Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Take a look at this story at OneNewsNow, which begins:
Quoting a recent study, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) is warning of the increased risk of suicide that is linked with young people who identify themselves as homosexuals before achieving full maturity -- a process encouraged by many homosexual high school clubs.
Then take a look at this post at Pam's House Blend, which identifies the "recent study":
I received an email from PFOX regarding my question about the study PFOX head Regina Griggs cited in a recent One News Now article:The source is listed at www.pfox.org under Press Releases.
The press release, PFOX Exposes Dangers Of Self-Identifying As 'Gay' Before Maturity, is where the name of the study is mentioned.
And Griggs was right. PFOX did not cite the Saewyc study. It cited:
Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth by Remafedi, Farrow, and Deisher, in Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics 87: 869-875 June 1991...
A recent study? Hardly. Who considers a 17-year-old study to be recent? Apparently members of the anti-gay industry if the study can be used to demonize lgbts.
But leaving aside the fact that a 17 year old study was cited as "recent" and was cited as evidence against the existence of GSA clubs, which didn't exist at the time of the study, this argument also makes a causal claim that can't be justified by the study itself (see the full text of the study here).
First of all, they make no distinction at all between correlation and causation. If a higher percentage of those who self-identify as gay or bisexual early attempt suicide compared to those who self-identify later, is that a causal relationship or might both factors be effects of some other cause? Griggs makes no attempt to analyze this, it is enough for her that there is a correlation.
It never occurs to Griggs that those who attempt suicide soon after self-identifying as gay do so because that is when they first become aware that their identity is in such stark conflict with societal expectations. As any gay person can tell you, the initial coming out period is the most difficult because it often leads to serious conflicts with friends and family (and that was even more true in 1991 than it is today). She also ignores all of the other far more important risk factors that are obviously more likely to be causal. The study notes:
In 44% of cases, subjects attributed suicide attempts to "family problems," including conflict with family members and parents' marital discord, divorce, or alcoholism. One third of attempts were related to personal or interpersonal turmoil regarding homosexuality. Almost one third of subjects made their first suicide attempt in the same year that they identified themselves as bisexual or homosexual. Overall, three fourths of all first attempts temporally followed self-labeling. Other common precipitants were depression (30%), conflict with peers (22%), problems in a romantic relationship (19%), and dysphoria associated with personal substance abuse (15%).
There are far more serious risk factors for suicide in the study, all of which are ignored by Griggs and PFOX. For instance, 61% of those who attempt suicide were sexually abused, while only 29% of those who did not attempt suicide were sexually abused. There's an obvious causal factor. Those who attempted suicide also reported much higher rates of friendship loss due to being gay, drug use and having been arrested. Again, these are far more rationally viewed as causal factors in suicide than the age at which one self-identifies. Griggs ignores all of this because it doesn't fit her ideological preferences.
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If anything this study highlights the need for GSA clubs. There are too few studies on suicide prevention. But those that have been done found that both parent-family connectedness and perceived school connectedness were key protective factors against suicidal behavior.
Posted by: Abby Normal | July 23, 2008 9:55 AM
So bigotry against gays leads young gays to be more unhappy and attempt suicide, and the anti-gay bigots point to the suicides and say, "See? Told ya gays were bad!" Sounds about like the far right's MO: Create a horrible situation, then blame the person for being in the situation which you created.
Posted by: Wes | July 23, 2008 9:59 AM
I'm not gay, but one thing that made me very proud of my mom when I was in high school is that we were talking about something pertaining to gay folks, and she told me that she would still be proud of me and love me if I was gay because I was her only one (and possibly in spite of being her only one), just as long as I still had grandkids for her.
But sadly I once had a conversation with some friends who were otherwise pretty liberal, and asked whether they would rather admit to their parents that they were gay or addicted to drugs, they all answered drugs, because "you can fix that" or something along those lines.
I chose to say I'm gay because that shouldn't even be something to be ashamed of.
Posted by: matt | July 23, 2008 10:20 AM
And women who go to battered women shelters are more likely to be abused by their husbands in the future (than the population at large), so therefore let's get rid of battered women shelters to reduce abuse.
Posted by: Martin Grant | July 23, 2008 11:13 AM
I am not gay and I am 60+years old and I have some friends that were gay, and better people I have never found. When I was invloved with them I was always welcome at his home with my girl friend at the time. We had wonderful times at his dinner parties as he was an excellent cook, Oh and I might add he was a well respected teacher at a Catholic School, but he never messed with the alter boys like some the priest have done evidently. to boil it all down I am fucking sickof these damn homophobes and their bull shit
Posted by: Ex Partiot | July 23, 2008 11:41 AM
My wife's best man at our wedding was a six-foot-seven ginger homosexual called James. We'd attended his wedding (or civil ceremony, or whatever) the previous month. Two months later we all went to the wedding of a couple of lesbian friends of ours.
Amazingly, our marriage hasn't crumbled.
It's the invisible threat that they all seem to see that baffles me the most. "I'm afraid, so terribly terribly afraid of erm... SOMETHING, DAMMIT! But I've no fucking idea what." Genius.
Posted by: Matthew | July 23, 2008 11:49 AM
Matthew, I am glad you have such as I have had, friends who are gay. I might say your marriage will not crumble unless you or your wife do it yourselves, like I did. I also have no idea what the homophobes are so scared of, I guess some ivisible threat of some kind.They are so wrapped up in their book of mythology, they can't see beyond that. I am totally sick of all religions and the crap they preach, I don't know about you but I believe in reason and common sense, which is something the fundies do not believe in
Posted by: Ex Partiot | July 23, 2008 12:13 PM
Well it's mostly about tribalism, isn't it? Common enemy to unite the herd, slipping into lockstep with your fellows, all that stuff?
I don't know, sometimes it's all so hysterical it actually seems phoney.
Posted by: Matthew | July 23, 2008 12:21 PM
Umm... the suicide rate among teens is higher across the board than that of adults. I notice that they don't make a comparison to the overall population.
Posted by: Chuck C | July 23, 2008 12:26 PM
Exactly, Wes. It could never be the fault of the bigots, because as we all know, they're never wrong.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | July 23, 2008 12:43 PM
I'd like to point out there is a significant difference in the way the study, and other like it, use the word "identify" and the way the OneNewsNow article uses it. In psychology when one says that someone identifies as homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, or whatever, they are referring to people who recognize they have such feelings. They are not referring to people who openly admit to their feelings, as the article seems to be saying. It is entirely possible (and all to common) to identify as gay and not admit it to your friends and family, colloquially known as being in the closet.
So when PFOX say that GSA clubs encourage students to identify as gay, they are being misleading. GSA clubs may encourage students to come out of the closet by providing a safe environment to do so. But they do not encourage students to identify as gay in the psychological sense, which would be the equivalent of saying these clubs turn kids gay.
Interestingly, homosexual adolescents who show the highest rate of attempted suicide are effeminate males, the ones most likely to face severe persecution. In fact in all studies I've seen, thoughts of suicide show a strong correlation with homosexual persecution in the adolescent's community (school) or conflicts with their family. Regional studies have found that the risk of suicide associated with homosexuality drops in areas that are more accepting of homosexuality.
Posted by: Abby Normal | July 23, 2008 1:13 PM
The only way that you can get an interpretation like this is if you begin with the premise that being homosexual is bad. Not even the stupidest of these fucks would use this kind of logic otherwise. If I had known even one gay person (Out, that is) growing up I may have come out earlier. Using Abby's definitions, I "self identified" when I hit puberty and knew damn well to keep that shit hidden. I consider myself to be a very intelligent person, but in spite of that I also have some pretty heavy self-esteem, anxiety and paranoia issues (I guess those are to be expected when you're living a lie), which I've almost tangibly felt getting a lot better since coming out, the metaphorical burden lifted off my shoulders.
I honestly want to tear these PFOX people apart, and I don't envy the first idiot to quote something like this article at me. People can talk about societal homophobia as an abstraction all they want, but it ruined my life for a decade and a half before I finally just said, "well, it can't get much worse than this, let's just get Out and see what happens", not expecting good results. Luckily, I was wrong.
I get defensive when someone attacks homosexuality in general, but I get downright militant when it comes to these people endangering the mental and physical health of teenagers. They need to be fought.
Posted by: paul | July 23, 2008 1:53 PM
I should have gone to another blog before I came to this one this morning, could have posted this earlier. I think this pretty much sums it up.
http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2008/07/oil-water-yin-y.html
Posted by: paul | July 23, 2008 2:06 PM
Thanks for the link Paul. Gotta love it when bigots try to twist research to support their prejudice and end up getting bitch-slapped by the very researcher they're citing.
Posted by: Abby Normal | July 23, 2008 2:47 PM
These PFOX and other horrible pseudo-Christian types always have to have someone to look down on, don't they? Thoughtless, selfish and oh so proud.
It's beyond the pale to make life worse for gay kids.
The Australian Research Centre in Sex Health and Society http://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/ has done work in this area which shows what a horrible time gay kids have, and that social connectedness is essential to save their lives.
Posted by: Doug | July 23, 2008 3:36 PM
I wonder just how many gay issue blog these a holes read every day, I bet they visit more then just the news sites....
Posted by: ecoralguy | July 23, 2008 8:31 PM
I'm a bisexual guy, and no matter how much I try to subdue the sexual to other guys, it won't work. So I figure oh what the heck, I'll be gay, and the same thing happens, I can't subdue my attraction women. When I see both or either a man and/or a women slowly undress, I go freakin' crazy and horny. So I don't know what she's talking about when she can alter her sexuality to be more heterosexual.
real bi. http://FindBilover.com
Posted by: beent | July 24, 2008 12:06 AM
then i would suggest...not to subdue it Beent. Have your cake, and eat it (with sprinkles...lucky bugger)
PFOX is really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Let us hope this is a death rattle for this kind of idiocy, not a resurgence of stupidity.
Posted by: Richard Eis | July 24, 2008 4:18 AM
From reading the first lines of the post I was cringing. The cathedrals of illogic constructed here are astounding. Their release actually suggests by discouraging self-identification the suicide rate will drop -- where's the study for that?
Posted by: Michael | July 24, 2008 6:27 PM
It's comforting, as I'm young and gay, to see people, no matter how few, fighting for our well being. You all lift the dreary clouds that people like pfox create in my life with their "anti-gay agenda".
Posted by: brittney | July 26, 2008 5:19 PM