Sunday, December 5, 2010
Gay Youth Suicides & Anti-Gay Bullying Are REAL!
Words of the video producer
Suicide becoming common amongst gay young men
Five Young men have committed suicide in relation to the harassment they’ve experience within weeks of one another.
1) Johnson and Wales student Raymond Chase, 19, took his own life this past Wednesday, according to the Advocate.
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2) Chase, a sophomore reported as openly gay, apparently hanged himself in his dorm room. According to Now Public, the circumstances surrounding his death are not yet known.
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3) This weekend, Rutgers University honored the life of freshman Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide last week.
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4) Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge sometime after Sept. 22 after he discovered that his roommate, Dharun Ravi, had broadcast a sexual encounter that he had without his knowledge.
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WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TO MAKE THIS STOP?
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I feel that his is a question worth addressing in my blog. As an activist for gay rights I question the power I may have to stop such acts of hate. It is never ok, for someone to feel so little that they are forced to claim their life. Authorities and parents should take more precaution and pay closer attention to their children. In order for these acts to stop, authoritative figures have to lead by example and take lead. Activist especially, needs to reach out to colleges and spread the word of gay acceptance.
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The issue at hand shouldn’t be that the dead teenagers were gay. The fact that young adults and adolescents are claiming their lives shows the backwards pace of gay acceptance in society. These acts show that we are not improving as we should. The cycle of hate crimes is getting worse and is in fact affecting children. Being gay and accepted into society has fallen into the social sphere of the youth.
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It is also important to realize that the gay youth are predominately men. In the gay community, we should make sure that a safe space is provided for the gay men. Lesbianism seems to come with less hassle from heterosexuals. The word must get out about this phenomenon so that we who believe in equality for all can say we were successful in making the educational sphere one that is safe. These young men who are attending college are facing hardships that enable them to finish there career. In search of themselves and acceptance, they choose to die before they lose who they are. Through bullying and the inability to be accepted they are forced into making a choice of life and death. Now I question, are we willing to fight, let known die for what we believe to save lives.
lyric
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ReplyDeleteOn the last paragraph, I just feel the need to comment and say that it isn't that lesbianism is more readily accepted by heterosexuals--it's that it's sexualized. I don't think I can get behind the idea that lesbians have it easier when the options appear to be: 1, Daily harrassment because somebody thinks you're disgusting (if you're male) or, 2, Daily harrassment because somebody thinks you're porn (if you're female).
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong--suicide, across the board, is a very serious matter, and not one that I intend to quibble with. But I do take issue with the notion that these young men chose to die to preserve themselves, as though suicide is or can be something that is honorable. I feel as though more of these suicides come from a place of deep despair and personal hell than a noble notion of refusal to compromise.