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Family of gay teen who committed suicide: teasing led to bullying, death threats

Family of gay teen who committed suicide: teasing led to bullying, death threats

Update: An earlier report is here.

PRIMGHAR, Iowa — The family of a gay Iowa teen who committed suicide over the weekend, is speaking out, and say that anti-gay bullying is the reason Kenneth Weishuhn Jr., took his own life.

Kenneth, 14-year-old freshman at South O’Brien High School in Paullina, Iowa, reportedly came out as gay last month. After that, many of his friends “turned on him,” according to his sister Kayla.

Family members said teasing led to bullying, and eventually death threats.

“Mom, you don’t know how it feels to be hated,” Kenneth told his mother, Jeannie Chambers.

Watch the report from KTIV-TV:

Family members said Kenneth’s favorite quote was “be buddies, not bullies.”

Kenneth was pronounced dead on Sunday.

Funeral Services are scheduled for Thursday, April 19, 2012 at the Grace Lutheran Church in Primghar, Iowa.

A Facebook memorial page is here, and a YouTube tribute is here.

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