The campaign will feature the faces and stories of diverse New York LGBT youth forced to spend the winter without shelter.

The “Homeless for the Holidays” campaign was launched to support the Campaign for Youth Shelter, an effort led by the Ali Forney Center in collaboration with other service providers and activists in the local LGBT community which is calling on Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Cuomo, the New York City Council, and the New York State Legislature to back an additional $3 million in annual funding, set aside to create 100 new shelter beds every year.

Currently, the city only offers around 250 shelter beds for homeless youth, although a census released in 2008 by the Empire State Coalition found that almost 4000 youths must go without shelter each night in New York. LGBT youths make up a disproportionate 40% of this population. Nonetheless, New York State recently cut its funding for youth shelter beds by 50%, although the existing beds are only enough to serve a tiny percentage of this population.

Said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center:

“At a time of year that many of us associate with warmth and family, these faces and voices remind us that far too many LGBT youth in New York have no accepting family to go home to and no warm, safe place to sleep. Providing shelter to these youth must be made a priority for the LGBT community, and our hope is that the real and very compelling stories of these young people will put a face on this issue that no one can turn away from.

We are thrilled with Frank and Bill’s generous donation and hope their generosity will inspire others to join us in our efforts to increase support for the LGBT young people left out in the cold.”

Selvaggi and Shea are longtime activists and philanthropists for a variety of issues. Selvaggi serves as Treasurer of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and is on the Board of Directors of Freedom to Marry. Shea is the National Director of Creative Services of Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization.

“We have been concerned about the most vulnerable members of our community, especially in light of the drastic cuts in funding that have historically helped keep our homeless youth safe," the couple said, in a statement.

"Through our contribution, we want to lead by example and challenge our peers and colleagues to do the same. During this holiday season, we all need to look deep into our hearts and wallets so that all members of our community, particularly our endangered and homeless LGBT youth, can be safe,” said Selvaggi and Shea.

For information on the Campaign for Youth Shelter, click here. Or to make a donation to the Ali Forney Center, click here.

Los Angeles-based immigration attorney Lavi Soloway, was notified Monday that U.S. Immigration Judge Terry Bain signed the order November 30, dismissing the case against Monica Alcota.

Cristina Ojeda, left, and Monica Alcota

Alcota had been scheduled to appear in U.S. Immigration Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.

According to the Associated Press, Soloway based the request to dismiss the case on Alcota's marriage to her U.S. citizen spouse, Cristina Ojeda, her deep ties to her community, the absence of any adverse factors and her activism against the Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law in 1996.

Soloway said he was pleased with the actions by Bain and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for pursuing deportations.

"After a courageous battle, Monica and Cristina have arrived at the end of a long journey that began when Monica was pulled off a Greyhound bus in July 2009 and held in an ICE detention facility for three months while we fought for her release," Soloway said.

"That nightmare ends today. Monica and Cristina can now turn to the business of building a future together without living in constant fear of deportation."

Alcota was taken into custody after a random inspection by a border agent of the bus as the couple finished moving some items from Buffalo to New York City after Ojeda finished school, Soloway said.

Dismissal of the case marked the first time a case involving a lesbian married couple had been dismissed since the federal government relaxed its pursuit of the cases, Soloway said. He added that gay couples in Newark, New Jersey, and San Francisco had previously obtained dismissals.

Associated Press, via ABC News

Since the law specified marriage as being between a man and a woman, U.S. immigration authorities routinely denied green cards for same sex couples, advocates for the couples have said, citing the dilemma that the government's position left for an estimated 26,000 bi-national same sex couples in the United States where one partner is a U.S. citizen.

The government's position softened earlier this year when Attorney General Eric Holder said the executive branch would no longer defend the Act as constitutional, Soloway said.

Soloway added that the decision to drop the case marks a vast improvement in the treatment of federal immigration cases of same-sex couples involving a legal alien and a U.S. citizen.

"[The police] shared some information with us, and we followed up," Superintendent Scott Martzloff said. "We made the determination to take disciplinary action."

Jamey Rodemeyer

He declined to say how many students were suspended. Though based on Amherst police findings, it's likely that several of Jamey's classmates were sanctioned.

Regarding the severity of punishments these students received, Martzloff said only that the students face "a minimum of suspensions." That implies at least short-term suspensions of up to five days, with the possibility of long-term suspensions subject to a hearing. Expulsion is not an option for students of this age.

Martzloff said that after following up on the police findings, the district issued the student sanctions Wednesday.

"We want to thank the Amherst Police Department for their thorough investigation," he said, "and our condolences continue to go out to the Rodemeyer family."

Although the Williamsville Central School District has received a lot of attention because Jamey was a North High freshman at the time of his death, police, school and legal officials have said the reasons behind Jamey's suicide appear far broader than just bullying by classmates.

Jamey had also blogged about experiencing a variety of personal problems in his life outside of school in the weeks leading up to his death.

Police Chief John C. Askey had previously stated that his department's investigation turned up five incidents of alleged bullying at Williamsville North involving Jamey. The freshman killed himself Sept. 18 after complaining in online videos and posts about being bullied over his sexual orientation.

Askey said none of the incidents at North High were brought to the school's attention or Jamey's parents' attention until after Jamey had died and police began investigating.

The district based its disciplinary actions on the Amherst Police Department's incident findings, previously reported by The Buffalo News. Among them:

• A witness said one female classmate who had known Jamey since middle school told Jamey something along the lines of, "Faggot, why don't you just kill yourself?" This student's family hired a lawyer shortly after she began being questioned by police.
• In a separate incident, the same student later told Jamey something like, "You're a faggot."
• Another identified student pushed Jamey as he passed him in the hallway and called him a fag.
• Yet another identified student made "an inappropriate comment" to Jamey regarding his sexual orientation, Askey said.

Jamey had previously reported in his blog that a group of North classmates had spit on a plate of brownies and given them to him in the cafeteria. Askey said investigators found no witnesses who actually saw any brownies being spit on.

The disciplinary actions taken last week are not the first the Williamsville school district has meted out in relation to Jamey's case.

In September, a female student was suspended for telling friends of Jamey's sister, Alyssa, at an outdoor homecoming dance that she was glad Jamey was dead. The same student was referenced in at least two of the bullying incidents involving Jamey that police investigated.

Police in Amhert, N.Y. on Tuesday announced there would be no charges filed against the bullies who allegedly drove 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer to commit suicide on Sept. 18.

"I'm not satisfied, to be honest with you," said Amherst Police Chief John Askey, admitting his disappointment after completeing hundreds of hours on interviews investigating events that may have led to Jamey's suicide.

Jamey Rodemeyer

"We can't make something out of something that isn't there," Askey said, according to the Buffalo News.

Police investigated a total of seven bullying incidents involving Jamey, two at Heim Middle School and five at Williamsville North High School, he said.

But no charges will be brought because all of the alleged perpetrators were juvenile classmates, either 14 or 15 years old, who could not be held criminally accountable for what would be considered violations had they been adults.

In addition, Askey said:

• The statute of limitations has expired regarding two incidents that occurred in sixth and seventh grade at Heim Middle School.
• In a few incidents, evidence was lacking that a reported offense was actually committed, or information was received second or third hand and the actual perpetrator could not be identified.
• In all five incidents that occurred at North High School, neither Jamey nor his friends reported the bullying incidents to school administrators or his parents. The incidents were reported to police after Jamey died. And of the incidents that were reported, none involved threats.
• Jamey is not alive to attest to any of the incidents involved, which most frequently involved subjecting the teen to gay slurs. Jamey had identified himself as bisexual and gay over the course of the last year prior to his death.

"In most cases, you need a victim and a complaint," Askey said.

More: The Buffalo News

Police said their investigation included a forensic analysis of Jamey's computer, and found no pattern of "an ongoing course of conduct" of online abuse or cyberbullying in the days most immediately leading up to his death.

According to Jamey’s parents and friends, the bullying had begun during middle school — he had told his parents, sister and closest friends that the hateful comments were mostly all directed at his sexual orientation.

Jamey often blogged about the bullying he was suffering at school, but tormentors also followed him online and left messages on his Formspring page calling him “gay and ugly,” and encouraging him to kill himself.

Jamey was found dead outside his home Sunday morning, Sept. 18 of an apparent suicide.

The decision to close Jamey's case was made after consulting with Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita and those involving the prosecution of Erie County Family Court cases, Askey said.

Jamey's parents were informed of the decision not to prosecute earlier today.

Margot Adler, NPR

According to one advocate, it's largely because gay youths are kicked out of their homes more often than straight youths, and even if they are not kicked out, many LGBT kids leave looking for the acceptance they don't find at home.

Carl Siciliano, the founder and executive director of the Ali Forney Center in New York, which he describes as the nation's largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth, said the modern gay rights movement "was articulated and thought out at a time when it was almost all adults coming out."

But as the years have gone on, he says, "it has become clear to me that we are living in a societal moment, where kids are coming out at younger and younger ages, and there are so many parents who can't be parents to their gay kids. They can't cope, they can't deal with it, their religion is in conflict with the reality of their kids' lives, and these kids are getting thrown away."

In New York City, nearly 4,000 young people are homeless every night — many of them gay, reported NPR.

"We have framed our fight for equality in adult terms, and almost all the victories we have won only really benefit the adults in our community," Siciliano said.

[...]

"It is not so much laws with the kids; it is economics. It's a fight for resources. That's what our community hasn't quite gotten yet; we have to fight for resources to protect our kids. How dare we say 'it gets better' to the kids if we are not willing to fight to make sure they have what they need."

Siciliano said there are only 250 beds for 3,800 homeless kids in New York City, and waiting lists are huge.

Louis Duffy

The jury convicted Duffy, 21, of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after about two and a half hours of deliberation on Thursday.

Duffy, of Horeseheads, N.Y., previously confessed to the murder, telling police that the shooting occurred after the two men had consensual sex.

In his testimony, Duffy said a molestation “flashback,” coupled with his first homosexual experience, caused him to shoot Lewis after the pair had sex. Duffy said he was abused by his adoptive grandfather when he was in the second and third grades.

Duffy said he went to stay with Lewis the morning of the killing because Lewis had offered him a construction job the following day at a lakehouse. He said he had no intention of having sex with Lewis, but when Lewis started kissing him, “I let it go on,” Duffy said.

Duffy testified that he’s still unsure of his sexuality – he’s still attracted to women but has homosexual “tendencies.” He said he began having thoughts of sex with men in 11th grade, but he never experimented before his encounter with Lewis.

The Corning Leader

Duffy claimed to be under extreme emotional distress, and that after Lewis, 53, told him they were going to have sex again, he grabbed a gun from his backpack and fired.

Duffy claimed he was high on cocaine at the time of the murder.

During the trial, prosecutors grilled Duffy about a letter he wrote from jail about a month before the trial, which said he would lie on the stand to avoid a murder conviction.

Duffy could face 25 years to life when he's sentenced on January 9.

Residents will have a chance to air their opinions on the local law proposed by Republican Legislators Edward A. Rath III and Raymond W. Walter during a public hearing Thursday in Old County Hall.

Jamey Rodemeyer

The proposal, introduced in response to the death of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer, would make instances of cyber-bullying an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in jail.

“We need to do everything we can to protect our vulnerable residents of Erie County, and that includes children,” Rath said. “For a long time, we’ve been waiting for New York State to do something on the cyber-bullying issue. We can’t wait any longer.”

Rath and Walter modeled the proposed law after similar legislation passed last year in Albany, Rensselaer and Suffolk counties.

The Erie County proposal would define cyber-bullying as “acts of abusive behavior over a period of time” sent electronically or mechanically that include “taunting; threatening; intimidating; insulting; tormenting; humiliating; disseminating embarrassing or sexually explicit photographs, either actual or modified, of a minor; disseminating the private, personal or sexual information, either factual or false, of a minor; or sending hate mail.”

The proposal would have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by Erie County Executive Chris Collins to become law.

Jamey, a Williamsville North High School freshman, committed suicide in September after complaining about being bullied for years.

Rath said he hopes placing sanctions on cyber-bullying outside of school would help deter the type of bullying that led to Jamey’s death.

The Niagara County Legislature also is considering making cyber-bullying a misdemeanor.

The Erie County Legislature will hold its public hearing at 9:30 a. m. Thursday.

Mark Grisanti

Grisanti (R-Buffalo), who in 2010 campaigned as an opponent of same-sex marriage, is one of four GOP state Senators who voted in favor of the Marriage Equality Act in June.

The vote drew both applause and vilification because it resulted in legalizing same-sex marriage in New York.

It may have also jeopardized Grisanti's chances at re-election as same-sex marriage opponents, in particular the National Organization For Marriage, (NOM) has vowed to unseat GOP Senators who cast affirmative votes for gay marriage. The NOM has launched a $2 million retaliation campaign against Grisanti and other pro-gay marriage Senators.

According to political analysts, should Grisanti seek probable re-election as a Republican, failure to secure the Conservative Party nomination could doom his chances. Michael Long, the New York State Conservative Party chairman, said he will never support the candidacy of any Republican who voted in favor of same-sex marriage.

The senator's new supporters intended to ensure he receives the Conservative nomination.

"There's an old phrase my dad used to use," said Kitty Lambert-Rudd, a same-sex marriage activist.

"If you can't beat them, join them. And once you're in, take them over and throw them out," she told WGRZ-TV.

Rudd spearheaded the drive to register voters as conservatives and succeeded in convincing 250 Erie County residents, along with at least 50 more voters in the surrounding counties represented by Sen. Grisanti to switch party affiliations and to vote for him.

According to Erie County Republican Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr, "This is one of the most concentrated efforts we've seen in a long time."

The Conservative Party in Erie County has approximately 11,900 registered voters, he added.

Image: FailedMessiah.com

According to the watchdog group Failed Messiah, the Jewish Political Action Committee is distributing signs that condemn homosexuality as "a sin worse than murder" and that “G-d sent AIDS to punish male gays.”

The Jewish Political Action Committee is now organizing an awareness program to stop Gay molesters from attacking children and teens. Since the gay marriage bill in New York was introduced,there has been a surge of gay attacks against youngsters in New York. Children and teens are now at the mercy of the militant gay liberals who are brainwashing society to their evil.

[...]

We are offering FREE signs to Mikvehs and shuls that declare Judaism considers male homosexuality a worse sin than murder AS WELL AS G-d sent AIDS to punish male gays. Many people are unaware of the danger of this sin as the secular media is brainwashing society as well as children in kindergartens are being thought homosexuality as a normal lifestyle.

In New York, the libraries are being loaded up with gay propaganda to destroy the young innocent mind.No Jewish parent should allow their kids to the library anymore. We don't need tax payers money going to dens of evil. Write your local politician.

JPAC press release.

In an email exchange with JPAC, FailedMessiah.com reports that "JPAC is completely unaware of the medical science of this issue. It does not know that the vast majority of man-on-boy-pedophiles are heterosexuals, and that being gay does not predispose a person to pedophilia."

Jamey Rosemeyer

He may have been referring to an incident that Jamey himself recounted in a separate YouTube video six months ago when he was an eighth-grader.

Describing himself as "14 and gay," Jamey said his class participated in an activity in which students offered their opinions in response to various questions.

In one instance, the question was, "Should gay marriage be legal in all 50 states?"

"A kid was making fun of me because I was gay," Jamey said. "I didn't really care. He called me disgusting because being gay is disgusting."

The student teacher leading the class took action, calling the guidance office and the vice principal, he said. That student wound up with a detention. Jamey said he subsequently went on to defend gay marriage in his class but later left the room in tears.

"I kind of got upset because of the lives that have been lost because of gay bullying, and I ran out of the room crying," he said.

He ended his two-minute video by giving thanks to his pop star idol, Lady Gaga, and referring to her anthem song, "Born This Way."

"Lady Gaga, I want to make a difference," he said. "You are the reason why I am alive. You're the reason why I was born. I was born this way."

It's clear that Jamey lived a lot of his life online, Askey said.

For that reason, Amherst police have turned over Jamey's computer and cellphone to the Erie County Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory to see if there's a pattern of bullying that ultimately may warrant charges of aggravated harassment and hate crimes in the coming weeks.

The NOM, which spent about $50,000 on mailings and calls against Weprin's bid for Congress in New York's 9th Congressional district, said Friday it's spending $40,000 on billboards targeting four state senators with the words "You're Next."

The NOM has been taking credit for Weprin's defeat, saying the loss was due to voter dissatisfaction over his suppport for same-sex marriage:

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today announced that it has launched a billboard campaign in the districts of state Senators Mark Grisanti, Stephen Saland, James Alesi and Shirley Huntley to hold them accountable for their vote last June to redefine marriage in New York.

The new billboards say of the individual state Senator, “You’re Next” in reference to the defeat of David Weprin in the 9th Congressional District. NOM funded a major independent expenditure campaign in the Weprin race, making his vote to redefine marriage a decisive issue in his defeat in a district Democrats have held since the early 1920s.

“Just like David Weprin discovered earlier this month when he faced voters after redefining marriage, Mark Grisanti, Stephen Saland, James Alesi, Roy McDonald and Shirley Huntley will soon discover that the people of New York will not sit idly by while the institution of marriage is redefined without voters having any say in the matter,” said Brian Brown, president of NOM.

However, a poll conducted by the Siena Research Institute just days before the election indicated that the most important factors concerning voters was the candidate’s positions on Israel, the economy, and federal entitlement programs. Only 4 percent of respondents listed other issues.

Equality Matters pointed out that "this relative indifference towards same-sex marriage makes sense considering that, prior to this race, NY-9 consistently re-elected Anthony Weiner, a staunch and vocal proponent of marriage equality."

The billboards are NOM’s latest attempt to turn back the clock and force a public vote in hopes of amending the New York state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Brown said the campaign is designed to “hold accountable the legislators who betrayed marriage and settle for nothing less than a vote of the people on marriage.”

But considering NOM's strategy targets the New York state Senate only -- while the State Assembly has been controlled by Democrats for more than 35 years and has voted in favor of gay marriage four times -- it seems NOM's real intent is to intimidate lawmakers in other states to prevent from a recurrence of what happened in New York state when the legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage.

Jamey Rodemeyer

On Sept. 18, Jamey committed suicide after being bullied with anti-gay slurs for the past two years, both at school and online.

According to Jamey's parents, Tim and Tracy Rodemeyer, they allowed their daughter Alyssa to attend a homecoming event following her brother’s wake as a means to reconnect with friends, but when song by Lady Gaga was played, further taunts erupted.

“She was having a great time, and all of a sudden a Lady Gaga song came on, and they all started chanting for Jamey, all of his friends,” said Tracy Rodemeyer. “Then the bullies that put him into this situation started chanting, ‘You’re better off dead!’ and ‘We’re glad you’re dead!’ and things like that.”

Superintendent Scott Martzloff said the district identified a single student believed responsible for the Sept. 22 incident at the homecoming event, and that he has imposed a long-term suspension which was "to the fullest extent allowed by state education law."

Martzloff announced the suspension in this video posted on the school district website:

In the video, Martzloff also discusses the school district's initial response to Jamey's suicide, and its plans to address the issue of bullying in the future.

The school district and the Amherst, N.Y. Police Department are also investigating the bullying that Jamey endured before he killed himself.

The Amherst Police Department Special Victims Unit has opened a criminal investigation to determine whether to charge some students with harassment, cyber-harassment or hate crimes. Police said three students in particular might have been involved, although there is no indication yet if the suspended student is among their persons of interest.

Tim and Tracy Rodemeyer

Appearing on the "Today Show," Tim and Tracy Rodemeyer told NBC's Ann Curry that their daughter had attended a homecoming dance after her brother's wake as a means to reconnect with friends, but when song by Lady Gaga was played, further taunts erupted.

“She was having a great time, and all of a sudden a Lady Gaga song came on, and they all started chanting for Jamey, all of his friends," said Tracy Rodemeyer. “Then the bullies that put him into this situation started chanting, ‘You’re better off dead!’ and ‘We’re glad you’re dead!’ and things like that."

Curry asked Jamey's father, Tim, if he thought that the message of intolerance preached by certain politicians and religious leaders has contributed to the toxic climate that can result in harassment of gay teens.

“People have different views on things," replied Tim Rodemeyer. “If you believe in homosexuality is right or wrong, that’s your right as an American, but it’s no reason to bully someone and hate them."

“It’s all the same story, and it’s just got to stop," Tracy Rodemeyer interjected.

Watch (after the brief commercial):

Jamey’s parents now hope to spread their message across the world, and are looking for help in getting the word out.

“(Jamey) will forever be in our hearts,’’ Tracy said. “We can’t do this on our own, but we are going to carry on Jamey's mission. Everyone across America, across the world, whatever anybody can to do to stand up for everybody else."

Jamey was laid to rest on Saturday.

More than 500 mourners, many of who were strangers to his family, turned out in Williamsville, N.Y. to say goodbye to Jamey, a 14-year-old gay teen who committed suicide earlier this week after enduring years of bullying at school and online.

Jamey’s parents and friends said that the bullying had begun during middle school -- he had told his parents, sister and closest friends that the hateful comments were mostly all directed at his sexual orientation.

Jamey often blogged about the bullying he was suffering at school, but tormentors also followed him online and left messages on his Formspring page calling him “gay and ugly,” and encouraging him to kill himself.

“Jamey’s suicide is a heartbreaking reminder of the vulnerability of gay teens ... while some may say that Jamey took his life, unrelenting homophobia murdered him,” said Malcolm Lazin, founder and Executive Director of Equality Forum, in a statement.

In May, inspired by singer Lady Gaga and her message of tolerance, Jamey posted this "It Gets Better" video on YouTube, in which he said, "Hold your head up and you'll go far. Because that's all you have to do, just love yourself and you're set."

On Saturday night, Sept. 17, Jamey posted a lyric from Gaga’s song “The Queen” on his Facebook page: “Don’t forget me when I come crying to heaven’s door.”

Around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Jamey posted two final messages on his Tumblr blog. One said he wanted to see his great-grandmother, who had recently died, and one that offered thanks to Lady Gaga. His body was discovered hours later.

Earlier this week, his mother Tracy Rodemeyer told CBS News she would bury Jamey in a Lady Gaga t-shirt that reads "Born This Way."

Outside the church during Saturday's funeral, a caravan of trucks and buses loaded with students passed by, displaying signs that conveyed messages advocating for tolerance, and support for Jamey's family.

The Amherst Police Department's Special Victims Unit has said it will determine whether to charge some students with harassment, cyber-harassment or hate crimes. Police said three students in particular might have been involved.

"The special victims unit is looking into the circumstances prior to his death," Captain Michael Camilleri said. "We are not sure if there is anything criminal or not."

According to Camilleri, no anti-bullying laws are on the books in New York State, so investigators would have to determine whether aggravated harassment charges fit this case.

"Whether suspects would be tried in juvenile court would depend on whether the alleged bully was 16 or older," he said.

Rodemeyer had begun his freshman year at Williamsville North High School -- Both Amherst and Williamsville are just outside Buffalo. But Jamey's parents and friends say that the bullying had begun during middle school. He had told his parents and sister and his closest friends that he had endured hateful comments in school and online, mostly all directed at his sexual orientation.

Jamey was found dead outside his home Sunday morning, but Camilleri told reporters that since the investigation was still active, police would not release any details on how he killed himself.

Jamey's parents, school classmates and friends have expressed outrage over the bullying and tormenting that he experienced online on social media networking sites. The young teen was a also massive fan of pop singer Lady Gaga, who also expressed her anger on Twitter Wednesday night:

"Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime," she tweeted.

"I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey," the singer also posted to twitter.

Amherst Police Chief John C. Askey, in a press briefing Thursday told reporters that investigators had spoken with Williamsville Schools Superintendent Scott G. Martzloff, who has pledged the school district's full cooperation.

"We've heard that there were some specific students, an identifiable group of students, that had specifically targeted Jamey, or had been picking on him for a period of time," said Askey.

Rodemeyer's suicide also marks a somber beginning to LGBT History Month in October this year.

"Jamey’s suicide is a heartbreaking reminder of the vulnerability of gay teens. Every day in the United States a gay teen’s life ends in suicide. They are bullied and marginalized. While some may say that Jamey took his life, unrelenting homophobia murdered him,” stated Malcolm Lazin, founder and Executive Director of Equality Forum in a press release late Thursday.