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This post follows a previous article on Tyler Clemente Dead at 18: Teasing and Bullying Teenagers is an Epidemic. Please click there before continuing…
Tyler Clemente wasn’t the only recent teenage victim of persecution for being gay. There was also Asher Brown (an 8th grader who shot himself in the head after suffering abuse by other students), Seth Walsh (hung himself at 13 after school officials ignored the problem), Justin Aaberg (at 15 hung himself following three of five suicides thought related to struggles with sexual identity), Raymond Chase (hung himself at 19) and Billy Lucas (hung himself at 15 after making administrators aware of his LGBT bullying, and they did nothing).
According to the Miami Herald, Campus Pride (which recently released a study on attitudes towards LGBT students on campus) issued a statement in reaction to the deaths:
…the recent pattern of LGBT youth suicides is cause for grave concern. Campus Pride demands national action be taken to address youth bullying, harassment and the need for safety and inclusion for LGBT youth at colleges and universities across the country. We must not let these tragic deaths go unnoticed. Together we must act decisively to curb anti-LGBT bias incidents, harassment and acts of violence.
Many consider this terrible pattern of abuse as a call to action. Continue reading
