Gay Teen Suicides Update

I have talked about gay teen suicides before but I thought I would do an update about what is happening now.

Tyler Clementi (Age 18) from New Jersey jumped from the George Washington bridge and died after his roommate secretly filmed him having sex with another man then broadcast it online.  Tyler's parents are said to have filed a notice to sue Rutgers University for failing to implement policies to prevent the invasion of privacy.  A spokesman from the university said that they were sympathetic to the family but it was not responsible for Tyler's death.

Seth Walsh (Age 13) died 9 days after hanging himself from a tree in his garden, Seth's mother made a heartbreaking video in which she read out Seth's suicide note and she talked about him and his situation at school where not only  fellow students bullied him but so did some of the teachers, and although other teachers knew about it including the vice principle they done nothing to help, they just didn't care (View Below).  Now Federal Education Officers are investigating the suicide.  Apparently the officers spent 2 days interviewing teachers, administrators and students.

If you are being bullied please don't harm yourself, remember people love you and although it may seem hard to believe now it will get better.  If you need to call someone then there are helplines everywhere.

Call  08457 90 90 90 in the UK & Northern Ireland.

Call 1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland

Call the Trevor Project on 866488 - 7386 or visit www.thetrevorproject.org in the US

Update On Reace Mcdonnell

In my previous post I talked about Reace Mcdonnell the 19 year old MYP who was suspended after an "anonymous mother of a teenage boy" found explicit photographs of him on the internet.

In my previous post I did not mention what Andy Hamflett the chief executive of the UK youth parliament had said as I really did not like the way this comment was worded but while speaking to PinkNews Reace mentioned this comment so to give you the full picture here it is.

"Our Primary concern is for the safety of all the young people we work with and we are taking these allegations very seriously.  The young person in  question has been suspended whilst the matter is investigated."

When I first read this comment my first thought was that there primary concern is the safety of all the young people they work with, what exactly is so dangerous about him?

Reace commented in regards to the youth parliament "I suppose they thought they can't be seen to support me.  They said this was a matter of 'child protection' but i'm 19.  They were implying that I was somehow a danger to children."

He also said that the Plymouth Herald who had first published these rumours had contacted him, however the youth parliament had told him not to speak to them.  He said "I get the feeling they were more concerned about looking after themselves than acting in my best interests.  I don't think they will clear my name now because my term as deputy youth parliament member comes to an end in January."

Speaking to pink news Reace said that he believed someone was trying to damage his reputation, he also worried that these malicious rumours would damage his chances of getting into university.  He said "All my positive work has been pushed down on google and this is now at the top.  I'm really upset."

Apparently the youth parliament has contacted him to tell him they are treating this as a case of homophobic bullying against him.


But is it too little, too late?

Again please comment or email GYD@live.co.uk

Thank You