The 1,600-member Rhode Island Medical Society adopted a resolution last week saying that the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) policy of excluding gays contributes to the higher rate of suicide among homosexual youth, according to a report in the Providence Journal.

Citing statistics that show that gay youth suicide rates are lower in states with anti-discrimination laws, the Rhode Island group is also working to have the American Medical Association pass a similar resolution directed at all youth organizations.

The move is the result of a request from a Rhode Island doctor, Allen Dennison, who leads a scout troop near Providence. Dennison's troop has stated its intention to defy the BSA policy publicly.

Dr. John Diggs Jr., a consultant to the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, called the claims of higher suicide risk "grossly exaggerated."

"They are pursuing a political agenda rather than a real desire to help people stay healthy," the internist, who specializes in human sexuality and adolescent health, told the Journal.

The policy-making board of the Rhode Island organization voted unanimously to approve the resolution after reviewing several studies on the subject. "It was an easy sell," Newell Warde, the society's executive director told the Journal. "But our only concern was how much science is behind this?"

The studies included one by Seattle child psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Roesler. In 60 interviews with young gay men in the early 1970s, Roesler found that 48 percent of them had sought psychiatric care and 31 percent had attempted suicide.

"Although suicide is a significant risk for adolescents today, the number of young men who attempted suicide in that group was many times higher than you would expect," Roesler told the Journal.

Posted May 15, 2001