>>What is more likely is that the causes that lead to Australia's high ranking world-wide for male suicide apply the same for all males regardless of their sexuality.<<

Where are you getting these stats from? Wikipedia has Australia 50th on a list of 110 - not low but not high either. The interesting one is Greenland at the top of the list - Greenlanders commit suicide at a staggering rate. What's up with that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

Those figures are overall suicide rates. Male suicide rates will be higher than the listed figure for any given country because men are more likely to commit suicide than women. This is not a uniquely Australian phenomenon; it applies in virtually every country on Earth although Western nations seem to display a bigger gender gap than developing nations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_suicide

Cheers,

Tony

Homosexuality is over-exposed.
onthebeach,
Not only is it over-exposed it is even more scary that it is extremely promoted.
The suicide starting gun hasn't been fired yet.

Suse touched on it, & I'm sure Rob promotes the idea that homosexuality is passed on genetically. This is one thing I have thought on, & came to the conclusion it is garbage.

If it was genetic, those carrying the gene would not have been able to breed before we started helping them with invitro fertilization. In this case the tendency should have been eliminated thousands of years ago, by natural selection.

If being queer is such a heavy cross to bear I can see no reason not to let nature to take it's natural course, & the Darwin principal be allowed to apply. About the only people who gain anything by stopping these people carry out their intentions are those like Rob, who appear to get their kicks from interfering in the lives of others.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if these people could find something useful & productive to do.

It is unusual in most forums dedicated to public opinion to find a suggestion that suicide is the best outcome for those who find life difficult to live. User “Hasbeen”, for example, makes the point that if non-heterosexuality is too heavy a burden, suicide is the best outcome, and people such as myself should stop interfering.

By suggesting that suicide prevention and intervention is “interference” and that researchers, youth workers, health professionals (etc. a very long list) are interfering by trying to prevent suicide is to ignore the importance of life as something which is both biological and social.

From the very beginning of each person’s life, that person—in all the diversity and strangeness that people are—is a part of society that defines and conditions each one of the rest of us. Each life is, or at least should be, sacred regardless of how far from some arbitrary norm that person’s behaviour or desire or aspiration will be. Certainly striving to see all life as valuable, sacred and worthy is a part of our contemporary culture (as much as we so often fail to recognise others as worthy lives).

Suicide does not emerge from within: it is not the outcome of being different or too lazy to aspire, or being just somehow wring-in-the-head. It is not, as “Diver Dan” implies, the result of needing to be cured from a sexual orientation that is figured here as some kind of disease or ailment.

Suicide is the result of life seeming to be unliveable and it is social conditions that routinely make that the case in many different ways for many different people. We often see the figures for completed suicide, but we need to remember the pain that many live through by being on the verge of suicide too.

//CONTINUED:
Suicide is the result of life seeming to be unliveable and it is social conditions that routinely make that the case in many different ways for many different people. We often see the figures for completed suicide, but we need to remember the pain that many live through by being on the verge of suicide too.

Some intervene (which is not the same as interfering) by providing mental health support directly to individuals. Others intervene by running programs that try to prevent those who may find life unliveable from taking their lives by developing communities of support.

Still others intervene by trying to educate the broader population about diversity, social issues, the importance of equality, the sacredness of life, or the ethical need to distribute resources and opportunities equally to ensure dignity as a way of helping to change circumstances so that life is more liveable for a greater number.

All of these activities are necessary in suicide prevention, and all of them are ethical obligations for a just society.

It pays, however, to remember that things which can trigger or exacerbate suicidality include thoughtless, off-hand comments that reinforce feelings of difference or inferiority. That includes many of the comments in this forum. It includes debates around government policy and the value placed on certain groups of people when government programmes are de-funded. It also includes the social values articulated by politicians, celebrities and others.

Care for life includes caring about the words we use, the ideas we spread and about an openness to difference and the need to think differently about how we make life liveable in equitable, caring and open-armed ways.

"Care for life includes caring about the words we use, the ideas we spread and about an openness to difference and the need to think differently about how we make life liveable in equitable, caring and open-armed ways"

Well said Rob! Thats why we need to continue to find ways to address the consequences of disadvantage and inequity on any affected individuals or groups of people in Australia today. If we look closely we might find that the people affected might be our brothers and sisters, our husbands, wives and children, our neighbours or other community members.

Working to change the social conditions that lead people towards contemplating suicide isn't about a 'right' versus 'left', gay versus anti-gay, religious-atheist discourse. That kind of thinking and associated 'name calling' just distracts from looking at what needs to happen to change those things about Australian society that make suicide look like a viable alternative to the pain of living. It also distracts from having a national discussion about what our social goals as a nation might be and who benefits from maintaining the status quo and not making the necessary social and economic changes.

These questions need to be asked and answered by all Australians who care!