9 known gay teenage suicides for Sept. in USA

[chinee]

I agree that there are more choices and opportunities out there today for gay men and women than we have ever seen in the past. Even Florida had their ban on gay adoption ended recently. But what goes on in schools does not, unfortunately, mirror these advances. The level of harassment that lgbt teens face in schools, especially in the South and through the Bible Belt in the U.S. is still a huge problem. In fact, most of the suicides have taken place in those parts of the country. And we are not even mentioning the tens of thousands of our teens who are living on the streets. Most of these kids are either throw aways or kids who have run away to avoid the homophobic attitudes they face at home. How many of these teens wind up in a morgue that we never even hear about. If only life would become easier for our youth. Yes, being a gay teen is a lot easier today than when I grew up in the 50's and 60's. But it still has a long way to go.

It's actually sad to think that still a lot of people are discriminating those who chose to be "different". I have actually heard a lot of lgbt teens who are committing suicide because of having suffered from bullying by their own peers and despite all these news, the problem on bullying still continues. Maybe as parents, we can start helping our lgbt teens by giving them the support and acceptance that they needed. We shouldn't wait until our teens take matters into their own hands.

[Sooty]

All we know is that the reason they gave their suicide was "gay persecution". They could have had multiple reasons for committing suicide and "gay persecution" was the one that tipped them over the edge.

[Beachlover]

It's actually sad to think that still a lot of people are discriminating those who chose to be "different". I have actually heard a lot of lgbt teens who are committing suicide because of having suffered from bullying by their own peers and despite all these news, the problem on bullying still continues. Maybe as parents, we can start helping our lgbt teens by giving them the support and acceptance that they needed. We shouldn't wait until our teens take matters into their own hands.

I know this isn't the best choice of thread to say this, but...

I think the whole "being different" think needs to be looked at from a broader angle... and I'm not just referring to gays. I'm talking about immigrants, different cultures, religions and nationalities when they're not in their home environment.

While no one should be discriminated against for being different, I think people who are different or "non-mainstream" in some way also need to consider how they make others feel and make an effort to integrate rather than alienate.

You get SOME people in the gay, immigrant, Muslim, Asian and other minority group category who try too hard to distinguish themselves as being different and push their own stereotype. It alienates and freaks out people around them. Then they wonder why they're not "accepted" and why they discriminated against.

I think, whatever tendencies or background you have, that's great, you can be proud of it and don't try to hide it. But you should also make an effort to integrate and co-exist with people around you and seek to interact with a diverse bunch, rather than just wrap yourself in a bubble of your own kind.