Remember

This page has been set aside to remember those teens that have ended their lives as a result of bullying, gay bashing, or for other reasons related to being either "different" or perceived as being "different" from those who hate, bully and cyberbully.

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.

Tyler Clementi, 2010

Tyler Clementi was an eighteen-year-old student at Rutgers University in Piscataway Township, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. This occurred after his sexual encounter with a man in his dorm room was video streamed over the Internet without Clementi's knowledge, by his roommate Dharun Ravi and a fellow hallmate Molly Wei, and after a second attempt was made by Ravi to record Clementi's sexual encounters.^[2][3] Ravi and Wei were charged with invasion of privacy.^[4]

Two students, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy after allegedly placing a camera in Clementi's room and livestreaming the recording online on Sept. 19, according to a written statement by New Jersey's Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

Zach Harrington - 2010

Harrington’s family said that the 6’4" 19-year-old had been bullied in high school. "He feared for his safety on many occasions... and [so did] other people like him," the teen’s father, Van Harrington, said. "Even though he was 6-4, he was passive and I’m sure being gay in that environment didn’t help."

Seth Walsh, 2010

Seth Walsh, 13, was an ordinary everyday kid who just wanted to live his life except there were cruel kids around him who won't let him. Why you ask? Walsh was a young gay kid and there were kids that would not stop tormenting him while school officials ignored the problem despite being aware of the bullying.

Asher Brown, 2010

There is no good news in this story. None. It’s sad, and it’s endemic of the nightmares today’s LGBT youth continue to face every. single. day. Asher Brown, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Hamilton Middle School outside Houston, shot himself in the head last week after being “bullied to death.”

Asher was tormented for being small. For his religious beliefs. For the way he dressed. And for being gay. His bullies acted out mock gay sex acts in phys ed class.

Billy Lucas, 2010

His friend James Kriete was told by Billy’s sister “He had a chair pulled out from underneath him and told to go hang himself.” Kriete was the only friend allowed to see Billy alongside the family at the funeral home. Kriete says, “I've been bullied and that could have been me. That's all I keep thinking about, that could have been me.”

Patrick Halligan, 2003

Ryan Patrick Halligan (December 18, 1989 – October 7, 2003) was an American schoolboy from Essex Junction, Vermont, who committed suicide at the age of 13 after bullying from his classmates in real life and cyber-bullying online. According to the Associated Press, Halligan was repeatedly sent instant messages from middle school classmates accusing him of being gay, and was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly".





The suicide of Phoebe Prince, on January 14, 2010, led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including statutory rape and civil rights violations,^[1] as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts state legislature.^[2]

Phoebe Prince, 2010

Prince had moved from Ireland to South Hadley, Massachusetts.^[3] Her suicide, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010.

Megan Taylor Meier-2006

Megan Taylor Meier (November 6, 1992 – October 17, 2006), an American teenager from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, committed suicide by hanging three weeks before her 14th birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her suicide was attributed to cyber-bullying through the social networking website MySpace. The mother of a friend of Meier, Lori Drew, was later indicted on the matter in 2008, but in 2009, Drew was acquitted.^[1]

TJ Hayes, 2010

Thomas Hayes, 20, of Murphysboro, died Monday, Dec. 13, 2010 in Murphysboro.
Thomas was born April 11, 1990, a son to D. Patrick and Gay (Burns) Hayes. Thomas was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Carbondale. Thomas was a good friend to all who knew him. He genuinely cared about people. Thomas had a great sense of humor and loved to make his friends and family laugh. He has a passion for reading and learning. Thomas will be deeply missed. We know he is in the arms of his savior.

Elijah Mendez, 2010

A grieving mom says her 12-year-old son killed himself after being harassed by schoolmates who thought he was gay - and she's suing the city for not stopping the abuse. Bergouhi Elissa, 36, of Astoria, Queens, said she repeatedly complained to staff at Public School 84 that son Elijah Mendez was being bullied.
The situation got so bad that the seventh-grader hanged himself in his family's home on March 25, 2010, her lawyer said.

Lawrence King, 2008

Lawrence King was shot in the classroom at E.O. Greene Junior High School (Ventura County, CA) by Brandon McInerney in front of several classmates in February 2008. McInerney's attorneys are arguing that King sexually harassed McInerney. Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox has argued that McInerney was motivated to kill King because of a white supremacist background. McInerney is being tried as an adult. He faces 53 years to life if convicted.

Marcellus Andrews, 2011

19-​year old teen, Marcellus Andrews, was kicked and beaten to death early on the morning of August 22nd, 2011 in Waterloo, Iowa, as anti-​gay slurs were hurled by as yet unknown assailants. The teen was taken off life support the next day after spending the night in the hospital. Andrews had been waiting at a friend’s house when a group drove up in a truck and hurled anti-​gay slurs at the teen. No one knows why the mob attacked Andrews, but it is apparent they new him as they knew his name.

14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer blogged about being the target of homophobic bullies who harassed him online, complaining that when he tried to tell adults about the problem nothing happened. The young man had made a video for the "It Gets Better" project last spring, but on Sept. 19, 2011 his parents found Jamey’s body.

"I am tired of life really. It's so hard, I'm sorry, I can't take it anymore," wrote Jamie Hubley on Oct 14. "I don't want to wait three more years, this hurts too much. How do you even know it will get better? It's not." 15-year-old Jamie Hubley, commited suicide on Oct 14.

That was Hubley's last post before the 15-year-old committed suicide on Oct 14. He was the son of Ottawa Councillor Allan Hubley of Kanata South.

On his blog, Hubley wrote, "I'm not really anything special, just depressed, I wish I could be happy, I try, I try, I try...I just want to feel special to someone. Im gay?!"

And now another tragedy, another loss on December 7, 2011 when Jacob Rogers ended his torment and suffering at his own hands.

Friends say the young man took his own life because he couldn't take any more bullying. And they say school officials knew about the torment but didn't do enough to stop it.

Friends say that kids bullied Jacob Rogers at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but in the past few months it had become so bad he dropped out of school.

And Wednesday, he ended his life...and Wednesday I add his picture and name to this list in memory.

January 11, 2012
Sadly we say goodbye to another young person who thought the only way to end the pain was to take his own life. And once again, I have to add another picture, another name to the page of those who have preceded him.

EricJames, a young filmmaker, intern at The Trevor Project, and a Supplemental instructor at the College of the Sequoias took his own life January 11th after trying to be on his own, dealing with personal issues.

Teenage suicide in the United States remains comparatively high in the 15 to 24 age group with 4,000 suicides in this age range in 2004, making it the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24. By comparison, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for all those age 10 and over, with 33,289 suicides for all US citizens in 2006.^[1]

^{I can't possibly list all of the teens that have ended their lives due to bullying. This is just a few of those recently in the news and who have had a positive impact on the awareness of gay or bullying related suicides amongst teens.}