I was watching Larry King tonight and the show was about gay teens being bullied to the point of committing suicide. This was just so sad and the bullying, in all cases, should have never gotten to the point it did. It was reported that gay teens are four times as likely to commit suicide as other teens. (And teenagers already have a high rate of suicide)
Does society's lack of support for gays, in general, contribute to these heartbreaking suicides? Does religion contribute? What can we do to make this better?
When I was in my agnostic phase, this issue was very straight forward for me. I outright blamed religious bigotry and societal non-acceptance for making gays/lesbians second class citizens.
Ten years ago I returned to my Christian roots, so the issue is not quite as straight forward as it used to be. I still believe there is a problem with a society that rejects and is hostile towards gays. I support gay rights all the way...and take a lot of flak for that from some of my Christian brothers and sisters. It's difficult, because I want to understand both sides. I think I DO understand both sides. But, frankly, I think Christians are wrong in a lot of their attitudes towards the gay community. I do believe they are a part of the problem, and I say this as a member of the Christian community, and as someone who loves them.
So, what can be done? I just see this big wall with little understanding between the two groups.
I was happy to hear about support groups for gay teens springing up on the internet. Groups like The Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/home1.aspx These types of groups are very worth supporting, in my opinion.
This next video shows some heartbreaking stories and the reason for the need for groups like the above.
http://www.inthelifetv.org/html/episodes/99.html
So how can we help solve this problem? What is society's responsibility towards these kids? How can we help? And even more specifically what can Christians do to help?
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