iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More

Austin Rodriguez, Gay Ohio Teen, In Coma After Attempting Suicide (VIDEO)

Posted: 03/23/2012 12:48 pm Updated: 03/23/2012 1:12 pm

Austin Rodriguez

A gay Ohio teen remains in critical condition after attempting suicide by overdosing on prescription medication.

As local ABC news affilate 33 WYTZ reports, 15-year-old Austin Rodriguez collapsed on the floor of his Wellsville home after allegedly taking more than 120 pills of his own medication late last week. "The night before this happened he said that we didn't know what was going on in his personal life, and we let him know that we were more than willing to listen to anything that he had to say," Rodriguez's mother Bonnie, adding that her openly gay son was a victim of bullying. "Until friends came out of the woodwork saying, 'We knew Austin was going through this, we thought he was handling it a lot better, we didn't know what to do.'"

According to WTOV9.com, Rodriguez had been taking the medication for treatment of bipolar disorder. Still, friends and family described the teen as quiet, reserved and accepting, according to the site. "Austin was always the one to tell you to keep your head up and move on," said best friend Taylor Cameron. "This is definitely the last thing I expected."

Four local ministers reportedly met with Rodriguez's classmates at Wellsville High School Thursday in an effort to help them deal with the situation. "The students have come to me with their concerns and we are doing everything we can to address those concerns," Principal Linda Rolley told WRTF.com. Though the school currently does not have a gay-straight alliance, Rolley added that "it is something we would be open to and we may consider."


Take a look at other LGBT-related bullying cases, as well as shining examples of support, below:

Loading Slideshow...
  • Jack Reese

    Though details of the 17-year-old Reese's April suicide are scarce, his boyfriend Alex Smith spoke frankly about the repeated bullying the teen had experienced at school. As one official is quoted as telling Ogden OUTreach off the record: "It happens here about once a week, but officially, you know, it doesn't happen here."

  • Kenneth Weishuhn jr.

    The 14-year-old took his own life after friends and family say that classmates sent him death threats on his cell phone and made him the subject of a Facebook hate group. "People that were originally his friends, they kind of turned on him," sister Kayla Weishuhn, a sophomore, is quoted as saying. "A lot of people, they either joined in or they were too scared to say anything."

  • Eric James Borges

    In January, just one month after filming an "It Gets Better" video in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth, 19-year-old Eric James Borges took his own life. Borges, who went by EricJames among friends, worked as an intern with The Trevor Project, and as a supplemental instructor at the College of the Sequoias, according to Queer Landia blogger Jim Reeves.

  • Jacob Rogers

    Jacob Rogers had been bullied at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but at the start of his senior year, it had become so bad he dropped out of school before taking his own life. "He started coming home his senior year saying 'I don't want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a faggot, they call me gay, a queer,'" friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

  • Jeffrey Fehr

    Eighteen-year-old Jeffrey Fehr, who was known as a skilled athlete and previously served as the first male captain of his high school's cheerleading squad, hanged himself on New Year's Day in the front entrance of his family's Granite Bay home after enduring what his parents describe as a lifetime of anti-gay bullying.

  • Tyler Clementi

    The disturbing rash of LGBT teen suicides began receiving attention last fall. Among those who took their own life was Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York after his roommate allegedly filmed him having sex with another man.

  • Seth Walsh

    Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old California teen, hung himself in September 2010 after reportedly being bullied because he was gay.

  • Raymond S. Chase

    Gay Rhode Island-based student Raymond S. Chase, 19, became the fifth in 2010's disturbing spate of teen suicides last fall.

  • Obama's Anti-Bullying Video

    In October 2010, President Obama released a video in support of LGBT youth who were struggling with being bullied.

  • Pastor's Confession

    In November 2010, Jim Swilley, the pastor of a Georgia megachurch, revealed to his congregation that he is gay. The 52-year-old father of four said the recent spate of teen suicides, particularly that of Clementi, prompted him to change his mind. "For some reason his situation was kind of the tipping point with me," Swilley told CNN's Don Lemon this weekend.

  • Daniel Radcliffe Honored

    In June, "Harry Potter" actor Daniel Radcliffe was honored with the Trevor Project's "Hero" Award for his <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/26/daniel-radcliffe-speaks-o_n_478960.html" target="_hplink">ongoing suicide prevention efforts</a> for LGBT youth.

  • Jamey Rodemeyer

    In September, Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old boy from Williamsville, N.Y., took his life Sunday after what his parents claim was years of bullying because of struggles with his sexuality, months after posting this "It Gets Better" clip on YouTube.

  • Lady Gaga's Dedication

    After vowing to stop bullying and make it illegal, Lady Gaga -- a longtime advocate for LGBT causes -- dedicated a performance to Rodemeyer at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. "I wrote this record about how your identity is really all you've got when you're in school," Gaga told the crowd. "So tonight, Jamey, I know you're up there looking at us, and you're not a victim. You're a lesson to all of us."

  • Bachmann Speaks Out

    Days after being faced with a petition that urged her to publicly address gay bullying in her district, Rep. Michele Bachmann noted, "That's not a federal issue," according to CBS News. Previously, Tammy Aaberg, the mother of Justin Aaberg, a gay teen in the Anoka-Hennepin school district who committed suicide after having been bullied in area schools, delivered petitions to Bachmann's office asking her for support.

  • Jamie Hubley

    Jamie Hubley, a gay 15-year-old from Ottawa, Canada, committed suicide Oct. 14. In this clip, the teen performs Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me."

  • Hubley Tribute Video

    Friends created a poignant tribute video to Hubley, the Canadian 10th grader who committed suicide on Friday.

FOLLOW GAY VOICES

A gay Ohio teen remains in critical condition after attempting suicide by overdosing on prescription medication. As local ABC news affilate 33 WYTZ reports, 15-year-old Austin Rodriguez collapsed ...
A gay Ohio teen remains in critical condition after attempting suicide by overdosing on prescription medication. As local ABC news affilate 33 WYTZ reports, 15-year-old Austin Rodriguez collapsed ...
Filed by Curtis M. Wong  |