Gay Teen Suicides

Bullying must not be seen as simply a "youth problem" but as resulting from larger societal issues. Institutional bullying and harassment do not exist within a vacuum but reflect and actually reproduce the messages and actions stemming from the social environment.

I want to give you a big hug and tell you that it gets better, because it actually does. Hang on. There are people you may not even know yet who are waiting for you with open arms, and they will love you unconditionally. Trust me.

A gay Iowa teen has taken his own life after friends and family say that classmates sent him death threats on his cell phone and made him the subject ...

Despite nationwide criticism, a controversial Tennessee bill that would restrict references to homosexuality in schools has cleared its first hurdle i...

Family members and friends are distraught over the death of a Washington teen who reportedly killed himself because he was bullied by his classmates f...

The latest in the ongoing series of "It Gets Better" campaign videos is an energetic high school musical number that's certain to knock your socks off...

The media's singular focus on LGBTQ youth suicides creates a deadly echo chamber. The repetitive tale about our collective failure to address the pain felt by many LGBTQ youth doesn't translate into inspiration for the kids who are still here.

The disturbing spate of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teen suicides continues with news that another California student has taken his ...

I could hear the pain of abandonment in EricJames Borges' voice as he spoke about growing up in a deeply religious -- and deeply prejudiced -- home. This appears to be a common thread among every gay suicide I've had to ponder.

Just one month after filming an "It Gets Better" video in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth, a California-based gay teen ...

Less than one month after a local gay teen took his own life after allegedly being tormented at his high school, a proposed change in a Tennessee law ...

Evangelical, fundamentalist Christians -- by which I mean, specifically, Christians who believe that being gay is a moral abomination, an appalling affront to God -- talk to me, please, about Jonah Mowry.

This episode was one of the hardest shows I have done in my nine-year run on the series. There is a scene where I hold up Carl's clothes, which are so tiny -- it's so unfortunate to think about how much more this 11-year-old-boy had to give in life.

This summer two lawsuits were filed on behalf of six students in Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin school district. The students had endured "slurs, were stabbed with pencils, shoved into walls and lockers, punched, called names and urinated on..."

These kids are not getting bullied; they are getting mugged. If the same violent incidents occurred on the subway or at the grocery store, they would be considered mugging, and the perpetrator would be arrested for assault.

It wasn't inspiration that got me off that bridge but a person who saw a boy in a perilous place. Fewer kids will die when it's not just their parents or their gay and lesbian peers but our entire society that is keeping an eye out on their well-being.

I am fueled by passion. It's not the same as the passion that comes from finding my son hanged to death. It can't undo any damage I may have unknowingly done to someone. It is my attempt to do what I can to help all children.

I know how you feel -- six years ago, I was where you are now. I felt isolated, scared, damaged; I thought the only way out was by ending my life. I'd been hiding who I was for years by that point.

This article is my third in less than three years about teen bullying and the tragedy of suicide among LGBT youth. Today, I write an almost identical article with practically the same statistics that I have written for the past two years.

For Jamey, and potentially many more young people in a similar situation, being told and believing that "it gets better" is not enough. For Jamey and these other youth, the situation must be made better -- now.

What is needed to create real change is real action on the part of our heterosexual citizenry. After all, these are your children who are driving other kids to suicide. Where are they learning that it's "OK to hate"?