I have just completed a thesis exploring the risk for suicide of a matched sample of 57 gay and 54 straight Australian males aged 18-24. Similar to previous research I found the rate of suicidal behaviour among gay youth to be significantly higher than straight youth (summary of findings are below). I also work on a Reach Out! which is the world's first online suicide prevention service (www.reachout.asn.au). The service has been running for about 12 months and currently averages around 2000 users a week. We have been well received by young people with many more requesting that we establish an online counselling service. Before we embark on this we would like to get in contact with other online organisations who offer an interactive service so we can plan for costs and legal contingencies. I will be travelling to The US and England between the 15th November and 26 January and would be interested in meeting people involved in online health promotion, particularly organisations which provide an interactive service where users can email questions around health issues. I would also be interested in meeting people researching the area of gay youth health. Should anyone be interested in meeting up or know anyone worth contacting I can be reached on [log in to unmask] Regards, Jonathan Nicholas Main Findings Gay youth were 3.7 times more likely to attempt suicide with 62.5% of gay attempters requiring medical attention after the attempt On measures of lifetime suicidal ideation gay identified males were significantly (p=0.00) more likely than straight identified males to: 1) think there was no point to living, 2) have frequent suicidal thoughts 3) have intrusive suicidal thoughts 4) think about how they would kill themselves 5) have access to the chosen means to kill themselves Suicidal ideation for the whole sample was predicted by: 1) Level of perceived paternal support 2) A subjective perception at one time that they suffered from a mental disorder; 3) Having been sexually assaulted. The significant predictors of suicidal ideation in the gay sub-sample were: 1) Not having told the first person that realised they were gay about their orientation; 2) Level of perceived paternal support. Gay attempters versus non-attempters were more likely to: * perceive low levels of paternal support * cope poorly at the end of a relationship * experience verbal violence from parents and peers at school; physical violence from their father and be sexually assaulted * engage in commercial sex * develop same-gender attractions and self-identify as gay at a younger age * have more poor relationships and a greater number of people cut contact after coming out