Congrats on your complete lack of logic and epic show of ignorance going viral on the internet. LGBT youth don't kill themselves because they experimented with being gay. They kill themselves from the shame, humiliation and bullying brought on by the author and his ilk. By the way, Mass Resistance has been a hate group for years. Quoting them as a credible source is like going to the KKK to get accurate information on black people.

@dr swier:
"however, must respectfully disagree. Homosexuality is a behavior one chooses to participate in like smoking, under age drinking or using drugs."

But even if you believe this, the physical attacks, the intimidation and the public humiliation aren't directed toward children because they've been seen engaging in homosexual behavior or even at children who have engaged in homosexual activity. The abusive behavior is typically directed at kids who are branded as gay, perhaps because of manner, speech, maybe just because they are shy or non-athletic children.

Locking kids in their lockers, beating them, threatening them at 10, 11, 12-years-old for perceived differences most certainly is bullying, and it's better understood as a form of scapegoating, not healthy peer pressure. These kids live in terror of going to school. Peer pressure is, "cmon' Bob, try it." A fist in the face is not pressure; it's criminal battery.

The negative, long-term consequences on those bullied this way are well-documented. And we have long known about the wreckage of the lives of children who underwent therapies to avoid being gay, by changing their outward behaviors to appear more "masculine."

As a Christian, I cannot even begin to reconcile the Jesus I know--the Jesus of the Bible--with approval of this kind of behavior directed toward children.

Peer pressure helped me. When the bullies caught me in school at lunchtime and called me "fatty fat fat" and stuffed the food that I was stuffing in my face into my face, but faster, complete with jeering and laughter from friend and foe alike, chased me all the way home after school while throwing rocks at me, or left messages on my parents' answering machine (vis-a-vis, the relationship between the shape of the Earth and my own outline), it really helped me focus on what what was holding me back. Tight clothing. I'm all about elastic waistbands now. I'm thinking of moving on to muumuus.
Thank you, Doctor, for promoting good discipline, no matter the price to the disciplined.
And remember, kids, after you turn eighteen, "peer pressure" becomes "assault".

There is no credibility to the assertion made above that HIV is the 7th-place cause of youth fatalities in Florida. Modern HIV infection health care treatment results in virtually no youth fatalities and even, very few complications. Additionally, I am presuming that somewhere in causes numbers 1 through 6 of youth fatalities in Florida, autmobile accidents have a place. And yet, the author is not recommending that youths not be allowed to ride in automobiles. Furthermore, female to female transmission of HIV is virtually unheard of. Ergo, if the author of the article were serious about wanting to reduce youth fatalities in Florida, he would recommend that no youth be allowed to go in cars, ever, and that all young females engage in lesbian sex only.

There is a difference between peer pressure and bullying. I and several close friends have experienced this first hand--it is one thing to say "You should be careful about your actions," but it's entirely different to say "You're a f*gg*t and you're going to hell." Let me assure you, the latter is MUCH more common within anti-gay youth. Someone who has not been a high school or middle school student during the gay movement can not accurately say they truly know what kinds of things are being said to these children. I highly doubt that Jesus (and, let's face it, 99% of people against homosexuality are Christian) would advocate fighting AIDS by calling His precious children "f*gg*ts." If you have a better solution than the anti-bullying campaign, I'm sure we would love to hear it, but until you take the time to actually participate in protecting children instead of ENCOURAGING their obvious abuse, I will continue to doubt that you even care about our youth at all unless they completely agree with your politics, religion, and morals.

May I ask you what you think of lesbianism? Since it seems your entire argument is based on the prevalence of AIDS within the gay community, I'm curious to see if you have any argument against lesbians besides "It's just plain wrong."

We need to look deeper into this concept of "healthy peer pressure."
For instance, skinheads are currently a despised minority, but they're only trying to engage in some healthy peer pressure and stop Jews from being Jewish. And as the mid 20th century in Europe proved, being Jewish can be fantastically bad for your health.

We need to stop all this namby-pamby "awwww, let's coddle the children so that they GLBT children aren't driven to suicide." No, we need to drive even more of them to suicide so they can learn their lesson. After that, we should invite skinheads into our schools so they can make sure that anybody who looks Jewish is peer pressured into wearing a cross and/or accepting Christianity as their personal religion.

If we have time, we may be able to work on the problem of uppity darkies.

Congratulations.

I'm not from Saratosa county, not even from Florida, not even from the USA (I'm French), not even homosexual, and the content of your piece already reached my ears.

If you were simply explaining what political tactics people you're opposing are using (and there's nothing inherently wrong in trying to frame a political debate in favorable terms), it could be a vaguely interesting read about political activism.

But unfortunately for you, you seem to be bent on getting your day of internet infamy by creating the concept of "healthy peer pressure" for behaviors usually called bullying, intolerance or hatemongering, that haven't been deemed acceptable in schools for some time now. I guess this also an attempt on your part to reframe the debate, but I'm predicting that it's not going to fly well with people who have suffered from (or merely witnessed) such attitudes that can go as far as outright violence (whether it is motivated by homosexuality or by any other sort of real or perceived difference). Good luck with your attempt to present this as a good thing by renaming it.

As has been said in the first comment, Mass Resistance has been listed as a hate group for years. Quoting them in an article about LGBT issues as a credible source is like quoting the KKK in an article about black people.

Furthermore, the kind of harassment that LGBT youth face is often not "non violent peer pressure". It is clear that you have an abysmal understanding of the topic at hand.

Dear Dr. Sweir,

I am straight, married, have children and I am an educational administrator at the post-secondary level. By the way, I'm also a Christian.

I frequently meet young people who have (miraculously) survived their troubled teenage years to go on and find happiness in fulfilling lives. They often bring more to the world than others, especially in terms of their kindness, and most definitely in the fact that they make the world a better place. Many of these young people were bullied and harassed as teenagers--either because of their sexual orientation, or because of the perceived orientation. Others were harassed because of a multitude of perceived "differences," and one can fill in the blank here-- glasses, braces, weight, gender, disability and of course religion and culture.

I also have met many students who were the "harassers" and "bulliers". For the most part, these young people go on to continue their behavioral patterns throughout their lives. The teenage boy who vandalizes a locker by writing a slur in spray paint, and shoves another teen into a locker really does become the man who beats his wife and children. He bullies all those around him for the rest of his life, because he's been conditioned to do so. I know this sounds cliché, but I've seen it too many times.

What you are advocating is hate--even if this does not include (in your version) the advocation of violence.

Martin Luther King Jr. described hate: "Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away at its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity."

If we are responsible members of society (and I'm hoping we are) then advocating for hatred is irresponsible, shoddy stewardship of our communities and families. Shame, shame on you Rick Sweir. Your words give fuel to hatred and bigotry. Your influence will poison young minds. It is my great, great hope that you come to see the errors in your beliefs. I pray that God softens your heart. Love, in the form of Agape (spiritual love of mankind) is what Christianity is SUPPOSED to encompass. Oddly, I see none of that in your misguided advice.

For all the horrors that you and others are helping to create in the world, there will always be some of us that are trying to undo the damage. I practice patience. I teach tolerance. I work toward a better future for everyone, and that even includes you.

I'll pray for you Rick, because of all the misguided who walk the earth, I suspect you are amongst the most sorrowful-- you will cause great harm, and yet you believe you are doing what is just and right, even when it includes what you surely know, in your heart is wrong. You know hatred is wrong.

L. Owens

I ask you, Dr. Sweir, was the bullying this child received, because of his perceived sexual orientation the right thing to allow? This little 12 year old boy ended up killing himslef, and people like you thing that the impetus for his action ia appplaudable.....

A grieving mom says her 12-year-old son killed himself after being harassed by schoolmates who thought he was gay - and she's suing the city for not stopping the abuse...............................
Bergouhi Elissa, 36, of Astoria, Queens, said she repeatedly complained to staff at Public School 84 that son Elijah Mendez was being bullied.
.....................................
The situation got so bad that the seventh-grader hanged himself in his family's home on March 25, 2010, her lawyer said.
"No child should be afraid to go to school," Elissa said in a statement. "I believe that the school's inaction brought about the death of my son."
The suit contends that Elijah was subjected to "repeated and frequent taunting, ridicule, menacing, threatening abuse and bullying."
It also claims he was harassed due to his "perceived sexual orientation."
Elissa says she complained to the school more than 10 times about the taunting, which began when her son was in the fifth grade.
The boy suffered "physical and psychological injuries, distress, pain, suffering, anguish, grief [and] mental and emotional suffering," the lawsuit states.
Elissa is seeking funeral expenses and damages from the city Department of Education.
The city had no comment on the specifics of the suit.
"The situation involves a very tragic matter," said Kate O'Brien Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the Law Department, which is handling the case.
"We will certainly review the case thoroughly."
The problem of gay students being bullied by their peers made headlines last fall following a series of suicides.
In one case, Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate broadcast over the Internet a gay sexual encounter involving Clementi.
Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said nine out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students have suffered harassment at school.
"Schools have to deal with anti-gay bullying and violence," said Byard. "No student deserves to suffer this way."
She pointed out that in a similar case in California, where a 13-year-old committed suicide after being taunted, the Tehachapi Unified School District was required to revise its policies on bullying and provide mandatory training on harassment.
Elissa said she hopes some good can arise from her loss.
"Nothing can lessen the pain of a mother who has lost a child," she said in the statement.
"We hope that ultimately, this tragedy will increase people's awareness and thereby bring about change that will help protect other children."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/07/04/2011-07-04_ma_sues_city_i...

Dr. Swier:

Please identify the original source of your Josef Stalin quote. It is fraudulent.

How did you determine that any of the children who recently committed suicide were engaged in homosexual behavior? Their parents did not say that. Their peers did not say that. In several cases, the deceased boys were bullied as early as age 10 or 11, and, thanks to the healthy peer pressure that you so breezily support, had few friends and no potential boyfriend or girlfriend.

The only "lifestyle" these children led was to be terrified Monday through Friday, to be taunted as they went to school, assaulted in school, to spend their days looking for remote corners in their school where they wouldn't be tormented at least for a little while. Where in this do you find the basis for attributing their suicides to "homosexual behavior"?

It is worth noting that not a single Christian - among all of those hundreds of teachers, staff, parents and kids who witnessed this - did a thing to protect them. But they don't look so bad now compared to someone who actively supports the bullying and lies about dead children.

I have concluded that you must be a heterosexual male.
Because of this choice I feel that we should ''peer pressure'' you out of it...
After all, sexuality is a choice... isn't it? The fact that you are a ''Dr.'' (of what, I have no idea. Doctors should be intelligent.) makes what you are saying alot worse. People will look up to you with your silly little title and take on board what you are saying.
I am a Bisexual teenager, who currently resides in the United Kingdom. It pains me to see your narrow mindedness, partly because it is an excuse for violence and discrimination and partly because I know people of ''your kind'' (It's not a nice feeling is it, being singled out and victimized) are slowly fading away.
Just so you know, when I realized that I was bisexual I hated myself, because I had been misleaded with false opinions similar to yours. If I had been given a choice to choose my sexuality a year ago I would have quite happily taken the option of 'Straight'. But now I have realized that Homosexuals, Bisexuals and Transgender aren't any different. If you walked down a street full of people, you wouldn't be able to pin point specific people and their sexualities.
Your opinion is outdated and invalid.