[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Kobi

I'm thinking there is a big piece missing here without jumping to any conclusions. IF the article is correct, I see an intelligent young man who knew what his roommate was doing and was proactively taking steps to deal with the issue. He was also documenting it in a very public way as he went along. So what happened from then, to the GW bridge.

I agree. There is so much to consider.

Something that keeps coming up for me about all of the youth sucides relating to queerdom, is just thinking about the very big difference public humiliation as it is experienced by young people as oppossed to older people.

There have many things in my life that when a teen or young adult that I would have been mortified about if made public. As an adult with more life's experience and just a better sense of self, these kinds of things took on different perspectives and I couldn't care less about public opinion. My ego-strength developed along the way like it does with we humans. These kids are just not there yet which is totally "normal." Yet, something else is going on at the moment they feel killing themselves is the answer.

My heart is just deeply disturbed by all of this and the lack of getting at all of what these kids experienced to push them over the edge. It isn't a single event, they have been suffering for awhile. What other things have failed them? And what can we all do to stop the harrassment and hatred?

I keep thinking about my early years in secondary education and a counselor I knew. She had been and English teacher before and had students write in journals. This would have been in the late 60's and she was a new teacher in her mid-20's. One male student wrote about his sexuality as being gay in his journal along with info about his torment. Later, he hung himself. This teacher turned counselor lived with this- she didn't attempt to talk to this kid about his journal entries at all. She had her own homophobia keeping her from this. Later, she herself, took her own life years after this all happened. I had left the district but remembered talking to her about depression and getting some help. She did do this, but...... Oh, and menopause was blammed for her suicide...... ARGH!!!