They discovered that the teenage suicide rate is declining since the same-sex marriage legalization.
Since February is the month of love, this study shows that love has no gender. Researchers observed that same-sex marriage legalization could actually be a great thing. They discovered that the teenage suicide rate is declining since the same-sex marriage legalization.
The legalization of same-sex marriages in the US is now linked to a lower rate of suicide among teens. Since the legalization, the rate of suicide among teens has dropped by 7%. When it came to gay, bisexual, and lesbian teens, the rate dropped even more, by 14%.
One of the co-authors of the study, Julia Raifman, mentioned that she hopes this study is going to draw attention to the sexual minorities. She mentioned that the implementation of laws and policies for the LGBT right might have health implications too.
According to CDC, the second leading cause of death for teens and young adults is suicide. The numbers show that those who belong to a sexual minority are more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual teens and young adults.
When they conducted this study, the researchers wanted to see if policies and laws affect the health of teens. This is why they focused on the same-sex marriage legalization. Massachusetts was the first state that legalized same-sex marriages in 2004. After that, more than 36 states followed before June 2015, when the policy became federal.
In order to see if this legalization affected the rates of suicide among teens, the researchers compared data from 760,000 students between 2000 and 2015. They also looked at data from the states that legalized the same-sex marriage and the states that did not.
They observed that the year before same-sex marriage was legalized, the rate of suicide among teens was 8.6%. Among those who identified as lesbian, gay, and bisexual the rate reached almost 29%. In the states where the policy was adopted, the rate of teen suicide declined by 7%. When it came to LGB teens, the rate of suicide declined by more than 14%.
This shows that some policies and laws might affect the well-being of teens and young adults. This also shows that sexual minorities are more affected than heterosexuals. They are more likely to commit suicide.
What is your opinion about this study?
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