A Stitch in Haste

John Cloud, a gay journalist with Time who has previously written controversial pieces about how being a gay teenager is "no big deal," comes out (no pun intended) with a real whopper regarding the Lawrence King incident:

According to another GLSEN survey [PDF - 117 pages] released the same year, only 18% of gay and transgender students said they had ever been assaulted because of their sexual orientation (only 12% -- probably many of the same kids -- said they had been assaulted because of the way they express their gender). And of those who had been harassed or assaulted, more than one-fifth -- 22% -- said the incident wasn't serious enough to report. When they did report the incidents, the response from school staffs was positive about 70% of the time. That's not enough -- it should be 100% -- but it belies the dire picture painted by gay groups in the wake of King's killing.

"Only" 18%?

Could you imagine if "only" 18% of teenage girls reported being physically assaulted at school because of their gender? Or if "only" 18% of black teens reported racial assaults at school (or 18% of white, Asian or Hispanic teens, for that matter)? Not teased or taunted, mind you, but physically assaulted.

But when it's gay kids, an 18% victimization rate somehow warrants the qualifier "only." Go figure.

(One also wonders whether that "only 18%" number takes into account the fact that many gay teens never get assaulted because of their sexual orientation for the pesky reason that they stay in the closet.)

More:

They [i.e., gay teens] are periodically confused and depressed, but what teen isn't?

The academic literature is teeming with studies showing that gay teens, especially males, are far more likely to ideate about suicide, perhaps by a factor of ten, and are also more likely to attempt suicide.

Cloud's own homosexuality notwithstanding, his arrogantly flippant "what's the big deal" approach to growing up gay is not a bandwagon gays (or libertarians) should be jumping onto, one's views on hate crimes legislation generally, the Matthew Shepard Act specifically, or any other gay rights issue notwithstanding.

Regardless of one's conclusions regarding policy, it's never acceptable to be wilfully oblivious to facts, especially such painful facts as suicide statistics.