According to the Massachusetts 2006 Youth Risk Survey, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. In addition, the San Francisco State University Chavez Center Institute has found that LGBTQ youth who come from a rejecting family are up to nine times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
But now a new study, done researchers at McGill University in Montreal and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has provided some more information on the issue.
"The researchers...found that those teens who self-identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, or who were unsure of their sexual identity, were indeed at higher risk for suicidal ideation and attempts. However, teens who had same-sex attractions or sexual experiences -- but thought of themselves as heterosexual -- were at no greater risk than the population at large. Perhaps surprisingly, but consistent with previous studies, the majority of teens with same-sex sexual attraction or experience considered themselves to be heterosexual."
This study seems to back up something that we already know: being GLBT itself is not a risk factor for suicide. Rather, the negative treatment that many GLBT teens endure can lead to suicidal feelings.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning teens who are feeling suicidal or who are in crisis can contact the Trevor Project for help and support. Call the toll free hotline at, 866-4-U-Trevor, for free, confidential help 24 hours a day, seven days a week.