studies, University of Southampton, UK. cb5@socsci.soton.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11265836

Abstract

Both clinical and epidemiological literature point to elevated rates of suicidal behaviors in gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth (GLBY). Recent North American and New Zealand studies of large populations (especially the US Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from several states) indicate that gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents (males in particular) can have rates of serious suicide attempts at least four times those of apparently heterosexual youth. There are various reasons why this figure is likely to be an underestimate. Reasons for these elevated rates of suicidal behavior include a climate of homophobic persecution in schools, and sometimes in family and community--values and actions that stigmatize homosexuality and that the youth who has not yet "come out" has to endure in silence.

Language: en