In case you are not already aware of this, your post has made it across the pond and is being reported on by Pink News UK

“…coming out with unrealistic expectations of the gay community didn’t help either.”

–Jason D

I think I know what you mean, Jason. Fortunately, I have some very “classy” gay friends that have helped…and I include BTB and XGW among them.

I’m going out on a limb right now. If anyone here reading this has never thought about depression and even suicide, I would say you are lying. Life is hard enough but when you factor in what it means to be a homosexual in our society it is not surprising there can be real depression involved. So, it isn’t hard to realize some namby-pamby pseudo scientist will try to exploit that fact. What we need to do is make our family/co-workers and the ignorant aware of the falsehoods these people at AFA are regurgitating.

And as the Bible is selectively used to rationalize the very negative issues within society gay folks have to face, this study was also used selectively and deliberately arranged to deepen the prejudice already inculcated regarding homosexuality.

Even if a parent, who has a talented and loving gay child, will throw their own life experience with that child out of the window to prove their loyalty more to who would socially isolate that child, hence the statement that there is little refuge even in the family.

And WHY would a parent not give their own flesh the benefit of the doubt, rather than an ideology loaded with it?
This is where religious ideology IS the reason for the morbidity, rather than homosexuality being the unhealthy factor.

Morbidity in blacks raised in the Jim Crow South, or Jews in Communist countries is similar to that in gay folks reported in this research.
Remember the Clark doll study? This report in the BMC is analogous to that. Very much so.

For my own story, yes, I was clinically depressed for over a decade, and my sexuality was part of the issue. An unhealthy drinking problem only exacerbated the issue, coming out with unrealistic expectations of the gay community didn’t help either. Funny thing though, once I was in therapy — everything changed, for the better. I decided to
1 Stop drinking
2 Stop trying to be something I’m not: one-nighters and settling for “friends with benefits” simply weren’t enough for me.

And once I did all that, I found a way for me to be a very happy, very healthy gay man. Then I found a partner who loves and accepts me as I am.