Why are people jerks?

A leading cause of death among gay teenagers is suicide. J.L. King argues in On the Down Low that the repeated condemnation of gay men has made many individuals refuse to identify with their sexuality and the safe sex messages directed at them, leading to a recent spike in HIV transmissions, particularly among African Americans. It’s easy to brush things like this off, but in reality, the prejudices facing GLBTQI folks in public schools and in general really are a matter of life and death.