Homophobic bullying takes another child’s life

[marmar]

from AlterNet:



Homophobic bullying takes another child’s life
Posted by Devona Walker on @ 3:37 pm



It’s been more than a decade since Matthew Shepard was beaten to death in Laramie, Wyo. Yet, the homophobia that took his life continues to claim the lives of others. But the victims are getting younger. This month alone three boys, ages 13, 13 and 15, took their own lives because they were bullied at school by kids who “thought they were gay.”

One kid, Seth Walsh, 13. who lived in Tehachapi, outside of Bakersfield, Ca., hanged himself from a tree in his back yard after years of being bullied. He died Tuesday afternoon after nine days on life support. Another boy, Asher Brown of Houston, Tx., 13, shot himself in the head last Thursday, also directly due to the incessant bullying he suffered at school.

His parents told the Houston Chronicle the bullying came specifically from four students. They say they complained several times during the last 18 months but the school did nothing about it. The school did not even bother returning his parents’ phone calls.

He was “bullied to death,” said Amy and David Truong, Asher’s mother and stepfather. “Picked on for his small size, his religion and because he did not wear designer clothes and shoes. Kids also accused him of being gay, some of them performing mock gay acts on him in his physical education class.” ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/09/30/homophobic-bullying-takes-another-child%E2%80%99s-life/

[bluethruandthru]

1. These deaths are such a tragedy.

I wonder if there isn't some way that the parents of the kids who are doing the bullying can be held in some way, accountable. Often, I think, kids who are bullies have parents who condone it.
They think it's harmless fun to ridicule others. They just pass their behavior - and prejudices on to their children.

[COLGATE4]

5. There's a good chance that the parents of the kids that did

the bullying (assuming they can be identified and it can be proven) can be held financially liable in a civil Wrongful Death suit. That's cold comfort, however to the parents who just lost their 13 year old son. Schools have got to step up to the mark and start cracking down on this type of bullying. Whether they will or not is, of course, another question entirely.

[LiberalEsto]

2. People are getting more vicious

and groups like the Teabaggers are feeding the flames. Not to mention hate-filled right wing commentators.

[Enthusiast]

3. And yet the religious right

continues to insist that homosexuality is a choice. Why would anyone 'chose' to be subjected to this abuse as a child? This bullying is reminiscent of the behavior of Germany's Nazi party.

[reggie the dog]

4. part of this falls on the parents too

if parents make it known that they have no problem with their kids being gay then home can be a safe haven from the assholes . I am not gay but i was deppressed as a teen, when I was 14 my mother said "you know, if you are gay you can invite your boyfriend over for dinner. your father and i will love you just the same". i was not gay and told her and she seemed bummed that she didnt figure out why i was sad but at that moment i realized i won the lottery as far as my parents were concerned. so many of these troubled teens would benefit so much from mom and dad saying "be as openly gay as you want around us and in public and at school and we will got to bat to defend your right to be yourself".. i know that is what i am going to tell my daughter when she is around ten or so. not to say that Amy and David Truong from the article did not support their kid, it seems they did. I too was made fun of for not wearing designer clothes or shoes and because i was an athiest and kids called me gay (which only bothered me until I was about 18 and finally realized that sexual orientation was not an insult)

[jtown1123]

6. You have kick ass parents :) I plan to do the same thing

when I have kids. Just putting it out there that you love them and support them means so much.