April 5 1994: Suicidal tendencies and gay youth As this issue's shelter story attests.

April 5 1994: Suicidal tendencies and gay youth

As this issue's shelter story attests, lesbian and gay youth issues continue to be controversial in the just discovered century. In the April 5 1994 issue of The Advocate, Chris edict delved into the complex politics behind studying gay youth suicide. "For gay-youth advocates the connection between suicide and sexual orientation is far too hardy to ignore or even question," gross mistake wrote. "But ... some [researchers] have accused gay-youth advocates of manipulating the issue for political gain."

The debate center upon a 1989 Department of Health and Human Services report based upon social worker Paul Gibson's finding that more than 30% of gay youths had attempted suicide. The inquiry was promptly buffed by the Bush administration. In 1993 David Shaffer, a prominent child psychiatrist, criticized Gibson's methodology, saying his sample group--teen staying at youth and homeles shelters--was already an at-risk cluster Shaffer claimed his own order found that only 2.5% of the suicide victims could be identified as gay. however researchers also found flaws in Shaffer's work, saying it relied onward families and friends to posthumously know or acknowledge victims' sexual orientation.

"It's tragic that we have allowed politics to commit to memory in the way of helping [gay youth]," Gibson told rescript "Many times it's just a matter of giving them an accurate understanding of who they are. for what reason many times do we have an opportunity to help folks so easily?"

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