Abstract
Queer youth are killing themselves at a rate three times as great as their non-Queer counterparts are. There are many possible reasons for this disparity; the one identified here is the effect of mainstream Hollywood’s film portrayal of Queer characters. Queer youth tend to be more isolated and in need of positive role models than are non-Queer youth. The stereotypical portrayals of Queers in Hollywood film do not provide such models. Historically, in many films the Queer character, who is rarely a hero, ends up dead before the end of the film; sometimes at the hand of another, or from disease but most often by his her own hand. Sources of Data: Questionnaires were distributed to 35 adult individuals primarily, within the greater Sacramento area, 27 were returned and analyzed. In addition, five participants were contacted requesting supplement dialogue. Three individuals were able to participate in the additional conversations. Both the questionnaires and the dialogue focused on the influence the participant felt film had in their identity development as Queer people. Although the concern of this study is the prevalence of Queer youth suicide, adults were used in this study due to the problems associated in finding an adequate sample of Queer youth. The adults were asked to reflect on early films viewed and the feeling generated by those films. Conclusions Reached: The responses from the participants while not conclusive, build a strong case for the negative effect seeing demeaning and deadly portrayals of Queer people in film had on the self-image of these Queer respondents.