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Rachel Crites (right) and her friend, Rachel Smith, were found dead in a remote area of Virginia on Feb. 2. Police said they could find no evidence the two were romantically linked, despite speculation to the contrary. (Photo courtesy of Montgomery County Police)
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: LOU CHIBBARO JR. COMMENTS
 
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the diary entry, all you had to do was read between the lines,” he said.
Officials with Washington’s Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, or SMYAL, and the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, which provide services and advocate on behalf of gay and transgender youth, said news of the suicides of Rachel Smith and Rachel Crites highlight the need to address a growing problem of suicide among teenagers, including gay teens.
“On behalf of the SMYAL board, staff and volunteers, I wish to express deepest condolences to the family and friends of Rachel Crites and Rachel Smith,” said Todd Peterson, chair of the SMYAL board of directors.
“While we do not presume to understand the thoughts, feelings and causes of this tragedy, social science research continues to show that LGBTQ young people are at significantly greater risk than their peers for attempted suicide and other behaviors which may lead to suicide,” Peterson said.
“This tragic loss demonstrates the importance for all youth workers to be vigilant for any signs of suicidal ideation, attempted suicide and depression in the young people they serve,” Peterson said.
Craig Bowman, executive director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, said a perceived feeling of isolation among gay teens has been shown to be a leading cause of depression and suicide among this population group. Bowman said teens who begin to question their sexual orientation, while uncertain about whether they are gay or lesbian, are particularly vulnerable if they perceive their families and peers to be hostile to gays.
“You have kids coming out [as gay] as young as 13 years of age,” Bowman said. “The kids who feel isolated are most prone to depression and suicide.”
Bowman said he could not speculate on the relationship between the two Rachels, but pointed to other cases of same-sex teen relationships.
“If they do manage to find another person and if they feel this is the only person that understands them, they could be hurt deeply if they realize the relationship isn’t respected,” Bowman said.
In the case of Rachel Smith and Rachel Crites, school friends have said they had no information to indicate the two were lesbians.
Last November, the Common Sense, a student newspaper at Wootton High School, where the two Rachels attended, published a story about the formation of a gay-straight alliance. Like similar groups that have formed in high schools across the country, the Wootton group was calling for tolerance of all sexual orientations, the paper said.
It then quoted the president of the group, Jake Kresloff as saying, “Over the past few years at Wootton, I’ve noticed that there have been too many slurs regarding students’ sexual orientation. Throughout the planning of the GSA, our posters have been marked with graffiti and people have joked about the seriousness of the club. This is exactly why the school needs a gay-straight alliance.”
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