Introduction:
Affirmation
- a Mormon group - is organizing a Gay Suicide Vigil on May 8, 2001, and
they will be contacting the media with the hope that informed reports will
be written on the "suicide problems" of gay lesbian, and bisexual youth:
children, adolescents, and young adults. To assist them, I decided to make
available some of the "education" information prepared for four presentation
made in Eastern Canada in February and March, 2001: two in Quebec City
(Université Laval), one in Bathurst, New Brunswick (the small city
of 15,000 people where I grew up; the 2.5 hour evening presentation was
organized by the Sexual Health Centre and the French / English GLB group
"Gais.es Nor Gay"), and one at McGill University in Montreal which was
part of a meeting of GLB researchers sponsored by Health Canada.
Section
Organization:
This section was developed to be a reference
for journalist and others wishing to have a quick summary of the studies
reporting on the relationship between "youth suicide problems" and homosexuality
issues. The information is grouped and presented in tables (titles and
links given below), each table having its own web page. In addition, given
that little has yet been published in journals on the relationship of harassment
in schools and suicide problems - nothing on anti-gay/lesbian harassment
in schools and suicide problems - information will therefore be given on
this subject as based on two Youth Risk Behavior Data sets (Oregon, 1999;
Wisconsin, 1999), and a third data set obtained from an Internet survey
carried out by Outproud.org
and Oasis magazine.
These data sets are presently being
analysed and the results will be part two papers on harassment and suicidality
being prepared by myself, Pierre Tremblay, and the following researchers:
Professor Richard Ramsay, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
(with whom I am an associate researcher) - Dr. Chris Bagley, Social Work
Studies Department, University of Southampton (who made possible my "Visiting
Research Fellow" status at this university) - and Professor Michel Dorais,
Faculté des sciences sociales, Université Laval. I am presently
translating to English Michel's Dorais' book, "Better
be Dead Than a Fag," the only qualitative study ever done on gay males
who attempted suicide. The English translation of this study, combined
with a comprehensive analysis of the quantitative studies available on
gay and bisexual suicide problems, will form a book to be published early
in 2002.
Individuals who are concern enough
about "GLB Suicide Issue" that they will want to make related presentations
were also taken into consideration. For them, I have made available
all the tables of information in the form that they can be printed on one
page. To have them printed on one page, however, you "must" do the following:
On your browser, set the "printing preferences" to "0" for the margins:
top, bottom, left, and right. If need be, also remove all additional information
normally printed on the top and bottom of page when a web page is printed,
such as the URL, date, page number, etc.. This will give you a printed
page with only the information you want. Furthermore, after you have such
a page, you can make transparencies (for an overhead projector), meaning
that you may use them "with my permission" if you are to give a presentation
on the subject. Netscape Communicator / Composer 4.6 was used to make the
tables. (Notice: These pages are not yet verified for their one-page
printing. A few may be a little longer than a page. This notice will be
removed when pages have all been doubled checked in this respect.)
Some of the "Information Tables"
are also available in French. La plupart des "tableaux d'information"
sont disponibles en français. Vous n'avez qu'a cliquer sur le lien
"Tableau 1,2.." ci-dessous. Une liste des tableaux - et les liens à
ces tableaux - se retrouve à cette page: Les
Problèmes Suicidaires des Jeunes Gais, Lesbiennes, et Bisexuels(elles)
: Index français.
A
Short History of North American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth Suicide
Problems... and negative issues related to most mainstream youth suicidologists
who have continued to ignore homosexuality issues in their research work.
To 1994: there were 12 studies available
of gay and lesbian youth - mostly gay and bisexual male youth - that produced
an average lifetime "suicide attempt" incidence of about 30%. Additional
studies have not changed this estimate.
-
Table
1: G(L)B Youth Lifetime "Suicide Attempt" DATA - Published Studies
(American, or Specified) - The results of 12 studies. (For Printing, Table
1; Pour imprimer, Tableau
1)
-
Table
2: G(L)B Youth Lifetime "Suicide Attempt" DATA - Unpublished
Studies (American, or Specified) & Published Suicide Attempt Data (No
Analysis). (For Printing, Table
2; Pour imprimer, Tableau
2)
By the 1970s, as the result of a major
study of homosexual males (San Francisco Bay Area - a 1969 sample) carried
out by Bell and Weinberg (1978,
a Kinsey Institute study), it became known that homosexual males were more
at risk for having attempted suicide than heterosexual males. (In studies,
it is recommended that a control sample be used in statistical analyses,
as it was done by Bell & Weinberg.) However, for reasons that
inquisitive journalists should explore, almost all mainstream youth suicidologists
not only ignore the Bell & Weinberg study findings, but they also did
not seek to do replication studies; ;in mainstream suicidology a deadly
tradition of not soliciting 'homosexuality" information from subjects studied
continues to this day. The first study replicating the Bell & Weinberg
(1978) findings was published by Dr. Chris Bagley and myself in 1997
- almost 20 years after the Bell & Weinberg study results had been
published.
-
Table
3: Gay / Bisexual Male Youth Lifetime "Suicide Attempt" DATA
Studies With "Heterosexual" Male Control Samples. Part 1 - Results for
the Bell & Weinberg (1978) and Bagley and Tremblay (1997) studies.
(For Printing, Table
3; Pour imprimer, Tableau
3)
-
Table
4: Gay / Bisexual Male Youth Lifetime "Suicide Attempt" DATA
Studies With "Heterosexual" Male Control Samples. Part 2 - Results for
five studies published from 1998 to 2000. (For Printing, Table
4; Pour imprimer, Tableau
4)
From 1998 to 1999, results were published
from school-based studies: mostly YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Survey) studies
to which some homosexuality-related questions were added, but the original
CDC - Centers for Disease Control - Questionnaire does not contain such
questionsm and most YRBS still do NOT ask "homosexuality"
questions. The results confirmed that the 2 to 4 percent of adolescents
self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and/or the ones who report
being homosexually active, or the greater numbers identified / suspected
by others as being homosexual and are harassed - abused - accordingly,
are all at higher risk for attempting suicide than are their counterparts:
the ones identified as heterosexual, the ones only reporting being heterosexually
active, or the ones not harassed on the basis of presumed homosexual orientation,
respectively. Furthermore, these sutdies show that, on average, homosexually
oriented adolescents are at even higher risk for attempting suicide than
previously estimated from non-random community based samples: an average
of about 30% for a lifetime "suicide attempt" incidence (See Tables 1
- 2). The
YRBS studies report that homosexually oriented adolescents are attempting
suicide at a rate of about 30% in every 12 month period!
-
Table
5: Youth Risk Behavior Survey Studies Results - 1996 to 1999.
(For Printing, Table
5; Pour imprimer, Tableau
5)
Not mentioned in published studies,
however, is the fact that the data from YRBS studies indicate that adolescents
self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and/or the ones who report
being homosexually active, or the ones identified / suspected by
others as being homosexual and are harassed - abused - accordingly, are
all - as a rule - at higher risk for the more serious suicide-related behaviors
than are their counterparts: the ones identified as heterosexual, the ones
only reporting being heterosexually active, or the ones not harassed on
the basis of presumed homosexual orientation, respectively. Their risk
for "the more serious behaviors" also increase, relative to their counterparts.
-
Table
6: Increasing Risk for the More Serious Suicide Problems: Youth
Risk Behavior Survey Results Based on Identification by Self or Others
as Homosexual / bisexual, and / or by Sexual Behavior. (For Printing, Table
6; Pour imprimer, Tableau
6)
Anti-gay harassment - motivated by what
some researchers have called "homophobia" or "homonegativity"
(Morrison wt al., 1999; Roderick
et al., 1998) - has also become an issue, and a good description of
the homophobia / homonegativity existing in North American public schools
is given by Richard Goldstein in the article The
‘Faggot’ Factor: The chickens came home to roost at Columbine High:
The word "faggot" has
never merely meant homosexual. It has always carried the extrasexual connotation
of being unmanly. But these days, the implications of that insult have
expanded. To say that a certain behavior is "so gay" can apply to anything
stupid, clumsy, or outré. It’s probably the most effective way to
call a guy a loser, and in this age of sexual candor, when high school
students know that some of their peers may actually be gay, the accusation
has an even more fearsome ring.
Adolescents harassed in school (or on
the way to and from school) because they are assumed to be gay, lesbian,
or bisexual are also at greater risk for suicidality; their general relative
risk for increasingly serious suicide behaviors is a result of both the
Oregon (1999) and Wisconsin (1999) Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (Tables
7, 8). These negative outcomes, however, are the most pronounced for adolescent
males. In the Oregon survey, males harassed because they were presumed
to be homosexually oriented are 5 and 7 times more at risk for being multiple
suicide attempters, and for a suicide attempt(s) associated with having
received medical attention, and they account for 33% and 35% of suicide
attempters in these categories, respectively. Females are also negatively
affected by such harassment, but to a lesser degree than males are at risk,
compared to their respective counterparts. (Gay Youth Against Discrimination
- GYAD - is attempting
to end anti-gay harassment, at least in some American schools.)
-
Table
7: Oregon 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Result Summary For
Males & Females (Grades 9 to 12): Harassment Based on Perceived Homosexual
Orientation of Individuals: Associations with Depression & Suicide
Behaviors. (For Printing, Table
7; Pour imprimer, Tableau
7)
In the Wisconsin survey, males "threatened
or hurt" (a more serious form of harassment than simply "having been harassed")
based on presumed homosexual orientation are 11 times more at risk for
being multiple suicide attempters and attempting suicide resulting in having
received medical attention, and they account for about 40% of suicide attempters
in these categories. About 20% of females in the same suicide attempt categories
were harassed on the basis of one's presumed homosexual orientation.
-
Table
8: Wisconsin 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Result Summary
For Males & Females (Grades 9 to 12): Harassment Based on Perceived
Homosexual Orientation of Individuals: Associations with Depression &
Suicide Behaviors. (For Printing, Table
8; Pour imprimer, Tableau 8)
The
many forms of anti-gay harassment to consider when evaluating the effects
of this type of harassment on suicide behaviors of all adolescent males,
and especially on self-identified gay and bisexual adolescent males.
Harassment based on one's presumed
homosexual orientation, however, is NOT a single issue
as may be inferred from the Oregon 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey question
related to anti-gay harassment: Q-12: "During the past 12 months
have you ever been harassed at school (or on the way to and from school)
because someone thought your were gay, lesbian or bisexual?" Nor is it
also a matter of only a more serious form of harassment noted in the 1999
Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey: ""Have you ever been threatened or
hurt because someone thought you were gay, lesbian, or bisexual?" In the
Outproud
/ Oasis Magazine Internet Survey (2000), for example, information
was solicited on seven types of anti-gay harassments in the following way:
How many times have you...
because you are, or were thought to be, queer?
1. ...been verbally insulted (yelled
at, criticized) [70.1%] - 2. ...been threatened with physical violence
[32.7%] - 3. ...had an object thrown at you [22.4%] - 4. ...been punched,
kicked or beaten [14.2%] - 5. ...been threatened with a knife, gun or another
weapon [7.3%] - 6. ...been attacked sexually (forced to have a sexual experience,
raped) [6.2%] - 7. ...has someone threatened to tell someone else that
you are queer? [36.0%] Answers: (1) Never, (2)
Once, (3) Twice, (4) Three or more times.
The percentages given above - e.g. [70.1%]
- are for about 1200 gay and bisexual males who were 13- to 18-years old
and answered both the "harassment" and "suicide attempt" survey questions
during September and October, 2000. For the analysis results referenced
below (Table 9), however, only the last six harassments were used in the
data analysis because the first type of harassment - "being verbaly insulted"
- was too common and would therefore have little effect on suicide behaviors.
-
Table
9: Outproud 2000 Survey Results on the basis of Ethnicity For
Gay and Bisexual Males, 13- to 18-Years-Old: Incidences, Odds and Risk
Ratios for "Attempting Suicide" Associated with Any Harassment in Six Categories,
and in Three Selected Grouped Categories. (For Printing, Table
9; Pour imprimer, Tableau 9)
The results of the "Table 9" analysis
indicates that gay/bisexual males experiencing harassment in only one of
the six categories are at higher risk for attempting suicide than their
non-harassed counterparts, and that the risk increased with exposure to
increasing numbers of harassment. The results of another analysis which
took into consideration both the 6 different categories of harassments
and the number of harassments in each category - a value of "0" for no
harassment experienced, "1" for one experience of harassment in any of
the six category, "2" for two experiences, and "3" for three of more experiences,
producing a maximum score as "18" - are given in "Table 10" referenced
below. Generally, as the experiences of harassment increase for all
males (and the same applies for males males separated on the basis of ethnicity:
White Males / Males of Color, with differences existing between the two
groups), their risk for 3 types of "suicide attempts" also increases.
-
Table
10: Outproud 2000 Survey Results on the Basis of Ethnicity For
Gay and Bisexual Males, 11- to 18-Years-Old: Incidences and Odds Ratios
for "Attempting Suicide," "Multiple Suicide Attempts," and "Suicide
Attempt(s) with Hospitalization" in Association with Harassment in One
to Six Categories, and with the Number of Harassments in Each Category.
(For Printing, Table
10; Pour imprimer, Tableau 10)
White
Males & Males of Color: Differences?
Issues of white racism continue to
be a fact of life in predominantly white gay and lesbian communities (See
Tremblay, 2000): Racism
Issues in Predominantly White Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Communities
North America - Europe - Australia), and such racism is also be
reflected in studies of gay and bisexual males. Related studies generally
consists only of white males, or maybe of white males and about 20% males
of color, but the results are generally not separated on the basis of ethnicity.
Often enough, however, when studying various problems such as harassment
and suicidality, there may be significant within-group and inter-group
differences; this is made evident in the Tables 9
& 10
presenting results for the Outproud data. A number of ethnic differences
were also detected when analysing the 1999 YRBS Oregon and Wisconsin data,
but these results will not be reported here. Suffice to say that, given
information encountered over the years, gay and bisexual male youth of
color may be at higher risk for experiencing suicide problems than are
their white counterparts. Siignificant differences between the many groups
forming the "males of color" category may also exist.
Why
the Emphasis on Males?
Males form about 80% of youth who commit
suicide in the United States and Canada. From 1950 to 1990, however, there
was a great increase in youth suicide (often noted in the media), but it
is often not mentioned that males accounted for about 90% of the increase
in youth suicide.
-
Table
11: American Youth Suicide Rates: 1950 to 1990 Increasing Youth
Suicides: A 90% Male Problem. (For Printing, Table
11; Pour imprimer, Tableau 11)
Therefore, it could be said that investigating
the issue of "representation" with respect to "The Homosexuality Factor
in Youth Suicide Problems," and especially with respect to evaluating the
likelihood that this factor also applies for actual suicides of youth,
means to tackle to tackle the problem with a focus on males.
Would
Gay and Bisexual Male Youth be at Greater Risk for Suicide than their Heterosexual
Counterparts?
Some male youth who recognize their
same sex desires feel like it would be better for them to be dead than
ever be "gay," or "a fag!" Speaking to this fact is the web page "Better
to be Dead than Gay," and the same applies for the study "Better
dead than gay? Depression, suicide ideation and attempt among a sample
of gay and straight-identified males aged 18 to 24" by Jonathan
Nicholas and John Howard (Macquarie University, Australia). The recently
published book, "Better Dead than a Fag" (Mort
ou Fif) by Michel Dorais (Université Laval, Québec
City) also explored the same phenomenon manifested by French Canadian male
youth. Finally, the 52-minute 1995 British documentary film, "Better
Dead Than Gay," directed by Christopher O'Hare had made the same
point. Case studies - such as one supplied to me by the mother of such
a male who stated the "gay" fact concerning himself in his
suicide note - and many other cases do illustrate "the fact" that some
male youth commit suicide because they have somehow been educated
to think / feel that "being gay" is unacceptable; it is so totally unacceptable,
in fact, that they will also murder themselves. (A serious problem associated
with the same "hatred of homosexuality" education is the creation
/ existence of male youth will seek out the ones they hate - gay males,
or males believed to be gay - to assault [called "gay bashing"] and, in
some case, to murder them.)
It should not be assumed, however,
that socially induced self-hatred is the only reason for the suicides of
gay male youth. Often enough, many additional negative life events / experiences
/ feelings add to one's problems: loneliness, hopelessness, having been
taught that their God hates them and wishes their deaths, having to quit
school due to anti-gay harassment, losing one's friends, being assaulted,
being thrown out of one's home, having to engage in prostitution to survive,
using street drugs and alcohol as a form of self-medication (and possibly
becoming dependent / addicted), being sexually assaulted / abused, and
other problems, with some associated with gay communities. Adolescent gay/bisexual
identified males seeking older males - that they are often enough most
attracted to - will experience a number of problems that may place them
at risk for suicide problems. (A listing of references on the Home Page:
July / November 2000 Additions.)
But why have most mainstream youth
suicidologists continued to ignore "The
Homosexuality in Youth Suicide Problems" given the facts as summarized,
for example, in the Colorado (1997)
paper?
Studies...
Ethical Issues related to the American Association
of Suicidology (AAS), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
Section Coming Soon!
References
Morrison TG, Parriag AV, Morrison MA (1999).
The psychometric properties of the Homonegativity Scale. Journal
of Homosexuality, 37(4), 111-26. (Medline "abstract"
and document delivery service.)
Roderick T, McCammon SL, Long TE, Allred LJ
(1998). Behavioral aspects of homonegativity. Journal of Homosexuality,
36(1), 79-88. (Medline "abstract"
and document delivery service.)
