While past research has shown that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth are at substantial risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, no work using longitudinal or nationally-representative survey data has explored the connection between LGB youth suicidality and the school climate. In part because of this highly individualistic approach to this topic, some argue that studies on LGB suicidality “pathologize” these young people. Although the challenge of operationalizing school climate and the absence of a rich legacy of investigations of the relationship between mental health outcomes and school factors have no doubt fueled this failing, using a version of Hirschi's (1969) social control theory expanded to include a measure of perceived school climate can help overcome these obstacles and shed new light on LGB youth suicidality.

I use data from the 1994-1996 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, viewed through the lens of this adapted version of Hirschi's theory, to determine whether students' perception of the school climate serves to mediate between same-sex desire (SSD) and suicidality. I test this hypothesis first with analyses of the full sample.

The results of this study provide some evidence to refute the notion that high levels of suicidality among SSD youth are a consequence of the “pathological” nature of their sexuality. I found not only that SSD youth are more likely to experience their school climate as hostile, but also that SSD males are more likely to experience their school climate as hostile and, therefore, to consider suicide.