Gays and Suicide

[Captain Howdy]

I'm not sure how much the numbers back it up, but I think suicide is probably way more prominent in the LGBT community. I know it is an issue in the "trans" community.


Here's my take.

Being gay is abnormal. I'm not saying abnormal as a judgement. I'm talking statistically speaking. It's an outlier. Human society would collapse it if it structured itself around outliers, so I understand it... but you can't exist as a gay person and make it to an age of self-awareness, any age without being a little wounded from the experience because the entire world wasn't simply built with you in mind.

In some of us, those wounds are deeper than others and it serves to act as a psychological handicap.

I don't see it getting much better. I'm 50. I feel bad for the younger people. Right now we seem to be going backwards a bit in the USA. It doesn't always "Get better".

Maybe I'm off base.

 

[NormallyNeurotic]

Being gay is abnormal. I'm not saying abnormal as a judgement. I'm talking statistically speaking. It's an outlier.

Just because the statistics of being gay say it's a minority, doesn't mean it is. So many other animals show homosexual and bisexual behavior, I highly doubt that we are an ouliar (especially since many of the animals we are closely related to are very, very gay).

Although, we have something that changes things.

Trans people make it so that even a gay couple could have biological children. Our view of gender is, under current theory, more involved than other animals, and I think that if transness (hopefully) gets normalized, we may eventually "evolve" to have an even more broad view on orientation, since "men breeding with women" won't really exist the same way.

 

[KittyCatDance808]

I've always thought that LGBT people having a higher rate of suicide and drug addiction was a side effect of dealing with social and legal ostracization. Where they are made to feel the world hates them for something innate to their life. Less so with gay people now (though the primary target of culture war could turn on them any day), but many trans people feel a sense of hopelessness with the way the world is treating them, thinking that every day is some form of battle against their livelihood.

It's reasonable that someone under those conditions would not feel welcome living and escape their life through dissociation, suicide etc etc.

 

[Captain Howdy]

I just meant if there was a gumball machine full of babies and each one cost one dime. If you just wanted any baby, you could spend a dime and get one dispensed. If you wanted, say a female baby or a male baby, you may have to spend 3 or 4 dimes, probably at worst. If you wanted a gay one, you would have to spend 80-90 dimes. I mean gays are a statistical outlier. That's all.

 

[astroproto]

Tbf, a society doesn't need to be structured around something to create good enough living conditions.

Some societies are actively hostile towards a certain group which, imo, is more of the reason. Not because they're not being specially accomodated but because they're treated as this lesser being. There wasn't any need for conversion camps or slavery. It would be enough to just treat people equally but human ego doesn't allow for that.

 

[doomedbynarrative]

I'm not sure how much the numbers back it up, but I think suicide is probably way more prominent in the LGBT community. I know it is an issue in the "trans" community.


Here's my take.

Being gay is abnormal. I'm not saying abnormal as a judgement. I'm talking statistically speaking. It's an outlier. Human society would collapse it if it structured itself around outliers, so I understand it... but you can't exist as a gay person and make it to an age of self-awareness, any age without being a little wounded from the experience because the entire world wasn't simply built with you in mind.

In some of us, those wounds are deeper than others and it serves to act as a psychological handicap.

I don't see it getting much better. I'm 50. I feel bad for the younger people. Right now we seem to be going backwards a bit in the USA. It doesn't always "Get better".

Maybe I'm off base.

I mean if you wanna get really into the nitty gritty of Society... Anyone who is "abnormal" or different from what we consider the norm in any way will be wounded (are they are) because our society is not built for them either.
It's not just LGBT+ people. It's neurodivergent people. It's poor people. It's disabled people. It's sick people.
Society has been modeled much like the world is where survival of the fittest is the main rule. And it'll get worse because the trending societal thought at the moment is that compassion and empathy are weaknesses and "toxic".
Even in the supposed "animal kingdom" that we humans like to pretend we are not a part of, if you are an outlier in any way shape or form, chances are you are not going to survive and thus your genes will not be passed on. Your short existence is meant to serve as food for everything else and then disposed of. Humans like to pretend we have evolved beyond such primitive ways but we really haven't at our core.

 

[Seneca65AD]

I'm a numbers guy so I look at societies who welcome the LGBTQ community and compare the suicide rates to those who don't. Northern and Western Europe have much fewer gay suicides than other jurisdictions who are not as enlightened. I agree with KittyCatDance808.

I still can figure out after 60 years on this earth why it is so important to a vocal portion of society what 2 or more adults do in the privacy of their own home.

 

[BradGuy123]

I've always thought that LGBT people having a higher rate of suicide and drug addiction was a side effect of dealing with social and legal ostracization. Where they are made to feel the world hates them for something innate to their life. Less so with gay people now (though the primary target of culture war could turn on them any day), but many trans people feel a sense of hopelessness with the way the world is treating them, thinking that every day is some form of battle against their livelihood.

It's reasonable that someone under those conditions would not feel welcome living and escape their life through dissociation, suicide etc etc.

This is so accurate. When I was coming of age in the 80s and 90s I was living in a small town. It was preached against in churches. Kids in school would call people "gay" and "queer" as taunts and insults. There were no gay role models on TV. When it was spoken about it was always negative. I had so much insecurity and self doubt. I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. I was emotionally unhappy. All because of something I couldn't control or change. I am glad things are better for gay people now. But I see trans people being subject to the same discrimination that gay people were decades ago.