Gay teen suicides catch national attention. - When Seth Walsh was in the sixth grade, he turned to his mother one day and told her he had something to say.
"I was folding clothes, and he said, 'Mom, I'm gay,' " said Wendy Walsh, a hairstylist and single mother of four. "I said, 'OK, sweetheart, I love you no matter what.' " Last month, Seth went into the backyard of his home in the desert town of Tehachapi (Kern County) and hanged himself, apparently unable to bear a relentless barrage of taunting, bullying and other abuse at the hands of his peers. The case of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after a sexual encounter with another man was broadcast online, has shocked many.
The list includes Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old from Greensburg, Ind., who hanged himself on Sept. 9 after what classmates reportedly called a constant stream of invective against him at school. LGBT teen suicide continues. The It Gets Better Project project has helped a number of teens who are bullied in schools and churches.
Legislation to stop bullying has passed in a number of states including Texas. Amy and David Truong at Texas Capitol But the bullying continues and so does teen suicide. Here are four gay teens who took their own lives in January. Others may have gone unreported as LGBT-related. Justin adkins: Be the Change, Help Prevent Teen Suicide. Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 14 of Fox's "Glee," entitled "On My Way.
" This story includes some spoilers. I just tried Nutella this week, it made peanut butter look like crap, and I love peanut butter. What are you looking forward to? What are the amazing experiences you think about? Think BIG! The episode people are calling "controversial" and "bold" reminded me of my high school experience more than any other Glee episode. Phillip Parker, Gay Tennessee Teen, Commits Suicide After Enduring Bullying. A Tennessee teen's parents claim that constant anti-gay bullying led their son to take his own life.
As WSMV is reporting, parents and grandparents found 14-year-old Phillip Parker's body last Friday, along with a handwritten note in his trash can reading, "Please help me mom. " Family members say they had previously reported concerns about their son's treatment to Gordonsville High School but to no avail. "I should have knew something was wrong, but he seemed happy," Philip's mother Gena Parker told News Channel 5. "After he did what he did, we found out a lot that we didn't know and there is a lot of bullying that goes on at the school. " Added grandfather Paul Harris: "Because he was gay, he got mistreated physically, mentally by several people out there at the school, and I am very resentful as a result of it. Although numerous sources, including Towleroad, Queerty and Metro Weekly, are also reporting the story, an official cause of death does not appear to have been revealed.
One Town's War on Gay Teens. Every morning, Brittany Geldert stepped off the bus and bolted through the double doors of Fred Moore Middle School, her nerves already on high alert, bracing for the inevitable.
"Dyke. " Pretending not to hear, Brittany would walk briskly to her locker, past the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders who loitered in menacing packs. "Whore. " Like many 13-year-olds, Brittany knew seventh grade was a living hell. But what she didn't know was that she was caught in the crossfire of a culture war being waged by local evangelicals inspired by their high-profile congressional representative Michele Bachmann, who graduated from Anoka High School and, until recently, was a member of one of the most conservative churches in the area. Michele Bachmann's Holy War Brittany didn't look like most girls in blue-collar Anoka, Minnesota, a former logging town on the Rum River, a conventional place that takes pride in its annual Halloween parade – it bills itself the "Halloween Capital of the World.
" Washington Town Grapples with Why Openly Gay Teen Rafael Morelos Committed Suicide. In January, Rafael Morelos joined the number of openly gay (and perceived-as-gay) teens who have committed suicide.
He was described by friends, family and school officials as confident and outgoing, a popular kid despite having just transferred to the district recently, who dyed his hair and wore pink skinny jeans to school. His death seems to have come as a shock to everyone, his mother especially. Of course it did — how could the suicide of a 14-year-old ever be anything but totally and utterly unimaginable? Some, however, are arguing that his death could have been foreseen and possibly prevented.
As has become the pattern, voices from the community are asking whether anyone — the school district, or peers, or his mother — could have seen this coming. Another gay teen, Phillip Parker, commits suicide after bullying - Last Word.