A look back at suicide amongst LGBT youth and who is really to blame.

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Well folks, if you're part of the LGBT community or have any heart at all, you know that September wasn't a very good month. There has been 6 reported suicides including Seth Walsh, Asher Brown, Justin Aaberg, Billy Lucas, Tyler Clementi and Raymond Chase. All teenagers, all gay, and all bullied and harassed to death. All names that we should permanently ingrain into our memories.

Of course this doesn't include that thousands of others that have either taken or lost their lives for being part of the LGBT community, but there's no mistaking that this has been a shock wave of senseless deaths, again that should not be quick to leave our thoughts.

But this leads to a very important question. How do we stop this trend? I think before we answer that question, we need to locate the source. In other words, who do we blame? You see, until we've actually identified the problem, we're not going to be able to come up with a viable solution, and the problem by no means is rooted in the fact these young, vibrant souls saw no other way out.

Of course, some are quick to react and simply place the blame on those who are suppose to be addressing the issue. A post on Queerty blames Kevin Jennings for not doing his job of keeping our schools safe. According to the post:

But is Kevin Jennings really to blame? Perhaps he's not addressing the issue in a timely enough fashion, but I don't believe Kevin Jennings is the root of the problem.

I also took into consideration something I heard while listening to NPR yesterday. They were talking specifically about Tyler Clementi and the commentator was placing the blame on the parents of the bullies. He basically said that bullying is often times a learned behavior and even if the parents aren't bullies themselves, they're failing to teach their children that it's not OK to harass someone who you perceive as different. Was he right? I think to an extent, he absolutely is because yes, it is a parents job to teach their children the difference between right and wrong, and bullying and harassing others is wrong no matter how you look at it.

But again, is that the root of the problem? I don't think so. Let's face it, even if a parent is a perfect role model as it pertains to this issue, that doesn't necessarily mean the child is always going to follow. Kids often times do exactly the opposite of what their parents tell them to do and many times those actions are spurred by peer pressure. But do we blame this solely on the bullies? There again, I think not, especially in the cases where this is a learned behavior.

But then there's a really great perspective on this brought to our attention by one of my personal favs, Dave Rubin who says:

So, naturally, Perez Hilton, the self-proclaimed "Queen of All Media" tweets about how awful this all is, and various groups start doing videos of celebrities saying it is okay to be gay. And yes, that is good, people seeing that there are people who say it is okay to be who you are. But at the same time everyone knows about all the closeted actors, musicians, TV personalities and news anchors, who all talk about the problem but don't practice what they preach. Instead they tacitly endorse something wrong with gay. And making videos about suicide keeps the focus on suicide, so then all you see on TV are more stories about suicide, and then the same fashionistas and closet cases who wonder why. It is all nobody's fault and everybody's fault at the same time. (I highly encourage you to click here to read this entire post -- it's well worth it!)

I think Dave has a very good point -- there is plenty of blame to go around and no, those of us in the LGBT community aren't exempt.

But as I was thinking about this issue last night, I couldn't help but wanting to really get to the root of the problem. So I sat down with a pen and paper and started drawing out the chain of command. Where does this all start? Where are the "roots" of this problem? Well, I found myself going back to something my grandfather always told me (even as a very young child) Sh*t rolls down hill. This is where I firmly believe the deep seated roots of this problem begin.

Let's face it. When we have leaders who are reinforcing the thought there is something wrong with being gay, how can we ever expect others to think differently? Let's start with the Pope. Millions of people would would probably go out into their yard and eat the dog poop they found if that's what the Pope told them to do. For decades upon decades, we've had the leader of one of the most historically corrupt institutions in the world tell the world over and over that being gay is an evil abomination, and all while covering up the molestation of alter boys. Let's not exclude other religious leaders such as the Ted Haggards, George Rekers and Eddie Longs who have negatively influenced public opinion against the LGBT community, all the while they were getting theirs from another man, or boy.

Then we have those who served this nation as president for 8 years who based their campaign upon LGBT discrimination -- and won! George W. Bush actually stood up more than once and said, "Marriage is between one man and one woman," and even though it's doubtful he could actually spell any of those words, people cheered and applauded.

Then we have the likes of Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell, Newt Gingrich, Jim DeMint and countless other high-profile politicians echoing the sentiment that LGBT people shouldn't be afforded equality, something they tag as "special rights" because they want to reinforce the belief that being part of the LGBT community only qualifies you for second-class citizenship.

Further down the food chain are the Maggie Gallaghers, Pete LaBarberas, Tony Perkins and Bryan Fischers who draw huge salaries from their efforts to promote lies about the LGBT community and keep homophobia alive, mainly in order to keep their large salaries intact.

So how can we ever expect teachers, parents and others who are raising these bullies to stop this vicious cycle when the very people they look up and listen to with bated breath are exuding the disease of hate, intolerance and bigotry?

The biggest problem is (and here is where the root of the problem first started growing) that all of these people have one thing in common. They're using their perceptions of what they consider to be "Biblical truth" as a wedge. They're using personal religious beliefs to lobby, and convince lawmakers to keep discriminatory laws on the books. They use religion to keep all LGBT tax paying Americans from realizing equality in the land that was founded upon freedom of religion as well as liberty and justice for all. A land where all men are created equal, as long as they're white and not gay.

So I've arrived at solution. Complete separation of church and state, the way it's suppose to be. If you take personal religious beliefs against homosexuality out of the equation, there is no base or justification for legalized discrimination. Yet we allow churches to spend millions of tax-exempt dollars to fight against equality. We allow elected officials to base laws on their personal religious beliefs. We allow the religious right to be a political force. We allow people to use their religion to justify terrorist acts, acts that are killing innocent people. What's happening now and has been happening is nothing less than terrorism and those names mentioned above that are involved in shaping the political landscape of this nation are all terrorist. Does this sound extreme? Maybe to some it does, but is it any more extreme than a 15 year-old pointing a gun to his head and pulling the trigger? I think not. Yes, the Pope and George W Bush are to blame. Yes they have allowed Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell and Jim DeMint do be murderers. Yes they have allowed Maggie Gallagher and Tony Perkins to fund terrorist acts. How is this any different that "terrorist Muslims" using their religious beliefs to kill, the same thing these Christian zealots constantly shout about? It may not be as direct, but it carries the same result. In the end, we have a lot of innocent lives lost because of the religious based perception that those lives were somehow "less than."

So when it comes to pointing the finger, let's skip all of those who are stuck somewhere in the middle and go to where it all begins, the top. Until we finally get a leader who stands up and says, "ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL REGARDLESS OF RACE, RELIGION, CREED, GENDER AND SEXUAL IDENTITY -- PERIOD," the the problem will never be solved. Even with that, it won't be solved immediately, because even though sh*t may roll down hill, it takes time for it to reach the bottom. But that is where it has to start, before it will ever stop.

Authors Website: http://www.gayagenda.com

Authors Bio:
Managing editor for gayagenda.com, an online news source for the LGBT community and weekly host of The Gay Agenda on Blog Talk Radio.

Fighting for equality!