Reaching LGBT Teens

Two further thoughts on LGBT teen suicide:

First, my friend at GLSEN reported back to me that what we're learning about this month is not actually a spike in LGBT teen suicide. Although she pointed out that the start of the school year is always a difficult time for LGBT students -- and so, therefore, there is always a rise in LGBT teen anxiety in the fall -- we are also hearing more about these issues because the media is paying attention.

That strikes me as a mix of good news and bad news. The good news is that what we're learning is not a sign that more LGBT kids are taking their lives. There is not a sudden rash or epidemic of suicides occurring.

The bad news is that this is, in fact, the usual rate of suicide among our teens. We're just now hearing about it in concrete terms, with names and faces and stories attached. This is what's considered normal.

For me, that's a deeply troubling realization. Each of the stories we've heard about this month have been heart-breaking and eye-opening. And yet these kinds of stories have been going on for months and years.

Second is the question of what we in the history business can contribute to making a change. Clearly one of the lessons of this moment is that the policies that even the best-intended school systems have in place -- such as those described by the school's superintendent in California -- are not enough. So there is a need for all of us to develop some new approaches.

In part, of course, those of us who are historically-inclined can examine the ways that gay organizations and activists have tackled homophobia in the past, as well as the way that other groups have tackled other kinds of hate in schools, and bring those lessons to bear in developing new policies. We can bring those examples to the table and see what they can show us, in terms of successes and failures.

I also believe, though, that history lessons themselves can be a powerful tool. A great deal of emphasis has been placed, over the last several years, on developing self-esteem in the classroom by making sure that there are role models for young people who are teaching them and who are in the learning materials. We in the history world can start working on developing such materials.

Here at OutHistory we've been talking about developing possible curricular materials, but this has been a slow moving project for us. GLSEN and the Family Equality Council have done more. But there is much work to do. And OutHistory and other sites might be an ideal place for us to pursue this goal further.

Perhaps the stories of the LGBT greats of the past -- whether Eleanor Roosevelt or Aaron Copland or recent politicians -- will help students find hope in their futures. It's a contribution worth our pursuing.