Declining rates of youth suicide could be due to growing acceptance of gays

The Advocate reports that declining rates of youth suicide could be due to growing acceptance of gays:

The rate of suicide among American youngsters and teens has dropped dramatically in the last decade, particularly with regard to firearms deaths, the government said Thursday. The suicide rate for those ages 10 to 19 fell by about a quarter, from 6.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 1992 to 4.6 per 100,000 in 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. CDC researchers did not immediately know why the rate dropped, but one expert said issues concerning stigma over sexual orientation has played an important role in reducing teenage suicides. Charles Wibbelsman, chief of the Teenage Clinic of Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on adolescents, said the easing of the social stigma of being gay or lesbian may have played a role, as one in three male suicides are because of sexual orientation. "There are [TV] shows [concerning gays and lesbians] today that weren't on nine years ago," he said. "It's been much more out, and in that respect we've saved a lot more people's lives."