Suicide claims another LGBT youth: Trevor Project intern Eric Borges – LGBTQ Nation

Facebook photo-EricJames

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.

A young film maker, EricJames posted this video on November 10, 2011, in which he also appears — the subtext of his video was described as “love is universal.”



Update: Laura McGinnis, Communications Director at The Trevor Project sent LGBTQ Nation this statement:

We are deeply saddened to hear about the tragic death of EricJames Borges, and our hearts go out to his family and friends, and his community. EricJames was a dedicated, trained volunteer. Our main concern right now is that those affected by his death feel supported and can get the care they need. If you or someone you know needs support, please don’t hesitate to call the Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386.

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Utah Teen Outed by School Officials... to "Protect" Him?

School administrators in a Utah middle school "outed" a teen against his will saying that they were preventing him from being bullied by doing so. The Alpine School District teen who has remained unmentioned by name was out to his friends, but not his parents.

Coming out to your parents is a very hard,  very  emotional and troubling time. To have school officials tell your parents you may be gay before you're ready is going above and beyond their responsibility to protect kids while in school or on school premises and can lead to disastrous results for the outed teen.

Civil rights groups blasted the move as a violation of the student's right to privacy.

"The school's decision to disclose deprived the young man the right to reveal highly personal aspects of his life at a time and manner of his choice," Joe Cohn of the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Cohn said there are serious consequences in such cases, especially in communities where homosexuality can carry a tremendous stigma.

"Taking away the choice for a LGBT student to come out on their own terms opens the door to significant risks, including harassment at school and family rejection," network Executive Director Eliza Byard said in a statement. "Schools should be able to provide LGBT students with support and resources in order to make an informed decision if and when they decide to come out to their school community and family."

 One out of four homeless teens are LGBTQ according to recent statistics. Most of them were thrown out before the age of 18 for coming out to their family and friends.

This move on the part of school administrators violates every common sense thought about protecting someone from being bullied. Apparently they don't possess common sense, or most likely, both that and are very uneducated about what it's like to be LGBT. Educating teachers and school officials is of the utmost importance in preventing teen bullying, homelessness and teen suicide as a result of identity struggles with being LGBT.

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West Virginia Moves to Protect LGBT Students - Model for Other States

The great state of West Virginia has led the way in ending bullying against almost every group habitually discriminated against with the passage of new language by the W. Virginia Board of Education. These new regulations, enforceable across the state, very clearly state that:

"Acts of harassment, intimidation, or bullying that are reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics, shall be reported using the following list: race; color; religion; ancestry; national origin; gender; socioeconomic status; academic status; gender identity or expression; physical appearance; sexual orientation; mental/physical/developmental/ sensory disability; or other characteristic."

This appears to be, on the outside, a model that other states can follow if they choose that will hopefully transform the current social non-acceptance of LGBT students, as well as those who fall under the categories specified in the new rules.

All I can say is...it's about time someone got the message!

 

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Students Suspended in Rodemeyer Suicide

Jamey Rodenmeyer September 18, 2011

As we have followed the sad story of Jamey Rodenmeyer, the 14 year old student who took his own life in September after posting an "It Gets Better" video, recent developments in his suicide resulting from bullying were made public following a rather long police investigation. Essentially police are not prosecuting any students who purportedly bullied Jamey, leading to his death. Only after a large public outcry of injustice and coverup by the school and police has it come to light that several students have been suspended.

While they have not been named due to their age, the suspensions seem rather trivial and show a lack of accountability on the part of police, school administrators, and others involved in determining where to place blame.

As seems usual with cases involving teen suicide resulting from bullying, this is just another example of how far we have NOT come in dealing with educating the right people about bullying, and have not learned to recognize the signs of those who cry in the nighttime, but suffer in the daylight.

We MUST keep pressing, keep writing, keep pushing until this monster is gone from our midst. Young people that we have lost to this terrible disease of ignorance and hatred must not be forgotten and their deaths not in vain.

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Southwest Idaho schools throwout Student Club Rule

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A legal group claims Idaho's largest school district rejected a measure to require a parent's signature for students to participate in school clubs amid pressure from a national organization that promotes equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

But the Meridian School District says the proposal was dropped because the vast majority of their student clubs do not currently require parental permission.

The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based group of Christian lawyers, issued a statement Monday saying the district was "duped" by gay rights activists into ditching the proposed parental consent policy. The group claims the proposal was cut amid pressure from Lambda Legal and the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition.

Those organizations wrote the district in August, saying the proposed rule would be harmful to already vulnerable students.
 (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is a conservative Christian nonprofit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

The Alliance Defense Fund established the Day of Truth "to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective." The Day of Truth is held annually following the Day of Silence, which is organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The Day of Silence is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) annual day of action to protest the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their supporters. Students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters. The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996. The 2010 Day of Silence was held on April 16; in 2011 it was on April 15

ADF has announced that beginning in 2009, it was passing on its leadership role in the Day of Truth to an ex-gay organization, Exodus International, who had prepared the resources for the event. On October 6, Exodus International stated they would no longer be supporting or leading the Day of Truth.

On November 11, 2010, Focus on the Family announced it had acquired the Day of Truth event and was renaming it to the Day of Dialogue. The goal would remain unchanged.

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New Hampshire House Panel to Vote on Gay Marriage Repeal | New Hampshire | The Advocate

As we reported earlier, the Republican controlled New Hampshire House is attempting to repeal the laws that made NH the 5th state to allow same-sex marriage in 2010. On Cotober 25th the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 along party lines today to send a bill restoring the definition of “marriage” as the union of one man and one woman to the full House after Christmas.

The bill — HB 437, sponsored by Rep. David Bates — would also expand the state’s civil-union law to any two unmarried adults, even if they’re related.

“If we’re going to create a legal status for individuals with rights and responsibilities for the special relationship they have, there’s no good reason to make that exclusive to homosexuals,” Bates countered. “We’ve heard for years how it’s none of the state’s business what people do in their own homes and how we have to get the government out of people’s bedrooms. That’s exactly what this legislation does. We created a civil- union status where there does not need to be any expectation of a sexual relationship. It’s more similar to a limited-liability corporation, where people enter into partnerships for a variety of relationships all the time. This bill doesn’t encourage incest any more than an LLC law.”

Hopefully the governor will remember his veto power when it comes across his desk for certain signature.

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Advisory Committee Recommends That Boys Get HPV Vaccine

Is this another thinly veiled attempt to make a statement that boys are the source of all AIDS infections and that somehow, forcing vaccination on them will eradicate the disease? It is the quiet passing of laws like this that have slowly removed the rights of parents to 'parent' their children as they see best. More government interference based upon non-factual reports made by some government committee. No wonder this country is headed for 3rd World status! Here is the very short, barely noticeable Associated Press item regarding the vaccination requirement being considered.

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer 

ATLANTA (AP) - A government panel is recommending that young boys also get the controversial HPV shot. That's the vaccine now given to girls to prevent cervical cancer. Doctors argue that it could protect boys against genital warts and some kinds of cancers. But they also say vaccinating 11- and 12-year old boys could also help prevent the spread of the sexually transmitted virus to girls.

The HPV vaccine has been controversial since it was recommended for girls five years ago. And only about a third of adolescent girls have been fully vaccinated against the virus. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices made the recommendation Tuesday. Federal health officials usually adopt what the panel says and asks doctors and patients to follow the recommendations.

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New Hampshire GOP to try and Repeal 2009 Same-sex Marriage Bill

This coming Tuesday the NH House Judiciary Committee will vote on a bill sponsored by Rep. David Bates, a Republican from Rockingham, that would essentially not only repeal the 2009 bill making NH the 5th state to allow same-sex marriage, but might even send civil unions back into the closet.

The 2009 bill was passed by a predominately Democratic Legislature and Governor, and a current poll by the WMUR Granite State poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found that only 27 percent of 500 randomly selected adults reached by telephone support repealing the law, while 50 percent are strongly opposed to repeal.

NH Governor John Lynch has indicated already that if this repeal bill passes he will veto it.

What's amazing, even in a conservative state such as New Hampshire, is that politicians are more concerned about who's getting married than jobs, the economy, and our high poverty rate. Or...then again, maybe the Republican controlled state isn't all that concerned about those things. I think the people know what's more important with the current unemployment rate at 5.4% (October 2011) and 7.6% living under the National Poverty Rate.

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Adrian Smith demoted for not backing gay marriage after criticising new law on Facebook | Mail Online

Sometimes I believe that a cause, protest, even the "right" for equality of same-sex marriage can go a little too far. Don't get me wrong, I believe that equality is needed for all of us and has to come about soon. And it is in many ways with same-sex marriage legal now in six states and civil unions in a few others.  But sometimes, in our zealous fight to win, we have collateral casualties that shouldn't be.

I believe this is the case with Adrian Smith, a Christian and employee of the Trafford Housing Trust, living in the UK, who placed a somewhat inocuous statement on his personal FaceBook page stating his belief that, "allowing gay weddings in churches was ‘an equality too far’." His statement and page were only viewable by his friends and not the general public, but apparently one of his co-workers complained, asking : "‘Does this mean you don’t approve?’ The following evening after work, Mr Smith, who attends an evangelical church in Bolton, responded: ‘No, not really. I don’t understand why people who have no faith and don’t believe in Christ would want to get hitched in church.‘The Bible is quite specific that marriage is for men and women. If the State wants to offer civil marriages to the same sex then that is up to the State; but the State shouldn’t impose its rules on places of faith and conscience.’

Recent legislation proposed in the UK would allow gay ceremonies to be held in churches and other religious places.

Adrian Smith

Lawyers for Mr Smith, whom friends describe as affable and non-confrontational, say his comments were merely expressing an ‘honest belief’ based on his Christian faith.

I believe that this is a fair expression of his personal beliefs and a violation of his civil rights . Unfortunately, his life has been affected by this as his employer suspended him, then  demoted him to money support adviser, handling rent collection. His pay was reduced from £35,000 to £21,396 a year, phased in over a year, and he was given a final written warning.

The question remains thus: can we sometimes, in our fight for equality, go too far and create the very same situation for people for which we are fighting for?

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Anti-Gay Linda Harvey Warns Parents About Gay Dr.'s Treating Their Children

From: Addicting.org

As usual, this extremist, right-wing activist from another anti-gay, hate group has come up with an original thought (something new!) Her ranting goes like this (courtesy of addicting.org):

“How do you feel about open homosexuals tending to your child in a health care setting? Do you think these folks provide good role modeling at a time when your child is very vulnerable? I was thinking about this recently when I heard that Children’s Hospital in Columbus has a homosexual employees group called NCHARGE, which stands for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Advocates Representing Gay Employees. The meeting minutes of this groups reveal that they participated in last June’s gay pride parade, that they participated in a health expo on adolescent health this summer and that they’re concerned about same-sex partner benefits. They’re also planning to be identified with rainbow lapel pins.

But let’s say your eleven year-old has broken her leg rather badly and needs to be in the hospital a few days, which would you prefer: a nurse who’s proud of her lesbianism, who has rainbow identifiers on her work clothing, or a nurse who does not?

I would like to suggest that parents think long and hard about this. If you want your children to admire people who proclaim a homosexual lifestyle, they’re involvement with your child during a hospital stay is sure to be an influence. And let me be clear that folks involved in these behaviors can be certainly competent workers but they are tacking on to their workplace identity one that is highly offensive to many people and can be erroneously influential to children who won’t, or shouldn’t, see the whole picture of how this behavior really manifests itself.

Here’s what parents can do: select your pediatrician very carefully, first of all. There are a few homosexual doctors treating kids, there are far more nurses, LPNs, technicians and other health care workers in these lifestyles so you may want to consider writing a letter that you file with your pediatrician that should your child ever be hospitalized, you do not want your child to be treated or cared for by one of these members of the Children’s Hospital gay employees group except in the case of an emergency situation. But for routine in-hospital care where contact with your child would be required, your values should be respected.”

Harvey is a notorious bigot, especially against the LGBT community. Her organization, Mission America, crusades against the LGBT community on a daily basis. Harvey is a hateful woman and her bigotry must come to an end. If you wish to contact Linda Harvey and her organization, you can write to them or email them at the following addresses.

webmaster@missionamerica.com

Mission America P.O. Box 21836 Columbus, OH 43221-0836

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Santorum: ‘I’ll die’ to stop same sex marriages | The Raw Story

The fact that Rick Santorum is so "passionate" as he says about not allowing gays to marry and putting an end to birth control because they both "violate the teachings of the Bible" is not such an issue as the fact that, if chosen as President he pushes his values on the rest of the country. This clearly violates the Constitution when it comes to the separation of church and state. Religion has no place in the governance of a country as large and important to the economy as ours. Unfortunately, Santorum sees no need to make that distinction and with the support of so-called religions groups nationwide, who are just waiting to impose their own values and ideals on everyone else as being right, his election could put us back to below 3rd world countries such as Nigeria.

Lawmakers in Nigeria (famous as the scamming capital of the world) are currently attempting to resurrect a bill that would outlaw same-sex marriages once and for all and make it a criminal offense even punishable by death, if one is caught, or perceived to be even thinking of, committing a homosexual act of any kind. This leaves the law wide open for interpretation and could allow for the murder of thousands of innocent people just because they are "perceived" to be gay. We don't need such laws here with all the anti-gay agendas in movement around the country now. Many of which enjoy tax-exempt status as they push their radical agenda's.

We need leaders in this country who are more passionate about getting Americans back to work, getting the economy back on track, and creating equal rights for ALL people - gay, straight, or otherwise.

Although this interview is a little hard to hear, Santorum expresses these radical, religious views in an interview with The Raw Story

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Spirit Day October 20th

October 20th - Spirit Day!

I hope that as many as possible wore Purple today to help focus attention on Spirit Day and a smattering of subjects, including bullying, teen suicide, gay marriage, and other LGBTQ issues. I wore my "It Gets Better" t-shirt so that I could talk to everyone I met about it. Guess what! It worked...and people in general, even in my red-necked, rural town of Vermont at least were willing to listen to me and wish the best for all those that struggle with any of the issues I mentioned.

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THAT TIME IS NOW!: An Open Letter to the Republican Party

An Open Letter to the Republican Party

Dear Potential Presidential Candidates of the Republican Party: 

Thank you for clarifying the issues at hand in your many speeches, debates, campaign platforms, public forums, divine visions, multi-point plans, and private websites. If I'm understanding you all correctly, here's what I've gathered...

So starts a letter by blogger Christopher Scott Sarno. It's dead on and directly states the facts, only the facts ma'am. Read the rest here...

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Another Suicide - Zach Harrington, Norman, OK

From: edgephiladelphia

A gay teen in Oklahoma killed himself following a "toxic town meeting he attended at which residents debated a resolution naming October "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month." The rhetoric spouted at the meeting was "toxic," the family of 19-year-old Zach Harrington says. They maintain that the anti-gay remarks were so hurtful to the young man that they pushed him over the edge.

Zach Harrington -2011

In the end the resolution was adopted, but the one-sided debate of the town meeting had already taken its toll on the young man who was continually subjected to bullying in school. So we lost another young, promising soul to bullying in October of this year. There just seems to be no end to this, and what's more horrifying is that many people don't seem to care (until it touches their lives...which we all know is different.)

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Stomp Out Bullying (.org)

Please support the Trevor Project by joining and help put an end to bullying.

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Zachary Quinto, Actor, Out's Himself Over Death of Jamey Rodemeyer

On his website today, Zachary explains that the recent suicide of bullied 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer led to his decision to come out publicly:

"when i found out that jamey rodemeyer killed himself – i felt deeply troubled.  but when i found out that jamey rodemeyer had made an it gets better video only months before taking his own life – i felt indescribable despair.  i also made an it gets better video last year – in the wake of the senseless and tragic gay teen suicides that were sweeping the nation at the time.  but in light of jamey’s death – it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it – is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality.  our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered citizen of this country.  gay kids need to stop killing themselves because they are made to feel worthless by cruel and relentless bullying.  parents need to teach their children principles of respect and acceptance.  we are witnessing an enormous shift of collective consciousness throughout the world.  we are at the precipice of great transformation within our culture and government.  i believe in the power of intention to change the landscape of our society – and it is my intention to live an authentic life of compassion and integrity and action.  jamey rodemeyer’s life changed mine.  and while his death only makes me wish that i had done this sooner – i am eternally grateful to him for being the catalyst for change within me.  now i can only hope to serve as the same catalyst for even one other person in this world.  that – i believe – is all that we can ask of ourselves and of each other."

Gay Right to Marry in Iowa in Jeopardy

A special election for a state Senate seat could threaten Iowa's status as the only Midwestern state where gay couples can marry. Republican Governor Terry Branstad's decision to appoint (R) Senator Swati Dandekar to the Iowa Utilities Board ensures Republicans will have a shot at sharing control of the Senate.  Now, what the appointment to the Utilities Board has to do with same-sex marriage is anyone's guess, and probably a good question to ask of Republican Senators.

Democrats have used their 26 to 24 seat majority to block a number of GOP efforts, most notably a proposed constitutional amendment to overturn Iowa's gay marriage law. Branstad and the Republican controlled House support beginning the multi-year process of referring a constitutional amendment to voters. A 25 to 25 split wouldn't ensure they would succeed in the next legislative session, but their odds would improve.  The Iowa Supreme Court has already ruled that banning same-sex marriage would violate the constitution. However, in the interest of deflecting the public from important issues, like jobs, housing foreclosures and other important issues, the Republicans are spending more taxpayer money in an attempt to overturn the law allowing same-sex marriage. Just another case of no logic and STUPID PEOPLE running amok with taxpayer money.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn says the November 8 election could be the state's most expensive legislative race.

OMG! DADT is gone and the world didn't end!

Apparently, according to the sunshine outside, along with many articles in the news, and against predictions of the naysayers, the repeal of DADT on September 20 didn't end in Armageddon. As a matter of fact, it hardly even caused a ripple in the troops according to several interviews. One heterosexual soldier expressed the whole issue best with just a "shrug of the shoulders." So to the Republican gay-haters and so-called Christian moralists, I say, "we told you so!"

On Saturday, October 15th the first open, gay military convention was held with over 200 Marines,Sailors and Army people attending.  Each of the 200 or so sailors, soldiers, Marines and airmen attending the conference put on by the formerly clandestine group known as OutServe had, to varying degrees, only recently revealed their sexual orientations at work. None had gotten a reaction worse than a shrug.

"Out of the 4,500 members we have, we haven't had any person come to us about one single problem, which is huge, because right before repeal of `don't ask, don't tell,' we had tons of problems," like investigations and other issues relayed to the Pentagon, said Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, the group's co-founder. "But right now, after Sept. 20, there is nothing to relay because everything has been 100 percent positive."

 SO THERE!