The Teen Suicide Epidemic in Michele Bachmann's District

[marmar]

from Mother Jones:



Mon Jul. 25, 2011 3:00 AM PDT


The first was TJ. Then came Samantha, Aaron, Nick, and Kevin. Over the past two years, a total of nine teenagers have committed suicide in a Minnesota school district represented by Rep. Michele Bachmann—the latest in May—and many more students have attempted to take their lives. State public health officials have labeled the area a "suicide contagion area" because of the unusually high death rate.

Some of the victims were gay, or perceived to be by their classmates, and many were reportedly bullied. And the anti-gay activists who are some of the congresswoman's closest allies stand accused of blocking an effective response to the crisis and fostering a climate of intolerance that allowed bullying to flourish. Bachmann, meanwhile, has been uncharacteristically silent on the tragic deaths that have roiled her district—including the high school that she attended.

Bachmann, who began her political career as an education activist, has described gay rights as an "earthquake issue," and she and her allies have made public schools the front lines of their fight against the "homosexual agenda." They have opposed efforts in the state to promote tolerance for gays and lesbians in the classroom, seeing such initiatives as a way of allowing gays to recruit impressionable youths into an unhealthy and un-Christian lifestyle. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/michele-bachmann-teen-suicide

[barbtries]

1. blood on her hands

bachmann is a religious fiend.

i just don't know how these people sleep at night the way they devalue human beings - aargh.

[spooked911]

2. wow, how terrible

what will it take to derail this crazy woman's ambitions?

[LeftinOH]

3. A majority of people in her district keep re-electing her, knowing her positions. They bear

some of the blame (but none of the guilt, of course).

[Tippy]

4. True unless of course.....voter fraud is in play

[The Doctor.]

6. "Election Fraud"

"Voter fraud" is committed by individuals voting where they are not supposed to, often under false IDs. Voter fraud tends to be virtually non-existent and doesn't affect elections.

"Election fraud" is committed by election officials and state/municipal employees in order to disfranchise entire precincts and heavily affect election results.

[Tippy]

9. Your correct...I stand corrected....

[The Doctor.]

5. Far better to hound gay kids to death,

than to risk their turning out to be gay.

:wtf: :crazy: :wtf:

These people are twisted bastards. I'm amazed at how fucking thick people can be.

[Bosso 63]

7. "Twisted bastards"

There always seems to be some sexual aspect that motivates these right-wing freaks. They are indeed twisted.

[qb]

8. Victims are suing the Anoka Hennepin school district for failing to address bullying

The school district is up against the Southern Poverty Law Center, National Center for Lesbian Rights and the powerhouse law firm Faegre & Benson.

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/125958688.html

"The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of five current and former students, who say they've been peppered with demeaning slurs, stabbed with pencils, even urinated on by classmates. It seeks to end the district's sexual orientation curriculum policy, which allows teachers to discuss sexual orientation issues but requires them to maintain neutrality."