Friday, March 22, 2019

Data: How can the LGBT suicide rate be so low in a country that is supposedly so homophobic?

In this new study of over 120,000 suicides, the authors reported that 0.5% of the suicides were LGBT.  They also cited an estimate that 4.1% of Americans are sexual minorities. This suggests that they have a much lower rate of suicide than heterosexuals.

The authors speculate that sexual minority status of many suicides go unknown and unrecorded. If LGBT's had the same suicide rate as heteros, only 12% of them had their sexual orientation recorded correctly. I find this hard to believe.

It is safe to say that, according to this data, sexual minorities, like blacks, have a low rate of suicide. How is that possible, in a country that is supposedly so homophobic, supposedly so hateful?  The answer is that America is not a hate-filled country. It's an impressively tolerant country.

Interpreting Your Genetics Summit

1 comment:

  1. The Real Jerry Seinfeld9:32 AM

    And if it is indeed the case that suicide rates are affected by the public culture on race and sexual orientation, then given the stats we ought tend to assume the culture is hostile to majorities and supportive of minorities. I wonder if evidence for that could be found?

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