Teen Suicide

LA GRANDE, Ore. — The father of a gay Oregon teenager who hanged himself is ready to begin walking across the United States to spread his message against bullying. [ Read more → ]

CHICAGO — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time. [ Read more → ]

LA GRANDE, Ore. -- Jadin Bell, a 15-year-old gay teen who hanged himself two weeks ago after complaining of bullying, died Sunday afternoon at Doernbecher Children's Hospital on Portland. [ Read more → ]

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Rutgers University has announced it has named a new student named for Tyler Clementi, a gay student who jumped to his death in 2010 after his roommate used a webcam to record Clementi in an intimate encounter with another man. [ Read more → ]

The officials are calling the impending death of young Jadin a “suicide”. It was not a suicide; it was the destruction of something innocent, something beautiful, something of supreme contribution exposed to an environment that valued it not at all. The facts support their word perhaps. No argument. A 15 year old boy took a rope to a playground and without assistance from any visible being, hung himself. [ Read more → ]

LA GRANDE, Ore. -- A 15-year-old teen has been taken off life support and is in critical condition after hanging himself over what family members describe as anti-gay bullying. Jadin Bell of La Grande, Ore., went to the playground of Central Elementary School on Jan.... [ Read more → ]

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah -- The parents of 14-year-old David Phan, an openly gay student who shot and killed himself in front of horrified classmates at on November 29, are speaking out and accusing school officials of "mishandling" the situation that led to their son's death. [ Read more → ]

FENTON, Mich. -- The parents of a Michigan high school student who took his own life last week believe anti-gay bullying is to blame. [ Read more → ]

ROME, Italy -- A 15-year-old openly gay teen has committed suicide after allegedly suffering repeated anti-gay bullying at school and online, according to Rome's chief deputy prosecutor, Pierfilippo Laviani. [ Read more → ]

My parents are grateful I didn’t kill myself while in school. The truth is that they didn’t know how close I came. Six out of ten teenagers, in 2011, witness bullying at least once a day in school. Those who are bullied are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims. When you add those numbers together, there are a lot of children in our school systems who are isolated and alone and hurting... [ Read more → ]

Today -- over 2 years after that awful summer day when I first learned about the bullying and harassment that Justin faced in school on a continuous basis, and confronting the Anoka-Hennepin school board for my first time at a public meeting about what my son and other gay students like him have endured in the schools -- my family is still not able to heal the way we should have been able to... [ Read more → ]

COON RAPIDS, Minn. -- The parent of a gay teen who committed suicide as a result of bullying is speaking out over the decision by the Anoka-Hennepin School District to appoint a leading gay rights opponent to its newly created anti-bullying task force. [ Read more → ]

NEW YORK -- After a spate of teen suicides in the Fall of 2010 as a result of anti-gay bullying, one Canadian high school student decided that she was going to make a difference. [ Read more → ]

I have hated you almost every day since we first met. But for different reasons altogether than you might expect. I still remember the terror I felt, every time I approached the soccer field. It was junior high, a difficult time for almost everyone, but for me, especially so. You see, I’d always known I was gay... [ Read more → ]

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. -- The Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Network said it would fast-track its efforts to open an LGBT community center in Suffolk County after learning that an East Hampton, N.Y. teen who was reportedly the victim of anti-gay bullying took his own life last week. [ Read more → ]

EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso, Texas school district has strengthened its anti-discrimination policies to prevent bullying of LGBT students and employees after an El Paso teen committed suicide last month after enduring two years of anti-gay bullying. [ Read more → ]

EL PASO, Texas — Another bullied gay youth lost to suicide. El Paso teen Brandon Elizares, 16, took his own life on June 2, according to family and friends. [ Read more → ]

RICHFIELD, Minn. -- Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, has released its contribution to the "It Gets Better" campaign, an emotional video featuring 18 Best Buy employees from around the U.S. who share their personal journeys on how life has gotten better for them. [ Read more → ]

Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers University student convicted earlier this year of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate who later committed suicide, will turn himself in Thursday to begin serving a 30-day prison term. [ Read more → ]

The lack of public figures or role models for teenagers, and the hesitancy of schools to include same-sex sexualities in sex-ed curricula, despite these being a normal part of human sexuality, give these negative attitudes more influence by not contrasting them with the more positive reality. Given the body of mental health research that has consistently connected stigma and suicidality, and despite the progress we’ve made, the present state of society leaves me concerned... [ Read more → ]