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Homosexual High School Clubs Increase Risk of Suicide says Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 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.

The Washington Post recently ran a sympathetic article about a 15-year-old boy named Saro who described his homosexual feelings and how Gay Straight Alliance student clubs help such gay teens to deal with discrimination and bullying in high school and middle school.

"What the article failed to describe," said PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs, "is the danger of young sexually confused teens self-identifying as gays at an early age. Research has shown that the risk of suicide decreases by 20% each year that a person delays homosexual or bisexual self-labeling. Early self-identification is dangerous to kids.

"Schools should not be encouraging teens to self-identify as gays, bisexuals or transgendered persons before they have matured. Sexual attractions are fluid and do not take on permanence until early adulthood. Rather than affirming teenagers as 'gay' through self-labeling, educators should affirm them as people worthy of respect and encourage teens to wait until adulthood before making choices about their sexuality. If teens are encouraged to believe that they are permanently 'gay' before they have had a chance to reach adulthood, their life choices are severely restricted and can result in depression."

Griggs also notes that schools with Gay Straight Alliance clubs are notorious for suppressing ex-gay organizations or individuals supporting tolerance for the ex-gay community. "GSA clubs and their teacher sponsors make schools unsafe for anyone who has rejected the 'gay' label in their lives or who believes in ex-gay equal rights. Our efforts to reach all students are typically met with hostility and violence. Time after time, we have faced hostile gay students and teachers ripping up our ex-gay materials or demanding that we be banned from distributing our materials on campuses."

The National Education Association's Ex-Gay Educators Caucus recommends diversity and inclusion of the ex-gay viewpoint in public schools, but this is seldom the case, according to Griggs. "What we find is that Gay Straight Alliance leaders and their school officials routinely suppress the ex-gay viewpoint and bully into silence anyone who dares to speak up for ex-gay equality and tolerance. If schools truly cared about diversity, they would include the diversity of the ex-gay community.  Former homosexuals and their supporters should have the same kind of access to public schools that GSA clubs currently enjoy."

Griggs concludes: "Articles such as the one in the Post fail to tell both sides of the bullying debate and endanger the lives of sexually confused and troubled youth who should be discouraged from self-labeling as gay, bisexual or transgendered."

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