Depression, isolation, rejection lead many gay youths to attempt suicide

BY STEVE ROTHAUS
Source: Miami Herald

Above, Jojo Corvaiá and Eddy McIntyre.

Attorney Eddy McIntyre worked tirelessly for many South Florida groups and causes, including YES Institute, a nonprofit to prevent young gay people from killing themselves.

What few knew: McIntyre himself suffered for years from depression and tried to commit suicide at least once in the early 2000s. The local gay community was shocked in 2007 when he hanged himself at age 47 inside his Miami Shores garage.

His death illuminates an issue of particular concern to gays and lesbians.

More than 32,000 people kill themselves each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which lists suicide as a ''major health issue'' for gay men. ''Gay male adolescents are two to three times more likely than their peers to attempt suicide,'' the CDC reports on its website.

The issue will be examined 9 p.m. Saturday, when Prayers for Bobby, starring Sigourney Weaver, premieres on the Lifetime TV network. Based on a nonfiction book by the late journalist Leroy Aarons, it is about an intolerant mother whose gay teenage son kills himself. It's an everyday story, said Charles Robbins, right, executive director of the Trevor Project, a national gay suicide prevention group.

Read the full story here.