Hillary Clinton Addresses Suicide Among Gay Teens In New Web Video

1/25/2008 -- In the second "Ask Hillary" Web video, Hillary Clinton addressed a question from a voter about the high incidence of depression and suicide among gay teens. The transcript of the exchange is below:

Emily Hawkins, Director of Youth Outreach: Ryan says, "considering the extraordinarily high incidence of depression and suicide among gay teenagers, what action will you, as president, take to encourage a more accepting and healthy educational experience for LGBT teens?"

Hillary Clinton: It’s such a serious problem and I’ve done a lot of work on this in New York because I’m well aware of the depression and anxiety and frankly the high rate of suicide comparatively among gay teens. First number one, we’ve got to do everything we can to send a clear message that we value you. We value you as a person, you as a total person. And we want you to feel accepted and respected in your community. And you’ll certainly have a president who feels that way. There need to be more services. Sometimes it’s difficult in school and there’s not a lot of understanding or sensitivity. We’ve got to do more to help prepare school officials and frankly your peers in school. Just because somebody doesn’t understand doesn’t mean that they should be a bully. They need to really be taught and guided to be more accepting and that is something that I feel very strongly about. There’s even a school in New York that I have supported that is just for gay teens because it is very difficult in many areas for people to find any acceptance whatsoever. We need more health services. We need more mentoring and assistance so that you don’t feel so alone.

The "Ask Hillary" Web video series is part of the campaign’s outreach initiative targeting young voters today. Thousands of questions poured in after the campaign reached out to Facebook and "Hillblazers" supporters, asking them to pose questions directly to Hillary.

Source: Hillary Clinton campaign

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