Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, December 29, 2008 3:43:41 PM
Associated Press Writer Lisa Leff has the story on a new study that links parental reactions to problems for homosexuals.
Young gay people whose parents or guardians responded negatively when they revealed their sexual orientation were more likely to attempt suicide, experience severe depression and use drugs than those whose families accepted the news, according to a new study.
They never define "negatively" in the article. There are parents who do not allow their heterosexual children to date. Is that being "negative" towards their heterosexuality? Parents can discourage behaviors without rejecting their child. Although, if the child has absorbed the thinking of some activists groups, they may be unable to make the distinction between disapproval of behaviors and rejection of them as a person.
Among other findings, the study showed that teens who experienced negative feedback were more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide, nearly six times as vulnerable to severe depression and more than three times at risk of drug use.
As I often point out, correlation does not prove causation. Things could be generally bad in such homes. I don't wish depression on anyone.
One of the most startling findings was that being forbidden to associate with gay peers was as damaging as being physically beaten or verbally abused by their parents in terms of negative feedback, Ryan said.
Again, what does this mean? Two teens who could be mutually attracted to each other not being allowed to be alone behind closed doors?
In the two-part study, Ryan and her colleagues first interviewed 53 families with gay teenagers to identify 106 specific behaviors that could be considered "accepting" or "rejecting." For example, blaming a youth for being bullied at school, shielding him from other relatives or belittling her appearance for not conforming to social expectations fell into the rejecting category.
Oh, brother. My parents rightly pointed out to me that I would be bullied less if I stopped rewarding my tormentors will an emotional reaction (though I do believe vandalism or assault should not be tolerated in schools). Why shouldn't parents shield their children from hostile relatives - regardless of why the relatives are hostile? And parents have always had things to say about how their children choose to dress.
Next, they surveyed 224 white and Latino gay people between ages 21 and 25 to see which of the behaviors they had experienced growing up.
That's a fairly small sampling.
The responses then were matched against the participants' recent histories of severe depression, suicide attempts, substance abuse and unsafe sexual behavior.
How about some more control groups? What about these behaviors in homosexual people who had "positive" parents compared to the general population?
Ryan recalled a teenage girl whose mother forced her to date a boy and sent her to live with her grandmother when she learned her daughter was a lesbian.
No teenager should be forced to date anyone. Nobody should be forced to date, period.
In her paper for the journal Pediatrics, Ryan recommends that medical professionals ask young patients how their families have reacted to their sexual orientations and tell parents that negative reactions may prove harmful even if well-intentioned.
Great. So now, the doctor you are paying to check out your kid is going to get on your case to encourage you let your kid do whatever they want with their genitals. No thank you. When my children are paying their own way through life, they can live as they please.
"When providers and adults and family members think of gay people, they think of sex. They don't think of emotional attraction or social interaction or spiritual connectedness or deep-rooted psychological feelings," she said.
Because that is what makes it different. There are men I have been emotionally attracted to, have interacted with them socially, and felt a spiritual connection – but I have never wanted to see them naked to touch them in a sexual manner.
You know, a lot of parents want their children to follow in their footsteps - to find a spouse and make babies, thereby giving them grandchildren. They get disappointed when their child remains unmarried, and when their teen tells them they are a homosexual, well, that dashes some hopes early on.
I'd like to point out that I couldn't comment on this story if it wasn't there. These kinds of stories get a lot of MSM attention.