Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to all the gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth who died believing that no one in the world could help them, or committed suicide after they sought help but were harmed. I am eternally grateful to all the gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth I have met over the years who told me their story with the hope that the world may someday be a better place for other GLB youth now growing up. For some, the child abuse inflicted will have lethal consequences, but most will survive, often bearing hidden scars from the war society waged against them.

Dedicated also to Virginia Uribe (the founder of PROJECT 10 in Los Angeles) who, after having learned about our world, often by hearing teachers speak about homosexuality in staff rooms, stated: "No wonder the kids commit suicide. I'm surprised they don't all kill themselves. If they really were aware of how much hatred there is, they probably would."(82:86)

I thank my mother and father, Dorothy and Hervey Tremblay, for their ongoing encouragement, and all who have helped to get the GLB reality on many agendas in Calgary. This includes Bill Rutherford (President, Parents/Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Calgary chapter), Gerry Harrington (Director, SIEC), Gloria Wilson (AADAC), Pam Greer (Canadian Red Cross), Bruce Potter (Calgary Birth Control Association), Pat Boyle and Don Andrews (Calgary Board of Education), Bishop Paul O'Byrne and Jim Pender (Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary), Peter Hodgson (I-DENTITY: GLB youth group), Les Meares and Jim Picken (Integrity: GLB Anglican group), and the individuals listed below.

For this paper, I thank Dr. Christopher Bagley (Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary) for his support and for the research data which made this paper into a much needed contribution to the field of Suicidology, Dick Ramsay (Faculty of Social Work, U of C), and Dr. Gary Sanders (Faculty of Medicine, U. of C.) for their assistance and editorial comments.

I especially thank Stephen Lock (Gay Lines Calgary) for his greatly appreciated editing work, and for 3 interviews related to GLB youth problems on Calgary's only weekly GLB radio program, Speak Sebastian, on CJSW-FM. Also: SRC-TV (French CBC) in Winnipeg and Calgary for interviews, CBC Radio in Calgary for being on The Home Stretch program, and Alanna Mitchell (Globe & Mail, Calgary) for writing an article (June 23, 1995) about my work in the GLB suicide problem and my proactive work in Calgary's school system. Chris Hooymans, the former publisher of a GLB magazine, designed the cover page for this paper.

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25 Nov 1995