Suicide in dispute: A critical approach to the association between suicide and non-heteronormative sexualities

Abstract

This study analyzes how social groups with nonheteronormative sexualities are often associated with suicide and posits some consequences of this association in academic and social contexts. This reflection contributes to a necessary conversation that extends beyond the theoretical positions of researchers and has a social effect. In this paper I highlight some of the experienced effects produced by the association between suicide and sexual diversity by acknowledging how sexuality assumes a specific social meaning. The article is divided into four sections. In the first two, I analyze how the notion of epidemiological risk becomes an identity trait in populations with non-heteronormative sexualities. In the third section, I reflect on academic research regarding the association between gender and suicide. The last section presents a proposal for interpreting suicidal behavior from a gender perspective that problematizes the affective and political meaning of the association.