Young homosexuals being singled out for punishment, study finds
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comGay, lesbian teens more likely to be expelled and jailed
Seeded on Mon Dec 6, 2010 11:13 AM EST (msnbc.com)
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I didn't know the cops had GAYDAR.
Wonder how it works?
So a homosexual is driving down the street observing the traffic laws and a cop points a radar at the car. How does it distinguish between heterosexual and homosexual?
The article doesn't say that police officers stop gay drivers for speeding more often than other drivers. The article discusses punishment in a much broader set of circumstances.
Nice example of an idiotic straw-man argument, though.
Another re just like madmax 13. Racist!
Maria, get a dictionary. Look up 'racist'.
That's a possible flaw in the study, as it includes everyone who doesn't self-identify as 100% straight. I can see an argument regarding social attitudes towards everyone who doesn't fit the narrow category of "straight", but the study bias would be the same if the opposite assumption were made, and lumped everyone who wasn't 100% homosexual into the same category.
For those saying this study is false--I am an openly lesbian high school student in Texas. I have a 4.0 GPA and never have had any disciplinary problems. However, I tried to publish a story in the school paper about anti-bullying, which happened to mention the issue of LGBT-related bullying. It was flagged as controversial and I had to go see the school principal. He told me to my face that "our school has an image, and people like you don't fit in that image." He also threatened to get me kicked off of the school newspaper and possibly suspended if I pushed the issue with the school board or anything else. Now, he glares at me every time he sees me in the hall and looks for any little thing to get me in trouble (he hasn't found any, yet). Again, I am a 4.0 AP student, with lots of community service and leadership under my belt. Tell me again how I deserve this treatment?
Sure - you are openly gay and pushing the gay agenda in a publicly funded institution against the morals and norms of most of society.
What gay agenda? She has done nothing wrong, her school is discriminating against LGBT.
Hang in there, there are open-minded people in the world - look for us. And for God's sake move out of Texas!
It will get better...and if he continues to harass you, I'm sure there are any number of groups that would have a field day with that.
And speaking in front of the school board is your right as a citizen, since we still live in the the U.S., last I checked (I know I did it often enough when I went to school back in the dark ages before the internet).
You're obviously dealing with a homophobic hetero male who is apparently scared of a lesbian teen...or whomever may yell the loudest at him if an article on GLBT bullying. Or it may be because you're in Texas, which isn't necessarily fair to the Texans who could care less who you sleep with, but about the quality of your character.
Good luck, chin up, and graduate high school...and write about this afterwards.
Gay Agenda:
1. Be treated with equality
2. Buy Milk
The short answer is you don't deserve such treatment. I have hope that the majority of our people are more accepting of sexual preference differences, but, unfortunately, not yet near enough.
well i feel silly for asking but acronyms where never my strong suite, what precisely does all of LGBT stand for? im pretty sure I have it all but i would like to make sure....
Pushing a gay agenda? It's about civil equality. I suspect the reason the school doesn't want to support this student is because of religious beliefs - it's no secret that Texas has a high population of conservative Christians.
Why so many people are against LGBT people like you I will never understand.
If I were you, I'd file a complaint with someone about this.
You have my sympathy...Texas isn't the more progressive states of the union (and I'm being generous here). Personally, I think you should sue them for violating your civil rights. As it is, you have a lot of personal courage...keep fighting. Quitters never win, and winners NEVER quit! I have faith in you that you're no quitter.
Non deditio!
i don't understand all this hate and negativity because of some ridiculous study, any type of survey can yield whatever results the people conducting the survey want it to based on the people surveyed and the questions asked.
i pray that someday people will learn to accept those around them and show everyone the kindness and compassion they wish to be shown. i have my way, you have yours as for the "right" way there is no such thing.
@taopin- LGBT= Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-gender. occasionally you will see an I for inter-sex or a Q for queer at the end of LGBT :-)
re:
bob5ford
You're the problem, not the solution.
Your bigotry and stupidity are incredible and you should be ashamed. I'm a 50 year old gay man and have never rec'd a copy of your so called "gay agenda". What is the gay agenda?
To: student: Congratulations on your success. Hang in there. I'm proud of you and wish you all the best.
Yeah i'm still waiting for my agenda too, thought they sent out the updated list last month?
And we wonder why so many LGBT teenagers pretend to be straight. And we wonder why they stay in the closet. And we wonder why they get sent to gay therapy, and choose to repress their feelings, pretend to be straight, just so that mommy and daddy will leave them alone, and then cut off all contact with they're families once they move out. I'm not lesbian, but I have LGBT friends, and some of them have been through that crap. They hope for acceptance from their families, and they come out to them, only to be slapped in the face with fanatical religious indoctrination by their own parents. Support your kids, don't bash them. If they're school is discriminating against them because of their sexuality, do NOT punish them for it. Go to the school board and report any bigoted teachers.
To LGBT teens: hang in there.
You can make the figure show what you want depending on what part of the country you live in. Same with Racial biasing, if you in an heavy populated black area, you will find there are more blacks commiting crime. It is not racial, just statistics.
This article is BS.
This is where per capita statistics come in: how many people in x group committed a crime, divided by how many total people exist in that group, gives you a fraction which can be compared to the fractions from other groups. In my hometown, there is indeed a higher crime rate among some minority groups, even accounting for population variations in this way. That's just statistics. These groups are at a socioeconomic disadvantage in my city, and their members may tend to act up because of the challenges they face--but the statistics cannot tell me if this conjecture is true.
A better question to ask in criticizing this article is whether they gathered their empirical information in an instructive, non-biasing way. We are, after all, relying on teenagers to self-report, with no confirmation. I'm not sure whether everyone who has ever been attracted to a person of the same sex should be considered part of the gay spectrum--people are people, and attraction is not the same as a desire for a relationship.
If it was good and OK there would not be such a controversy. I don't wish anyone harm but I am a firm believer that being gay is a choice just like being hooked on drugs. You can choose to do what you want but don't complain about the consequences. You have never heard of straight couples being in the closet or having depression because of their life style. Because they are living the way God intended for us too. It was Adam and Eve in the garden not Adam and Steve.
We as a society have chosen to move from the plan that God had for us and look at our World today. We all believe we can live anyway we want and that is our right. Well the things you do in this life is like planting a garden you can't plant corn and expect green beans to grow. So when you choose to live these alternative lifestyles be prepared to live with the price of doing so.
highstrung, you may not be old enough to remember, but I do. The same bigoted statements as you are making were made about Blacks, especially about interracial marriage, but about almost everything about their plight in the 40's and 50's due to people like you. Here's what I heard in church all the time while growing up in the South:
"Why, if Blacks would just be more like Whites, they wouldn't have all those problems. If Blacks would lead a righteous lifestyle, they wouldn't get lynched. It's their own fault, not the fault of people who keep them down, discriminate against them. If they weren't so lazy and would stop taking the good jobs away from Whites by working for less, then they could keep working as porters and dishwashers. Why do they think they need educations? Besides, God made Blacks to be inferior, why the Bible says so."
Ok then...if being gay is a choice, I challenge you to choose to be gay, for a year.
If you can do that, then "choose" to be straight again, I'll choose to be straight, then switch again when you go back to being whatever sexuality format you choose.
Do that, and I guarantee you'll become rich beyond the dreams of avarice for your knowledge of the human psyche.
Or not.
And while you do become gay, then straight again, have a chat with all those churches that allow children to be abused by clergy of various stripes, turn a blind eye to it, yet provide you with such insights into the Word of God...we need to work on that.
Heck,I remember when we were told in school that being left-handed was evil. Sinister means left in Latin, you know....The nuns were wrong and luckily nobody got hurt!
Excuse me, High Strung, but I have been ashamed of being /heterosexual/ for years. In a way, I was in 'the closet' about any sexuality for years. I know being heterosexual is more publically acceptable, but it took a while for me to admit to myself I was attracted to anyone.
Comment # 10 deleted for being derogatory towards homosexuals, as well as off-topic.
george of the jungle-2760654, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 5 of the Code of Honor.
Comment # 11 also deleted for being a personal attack. managerman, please mind rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
You are also suspended for a day.
@High Strung, I'm sick of you people bashing gays for their lifestyle based on religion. Guess what? The only reason religious fanatics shame, and attack gay lifestyles is because they're afraid that God will punish them, if they don't punish the gays first.
Drop all your religous views on homosexuality for one day, don't protest it, or make any bigoted statements, don't insult an LGBT person for one day. Then tell me if God hailed fire and brimstone through your roof.
I was not bashing anyones life style. I am just saying live as you choose just don't gripe about the consequences. It's not just the sexual things in life that come with a price. Do drugs become a drug addict. Steal something get arrested. Hit someone get arrested for your violence.
Some of you people are on here just to argue. I don't really care if you agree with my opinon or not. I am just sharing the way I feel if it offends you that is your problem not mine.
I find myself getting offended when gay people make there remarks about their life style being right and should be acknowledge as such. But you know what I don't have to live with their consequences.
@Mr. Atoz
I loved it!! wish i could have given more thumbs up thingys for that!!!!
Mac01..
It is clearly ok to be whatever anyone chooses to be ..its ignorant people like you that make it tough for anyone who might not fit societies idea of normal.
So if I choose to be a mass murderer that makes it okay since I made the choice? This argument means that we should have let Hitler live. Not your best argument. You're right in saying that Americans are granted the right to choose their lifestyle as long as it doesn't harm others, but you might want to come up with a better defense. Just saying.
Last I looked, everyone is supposed to be equal before the law. If it is in fact the case that those whose intimacy preferences are different than the majority are not getting equal treatment, there needs to be steps to address this. We are all equally beloved in the eyes of our maker. G-d is the ultimate role model, for correct conduct. We can learn a thing or two from practicing the principal of Imitatio Dei".
Closet fag? Really? What a crock of crap! At least my kid is man enough to own up to what he is. He doesn't hide it, although there was a time when he thought he had to. And there is no one on this earth that can convince me that being gay is a choice. Like my kid woke up one day and decided that he liked being bullied, made fun of and in and out of hospital's for depression... Whatever!
Man enough?
yes, MAN ENOUGH. You know, the true meaning of the word. It takes guts and true manhood to stand up and be true to yourself and not to what trolls like you say or think and believe.
I'd rather know that there is an example of a parent that is MAN ENOUGH to address the uniqueness of their child, and love them for who they are, and show them who they can be.
Wasn't aware you could pick who your child is as easily as you pick a meal, pair of socks, or what to write on a website? Guess it takes a MAN to deal with all a child can go through, and put them through, and come out saying to homophobic attitudes: "ENOUGH".
"We're seeing that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are more likely to be expelled from school, or stopped by the police or whatever sanction we're looking at"
Uummmmmmm. I may not be a trained police officer, but I can't recall a single instance that i've been driving down the road & was able to identify a homosexual in another vehicle. Furthermore, don't cops need a reason to pull people over to begin with, and if they got in trouble 50% more of the time, I guess all were really saying is that homosexuals commit more crimes than hetro
I'm confused what it is this author is trying to get across. Sounds like he was just trying to fuel an ongoing fire between the two distinct lifestyles. This author is a rioter, expect this guy to have a history of physical violence, that's all I can say about this.....other than "the author is an idiot".
Sounds like you need to give the article a reread. The focus of the research was on the punishment, not the targeting of gays. Identifying a gay person in a passing car has nothing to do with it. It is the punishment dealt out once interaction has occurred where disparities were found.
I guess before you call the authour an idiot, you really should develop your reading comprehension.
yes ignorance
Goldpointe I fail to see what being gay has to do with racial discrimination as it was in the south. I am also old enough to remember that "gay" once meant being happy and carefree until the term was hijacked.
I really don't give a damm whether a person is attracted to the same sex or not. It's their lifestyle, not mine.
I was pointing out that the same bigoted statements were made about people who were Black and basing it on the Bible. If someone who goes to a church that says that being gay is a choice and is not part of God's plan, then they are going to a bigoted church, just like I was. The Bible condems Jewish priests sleeping with men in the temple because it wasn't holy. There was a widespread movvement to incorporate that into temple worship based on the precedents of pagan religions, and the Bible says that is not to be allowed. Jesus does not say a word about gays, and as for Paul, well, he was prejudiced against women, minorities and all sorts of people. That is the relationship. We don't allow discrimination against Blacks or women just because the Bible says we should, and even if you believe the Bible does say we should about gays, then go live in a country run on Christian Taliban rules, not in the USA.
Not to be rude Bydand, but just how old are you?
I Just finished a history class, and the word, "gay" was used to describe "homosexuals" as early as the 1900's. So you must be pretty darn old. Say 120?
2010-1900=110, then I added 10 because it is shown that many people don't remember their early childhood, especially by the time the are elderly.
You should really be ashamed of your ignorant comments. People like you disgust me. Have you ever known a gay teen that has committed suicide?? What a waste of a life because hateful and weak people like you perpetuate it for no other reason except it makes you feel good about your poor, weak bigoted self useless self.
I did know a heterosexual teen who committed suicide. The fact that your post says that had she been homosexual it could have been blamed on "poor, weak bigoted self useless self' says a lot about you.
I am not sure I learned anything from this article. It should show the entire study and its metrics so that the sexual orientation debaters would focus on the facts.
That great. It is not ok to be gay. It is not socially acceptable.
It's only not acceptable by homophobes like yourself.
And you're the decider of what socially acceptable? Get over yourself...
Of course it's not good to be Gay. It's abnormal. Gays don't want to be Gay, and it's understandable. It is a mistake of nature, and one is a prisoner in that skin there is nothing to be done about it. They have a female agenda, and that doesn't stand up to a Military agenda, unless of course, they could serve as nurces.
Sorry, there's plenty of gays that don't want to go anywhere near firearms, and would just like to live a decent life, without being told that they have to be a nurse.
Never could stand the sight of blood...
Oddly enough I'm gay and proud of it. The only time I didn't want to be gay was when I was having my teeth knocked out by a couple of idiots at school.
And as for my "female agenda", it mostly consists of the boxing classes I started after high school so I could better defend myself.
bradfhancock, I am a boxing fan and I wish you well in it. My son started Golden Gloves boxing at 15 and did very well. How is your won lost record?
too funny~~~~~~~
Oh yes, a prisoner in my own skin... do you even read what you write or do you enjoy sounding like an idiot?
discourages it in general. good.
""Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are being singled out for punishment and there needs to be intentional steps taken to address this disparity," Himmelstein said in an interview."
The LA Crips and Bloods are filled with Homosexuals? who knew?
So let me get this straight. 40% of this group admitted to committing some serious crimes yet it is 'alarming' that 26% have been pulled over by the police compared to 21% of hetrosexual. So we are going to say they are being profiled for 5%? Yet 40% admitted to criminal activity. It is no surprise they have a higher rate of police action. If 40% of our entire population engaged in criminal activity we would have some serious problems.
The fact they have a higher police interaction rate is a direct reflection on the high percentage of criminal activity. Simple cause and effect.
Please tell me my tax dollars did not pay for this study!
I wonder how many smart people can actually think about the link to intolerant biggots acting out verbally to lgbt youth might be linked to all the problems, learn to be accepting you emotional cripples. may G-D have mercy on your unloving soul if you even believe in a loving G-D, cus only a hate mongol diety would be pleased with what biggots are doing to lgbt people.
"Mongol"? So you are using a racist term to describe hatred? Your argument, and subsequently your credibility are seriously damaged by this outlook. Please re-assess your intolerant views on ethical disagreements and religion, as well as this disturbing racial bent to your criticisms of others. Not all religious people--or even opponents of homosexuality--are bigoted, just as some supporters of LGBT rights are, as you have aptly demonstrated, racist.
How about "Klingon" or "Wookie"...that make you feel better?
And we all "know" that God is really the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
mmmmmmmmmmm.....spaghetti~~
What a bull@!$%#, these radical liberal media just keep puking a brainwash. Crimials are criminal no mater what orientaion they are.
Ahhhhh Stan77. I bet the "77" stands for your I.Q. The "radical liberal media" didn't do any of this. People with YOUR spelling ability are usually limited to bowling alleys. Not to disparage them as A best friends parents owned one.
Word from the Wise: Invest in a dictionary
Guess that means Republicans should serve just as long in the poky as Democrats, no?
This is a waste of time. Interview the parents, then decide if the kids are getting into trouble due to bad parenting; don't be an idiot and place the blame on sexuality.
Have to agree with you there...bad is bad, regardless of who you want to sleep with.
NO - you make your own choices - don't blame ANYONE but YOURSELF. Always easier to blame someone else. Excuses are bull****.
This statistic doesn't suprise me. It'll take time to those who support or are a part of the LGBT community. It'll take time and perserverance. Dr. Martin Luther King didn't change things over night and neither will this. And by way to the arrogant a**
"There has yet to be any conclusive data that proves that sexuality is genetic." Unless you have a degree in the sciences or write articles for a well respected scientfic journal shut up.
2 - Just because something is genetic, doesn't mean it's good or acceptable. Alcoholism is genetic, so are cancer, sickle cell anemia, and schizophrenia. A genetic basis for something does not prove it is good or acceptable.
So now your going to descriminate against people who have cancer, or alcholoism, and tell them they don't belong with society.
3 - Just because something is genetic, doesn't mean a person is destined to suffer from it. People with alcoholic backgrounds can avoid alcohol to prevent their addiction. Genes do not equal destiny.
May God make your children gay so that you can begin to understand what it means for someone to be what they are. You are what you are, and those "straight camps" statisctically don't do s**t. If you want to look that up look in the American Journal of American Psychology.
4 - There are plenty of derogatory names for any type of person. White, black, asian, hispanic, straight, gay, male, female; everyone can be slandered. Racism is alive and well in the world, but you don't see large numbers of African Americans or Hispanic Americans killing themselves. There isn't an epidemic of suicide for anyone other than homosexuals.
Yet you don't hear people openly calling black people nig**rs or hispanic wt baks. Yet people like you are more than willing to call gay people faghs. So the next time you call someone whos gay such a disgusting word, try telling an African American a nig**r or yourself a spic.
5 - Stating facts does not prove someone to be a bigot. "A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs." In order to be a bigot, Mac-01 would have to display hostility against homosexuals.
You just filled in the definition by saying that gay people don't deserve the same treament as everyone else.
6 - Homosexual suicide has been linked to the increased risk of depression they suffer from. Depression has a large amount of variables and causes, and therefore cannot be attributed to teasing, name calling, or prejudice. Biological, social, psychological, emotional, religious, and even evolutionary factors are all intertwined. It would take thousands of studies to conclusively state that most or all homosexual depression stems from ridicule.
When you've suffered from depression come talk to me. Or when your parents disown you. Or your feeling lost and can't see the end of the tunnel, you a**. Because you've had the middle class white picket fence spoon shoved in your mouth your entire life. You've obviously always had a support system, come talk to me when you don't have one, or you if you didn't have one when you were 16.
In closing thing will change but a**holes like this guys will always be there. And when you stare back in the history books I'll be proud to tell my children that I was a member of my school LGBT group and that I voted for the right for EVERYONE to have equality not just certain people.
Everyone suffers. Choice is choice. Take responsibility for your actions. Glad you joined your group. Memories are everything.
What a bull@!$%#, these media just keep puking with a brainwash. The criminals are criminals no matter what orientaion they are.