Bullies Target Lesbian, Gay Teens

(WebMD)  A study on teen bullying shows that lesbian and gay teens
are three times more likely than heterosexual teens to report being
bullied.

"It's clear that sexual minority youth are a population vulnerable to
bullying," researcher Elise Berlan, MD, says in a news release.

"This needs to be addressed, particularly in schools," says Berlan,
who works in the adolescent medicine division of Children's Hospital
Boston.

She and her colleagues studied more than 7,500 U.S. youths who were between the ages of 14 and 22, with an average age of 17, in 2001.

Participants completed surveys in 2001 about bullying and their sexual
orientation.

In the surveys, they described their feelings of attraction as completely
heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, bisexual, mostly homosexual, completely
homosexual, or unsure.

Berlan's team excluded data from participants who were uncertain of their
sexual orientation.

Among the youths studied, 90 percent described themselves as "completely
heterosexual," another 8 percent called themselves "mostly heterosexual,"
and about 1 percent called themselves bisexual.

The researchers combined the "mostly homosexual" and "completely
homosexual" responses into one lesbian/gay category. About 1 percent of the
participants were in that group.

Lesbian or gay participants were three times as likely as heterosexual youth
to report having been bullied.

In contrast, lesbian or gay youth were about 80 percent less likely than
heterosexuals to say they had bullied someone, the researchers note.

The findings were presented in Denver on March 28 at the Society for
Adolescent Medicine's annual meeting.


By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

[monkey_one]

If Love endures for ever
Why does Hate eminate out and infect the soul of man
Doth pride do hide among the one who thinks that meek is a four letter word
Rioutness of Self is but a convient way to hold on to the cancer that sickens the soul of man
and keeps hauty few from forging and accepting all of those who are different and or less fortunate than you so get a clue
and take the log from your own eye before removing the moat from mine :)

[naber1961]

I am normal, Sharn. But one thing I am not a degenerate. It is people who like you who are selfish and intolerant and worried to much about what people do in their personal lives. I hope no one you love (and I am sure if u look deep enough) you can find someone who is GAY, QUEER, or what ever you want to call us, feels your wrath. Sometimes people lash out on things because like jvman said , THEY ARE IN DENIAL.
Way to write JVMAN. No need to try to help this person. Sharn is the one who needs help, not us.

[jvman4u]

you sound more ignorant each time you write Sharon.... OPEN your mind and really try to be a smart nice person, get out of peoples bedrooms, and get into a library and learn something. You are being a bully just by condemning people you obviously don't know, or understand, you perpetuate the fear, anger, hatred of a TOTAL UNKNOWN, you obviously don't know any G A Y S or L E S B I A N S, and have NEVER had dialogue with them so that you could be educated, and find out that 99 per cent of all persuasions just want to live their lives, and you should just on involve your self in their sexuality ( that is unless you really want to sleep with them, but oh, then that would make you one of us, OH so SCARRY!!!!

[jvman4u]

Sharon, you have put way too much time into developing your own CLOSETED UNIVERSE of KNOWLEDGE, it reads like DENIAL DENIAL DENIAL AND MORE DENIAL with a touch of self-loathing and it's totally opposite of all of the EMPERICAL DATA and thousands of research papers, studies and all of reality... go get educated, and not via your religion, religion is a man's contrived theory / belief... not reality...

[tucano2]

It is well known such bullies are closet homosexuals too cowardly to come out

[puzzler125]

Bullying is tolerated, in all cases, far too often! NO ONE should bully another person, regardless of his or her sexual orientation (or ANY other characteristic) and specific laws are necessary to cover instances that fall outside of the general guidelines within which some original laws were created.

[naber1961]

Caeric, you just wrote my life story! I can also bet there a a bunch more with the same one. We cannot help who we are. This is how we were made. Looking back I can see where I gay tendencies when I was 6-7 years old. I just didnt know what it was. I married and have a wonderful daughter, who by the way is lesbian. I never told, or encouraged her to be lesbian, that is how she was made as well. We actually came out to each other at the same time. It was a relief on both our part. The so called Christians ( who are hypocrites for the most part) can think what they want. I sincerely beleive that homosexuality is genetic.

[extremophil]

I told my son that if anyone picks on him, to just hit them with his purse.

[caeric]

I grew up a fundamentalist Christian. I was raised in the rural South. I believed all the things associated with that upbringing. I also knew I was different, from the time I was old enough to be self-aware. As a teen I realize the difference was that I am gay.

I did not want it, did not ask for it, did not choose it. I prayed to God to make me 'normal'. Due to my upbringing I thought I was going to hell. Why would anyone choose that? I began to hate myself, and came close to suicide. No child should have to go through that, yet many of the children of this nation do. Why?

Because of the hateful and bigoted teachings of fundamentalists, religious and social, who have never learned to think for themselves, love others for who they are, and live and let live.

I came to realize that fundamental Christianity is wrong. They falsely believe that their way is the only way, yet their way is nothing but chains on the mind.
There are true Christians, however, Christians who try to understand God instead of mimicking what some preacher has told them is truth.

God does not hate. Whatever the fundamentalists believe, they do not understand God, for if they did they would be focused on love and acceptance instead of hate and condemnation.

If these people wouldn%u2019t teach their children to hate, we wouldn%u2019t have this problem with bullying. How can we expect our children to be decent people when there is so much negativity, ignorance and hatred from their parents?

[monkey_one]

I am a Gay man who was in the closet for 32 years I am glad things have changed and are changing for the younger GLBT community bulling and hatred are still a big problem especially with some of the comments here, but I think with dilegence and patient adult dialog showing these poor ignorant souls trully that we are people too who deserve all the cival liberties of our hetro brotheres and sisters, they will come around most of them if not the older generation the younger ones .......Peace