A Stitch in Haste

Two three brief news stories caught my eye:

ITEM: The next battle in the nanny-state wars? The War on Teen Suicide –

A growing number of U.S. schools are screening teenagers for suicidal tendencies or signs of mental illness, triggering a debate between those who seek to reduce the toll of youthful suicides and others who say the tests are unreliable and intrude on family privacy.

The trend is being aggressively promoted by those who say screening can reduce the tragedy of the more than 1,700 suicides committed by children and adolescents each year in the United States.

MY TAKE: Not once do the words “gay” or “homosexual” appear in the article. Which is both sad and maddening, since at least some of those 1,700 suicides were by young gays conflicted over their sexuality and tormented by a society that far too often insists that there is something wrong with them. Some studies suggest that gay teens are ten times more likely to ideate about suicide than straight youths and that as many as half of all male teen suicide attempts are by gays. Where is the outrage by concerned parents, teachers, bureaucrats and politicians over that aspect of this crisis? The article singles out “Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), whose son Garrett died in 2003.” Senator Smith voted in favor of the Marriage Protection Amendment last week. With all due condolences to the Senator, concern over teen suicide and voting for anti-gay bigotry are incompatible positions. My previous posts on gay teen suicide here.

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ITEM: Throw the baby out with the…

A man who knew his wife wanted to die stepped aside as she crashed their minivan down a 300-foot cliff with their children in the back seat, authorities said Friday.
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The criminal complaint prepared by New York State Park Police states Victor Han “did intentionally drive Hejin Han to Perkins Memorial Drive while she was in a suicidal state of mind, park her vehicle near a steep cliff embankment, get out of the vehicle and walk away from the vehicle with the belief that Hejin Han wished to go to Bear Mountain to commit suicide.”

MY TAKE: It is always dubious to argue from anecdotes, but when the opposition posits irrational absolutes such as “children are always better off with a mother and a father,” then anecdotal counterexamples are permissible. How can people like Maggie Gallagher honestly insist that sexual orientation is, summarily, a more important criterion for parenthood than basic psychological and emotional stability? The two are not correlated: Gays can be good parents; straights can be lethal parents. Anyone who truly insists that “it’s all about the children” should follow through and acknowledge that it must also therefore be “all about the parents.”

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LATE ADDITION: A bigot fraudulently insists that gay teen suicide is because of the “gay” part, not the “bigotry” part –

Going far beyond the research results, Focus on the Family claims a recent study presented at a Canadian public health conference links “pro-gay advocates” to increased rates of lesbian teen suicide attempts, a claim that has baffled the scientist who conducted the study.

“Nothing in the brief results we presented or in our overall study could lead to such conclusions,” said Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, and research director of the McCreary Centre Society.

Gay teen is troubled by her sexual orientation.

Gay rights advocate insists “it’s okay to be gay.”

Anti-gay bigot insists “it’s not okay to be gay.”

Troubled gay teen commits suicide.

Who do you think is more responsible?

When they say “it’s all the children,” they lie.

More thoughts at Ex-Gay Watch, PHB.

Similar Posts:

• Teen Suicide Quote of the Day
• Who Commits Suicide — And Why?
• Teens, Society and Suicide
• Will the Bigots Also Distort “Happy Kids” Research?
• NYC Bureaucrats: Require Doctors to Screen for Suicide?

Filed under: Gay Rights and Issues, LGBTQ Youth Suicide