I think the author proposed well thought out and researched reasons that contributes to higher suicide attempts and ideation in LGB adolescents. The author managed to sufficiently support the idea that damaged parental relationships leads to outcomes like depression, feelings of worthlessness, and thusly suicide attempts, as well as detail a lot of little factors like the micro expressions and the language that parents use that damage the relationship. The focus did seem to narrow down quite quickly on parental relationships though. While parental rejection or nonacceptance does seem to be a crucial contributor to the increased rates, I also think it is important that we do not lose sight of other significant factors such as peer rejection or the possible lack of strong role models or support services for LGB youths. It is the combination of factors like these that explains the increased rates. …show more content…
For example, if the parents are heavily against their child’s sexual orientation, they might encourage the child to hide this fact from the health professionals. Or, if the child has not come out to their parents yet, they would most certainly hide their sexual orientation to prevent their parents from finding out. I believe that these feelings of the public also flow into the scientific community; the lack of support for the LGB lifestyle means a lack of support for research about LGB individuals. As sexual orientation becomes less and less taboo to talk about, the true nature of the problem will start to come to light and more specialized treatments will start being developed. There has been an influx of interest in sexual minorities, especially with all the civil rights demonstrations and recent legal decisions, and this interest will encourage research in the field and an accepting understanding in a large part of our