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Young Gay Men & Suicide in Northern Ireland

From RTE News,
A report on mental health has revealed that a quarter of young gay or bisexual men in Northern Ireland have attempted suicide.

Nearly two-thirds considered killing themselves and 30% self harmed, according to the survey, which was carried out over three years by the Rainbow Project in Belfast.
The article mentions some of the causes behind high percentage of incidents,
Among the key factors which contributed to suicidal thoughts and self harm were negative experiences in school such as bullying.

Comments

Contemplative Activist said…
:O Shocking Peterson, thanks for pointing this out. I met an openly gay man from Northern Ireland last week - the first I have ever met.

Its just not done to be out where I come from. Where I went to school, no-one ever mentionned the possibility of being day, except one teacher, and then only to say how he thought it was quite unnatural (and, thinking back, he was one of the more progressive teachers in other aspects.)

I'm thinking I would like to go to Belfast pride some time - just as an act of solidarity. I've been to a few pride events in England, but they are very much mainstream affairs (as they should be). People bring their kids - its a really lovely big street party!

In Belfast its much more political - tons of protests etc.

CA
2:08 PM
Peterson Toscano said…
CA, I thought this one might catch your eye. I too have been considering Belfast Pride. I've asked Sarah to look into it ever since you mentioned it to me.

I know the state run schools in England have had virtually no support for LGBT students because of Thatcher's Section 28 which made it illegal to "promote homosexuality" in schools.

As a result, pretty much nothing was done. The law was repealled only in November 2003. Still I imagine many teachers don't have a clue as to how to address LGBT issues.

Would that law have affected Northern Ireland as well?

Let's go to Belfast Pride together!
Peterson
2:38 PM
Contemplative Activist said…
Yes - Northern Ireland schools, as far as I'm aware, are governed by the same policies as those in England.

I'm well up for Belfast pride :) Have you heard anything from them?
3:20 PM
Anonymous said…
There's a group called zero 28 based in N.I. who have campaigned on a number of ethical and faith issues, including speaking out against those who tried to ban last year's Belfast Pride:

http://www.zero28.org/index.cfm?page=socialethics
6:09 PM
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