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from Gay Activism in the Schools
Gay 'Time' Magazine Writer
Details Rise Of 'Gay Teens'
October 6, 2005 -
Time magazine's cover story for October 10, 2005 is "The Battle Over Gay Teens"
by gay journalist John Cloud. The author's sexual orientation and background as
an advocate for gay affirmative reporting* is not mentioned in the article.
Cloud describes the growing strength of gay teen groups on high campuses known
as Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network (GLSEN). According to Cloud (using numbers supplied by GLSEN)
the number of GSAs has grown from 100 to 3000 in eight years.
Kevin Jennings, head of GLSEN told Cloud: "We're gonna win because of what's
happening in high schools right now ... this is the generation that gets it."
According to Cloud, the popular media is helping teens who believe they are gay
to openly express their homosexual attractions without the "loneliness and
longing that characterized the childhoods of so many gay adults."
Cloud notes that gay teens can now watch fictional and real teens who have come
out on shows like "Desperate Housewives," the dating show "Next" on MTV and
"Degrassi" high school. A glossy magazine, YGA is also available to help young
gay teens affirm their sexual orientation.
Cloud quotes Dr. Ritch Savin-Williams, author of The New Gay Teenager, who
claims that few gay teens want to change their sexual orientation. According to
Savin-Williams, an average of only 13% of gay teens want to become straight.
Exodus International's Youth outreach is briefly covered by Cloud, but he says,
"A lot of Exodus youths seemed captives of their Christianity, caught in a
hermetic loop of lust and gay sex (or masturbation) followed by confession and
grim determination."
Cloud appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Oct. 4 to discuss his cover story
with Bill O'Reilly. He told the talk show host, "... I don't think they're coming
out as a political act, and that's also new for these kids. I think they're
coming out because it is who they are, and they don't want to hide in the
closet. They see no reason to hide. So - but the politics - the gay - you know,
a lot of these kids aren't necessarily interested in gay politics culture as gay
activists have formed it."
NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee member Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons sent a letter
of concern to Time magazine over John Cloud's article. His letter is reprinted
below:
The Time writer of the gay teen article and the president of the APA have done a
serious disservice to teens, their parents and educators by ignoring the well
designed research studies on suicide and mental illness in those with same sex
attractions.
Two well designed major studies of young people with same sex attractions
published in the Archives of General Psychiatry revealed they were over 6 times
as likely to have attempted suicide, 4 times as likely as their peers to suffer
major depression, almost three times as likely to suffer generalized anxiety
disorder, nearly 4 times as likely to experience conduct disorder, 5 times as
likely to have nicotine dependence, 6 times as likely to suffer multiple
disorders.
Teenagers have the right to know the truth and should be given informed consent
by doctors, school psychologists and counselors, educators and parents as to the
serious emotional, mental and physical illnesses associated with the homosexual
lifestyle.
Rick Fitzgibbons, M.D.
100 Four Falls Center, Suite 312
W. Conshohocken, PA 19428
610-397-0950
References cited in Dr. Fitzgibbon's letter:
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999 Oct;56(10):876-80
Is sexual orientation related to mental health problems and suicidality in young
people?
Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ, Beautrais AL. Christchurch Health and
Development Study, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand.
to email click here
BACKGROUND: This study examines the extent to which gay, lesbian, and bisexual
young people are at increased risk of psychiatric disorder and suicidal
behaviors using data gathered on a New Zealand birth cohort studied to age 21
years.
METHODS: Data were gathered during the course of the Christchurch Health and
Development Study, a 21-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265
children born in Christchurch, New Zealand. At 21 years of age, 1007 sample
members were questioned about their sexual orientation and relationships with
same-sex partners since the age of 16 years. Twenty-eight subjects (2.8%) were
classified as being of gay, lesbian, or bisexual sexual orientation. Over the
period from age 14 to 21 years, data were gathered on a range of psychiatric
disorders that included major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, conduct
disorder, and substance use disorders. Data were also gathered on suicidal
ideation and suicide attempts.
RESULTS: Gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people were at increased risks of
major depression (odds ratio [OR], 4.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8-9.3),
generalized anxiety disorder (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2-6.5), conduct disorder (OR,
3.8; 95% CI, 1.7-8.7), nicotine dependence (OR, 5.0; 95%, CI, 2.3-10.9), other
substance abuse and/or dependence (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 0.9-4.2), multiple disorders
(OR, 5.9; 95% CI, 2.4-14.8), suicidal ideation (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 2.4-12.2), and
suicide attempts (OR, 6.2; 95% CI, 2.7-14.3).
CONCLUSIONS: Findings support recent evidence suggesting that gay, lesbian, and
bisexual young people are at increased risk of mental health problems, with
these associations being particularly evident for measures of suicidal behavior
and multiple disorder.
Sexual Orientation and Suicidality
A Co-twin Control Study in Adult Men
Richard
Herrell, MS; Jack Goldberg, PhD; William R. True, PhD, MPH; Visvanathan
Ramakrishnan, PhD; Michael Lyons, PhD; Seth Eisen, MD; Ming T. Tsuang, MD, DSc,
PhD
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1999; 56:867-874.
BACKGROUND: Several recent studies have found a higher lifetime prevalence of
suicide attempts in homosexual males compared with heterosexual control subjects
or population rates. These studies used either convenience samples, most without
controls, or population-based samples in which confounding factors such as
depression and substance abuse were not measured.
METHODS: This study used twins from the population-based Vietnam Era Twin
Registry, Hines, Ill. An analytic sample of 103 middle-aged male-male twin pairs
from the registry was identified in which one member of the pair reported male
sex partners after age 18 years while the other did not. Four lifetime symptoms
of suicidality as measured by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule were analyzed:
thoughts about death, wanting to die, thoughts about committing suicide, and
attempted suicide. A composite measure of reporting at least one suicidality
symptom was also assessed.
RESULTS: Same-gender sexual orientation is significantly associated with each of
the suicidality measures. Unadjusted matched-pair odds ratios follow: 2.4 (95%
confidence interval [CI], 1.2-4.6) for thoughts about death; 4.4 (95% CI,
1.7-11.6) for wanted to die; 4.1 (95% CI, 2.1-8.2) for suicidal ideation; 6.5
(95% CI, 1.5-28.8) for attempted suicide; and 5.1 (95% CI, 2.4-10.9) for any of
the suicidal symptoms. After adjustment for substance abuse and depressive
symptoms (other than suicidality), all of the suicidality measures remain
significantly associated with same-gender sexual orientation except for wanting
to die (odds ratio, 2.5 [95% CI, 0.7-8.8]).
CONCLUSIONS: The substantially increased lifetime risk of suicidal behaviors in
homosexual men is unlikely to be due solely to substance abuse or other
psychiatric comorbidity. While the underlying causes of the suicidal behaviors
remain unclear, future research needs to address the inadequacies in the
measurement of both sexual orientation and suicidality in population-based
samples.
From the Division of Epidemiology-Biostatistics, School of Public Health,
University of Illinois at Chicago (Mr Herrell and Drs Goldberg and
Ramakrishnan); the Vietnam Era Twin Registry, Health Services Research and
Development Program, Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines, Ill (Drs
Goldberg and Ramakrishnan); the School of Public Health, St Louis University (Dr
True), the Research Service, St Louis VAMC (Drs True and Eisen), the Division of
General Medical Sciences, Department of Medicine, Washington University School
of Medicine (Dr Eisen), St Louis, Mo; the Department of Psychology, Boston
University (Dr Lyons), the Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and
Genetics (Drs Lyons and Tsuang), the Harvard Medical School, Department of
Psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center (Drs Lyons and Tsuang), Boston,
Mass.
* John Cloud has received awards from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists
Association (September 2005) as well as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) in 2004 for his gay affirmative reporting. He admitted to
being gay in a Columbia Journalism Review weblog dated April 21, 2005.
Additional Reading: Adolescent Homosexuality;
'Little Black Book - Queer In The 21st Century' Booklet
Handed Out To Massachusetts Teenagers; Professor Lauds 'The New Gay Teenager'.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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