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LGBT News 9-year-old boy commits suicide after he's bullied for coming out

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by choni, Aug 30, 2018.

  1. choni

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    Usually people just post the link but I'm going to rant, so enjoy. This news has been running rampant throughout Twitter (which I'm on pretty much all the time oops). There are a bunch of people sending their condolences and supporting this kid and his family, but there's still a lot of blatant homophobia in the replies. I'm honestly surprised; it's kind of a wake up call for me. I thought society was more progressive than it is. Maybe people aren't outright saying they denounce gays, but they still have homophobic ideals. People are saying things like, "how did he know he was gay at 9?" They're trying to flip the situation and make it seem like homosexuality (or at least early exposure to it) is the problem, not the fact that this kid was literally bullied to death for just being who he is. They're blaming the media for promoting pride and LGBT representation, as if somehow that made the boy think he was gay when he wasn't. Well guess what? I grew up surrounded by straight media and I'm still very much gay. Exposure didn't turn him gay; it just made him realize he is. I'm glad the awareness of the LGBT community is growing and that people are realizing who they are earlier. When I was 9 I didn't even know what gay meant. I'm upset I didn't realize who I was sooner. I wish I was educated about other sexualities when I was younger. And people don't even need to sexualize this. It's as simple as "who do you like?" It's really not a complicated topic- it won't confuse the children. What's more confusing is why people don't accept people loving others. Even if he realized later on in life that he wasn't actually gay, it shouldn't have mattered. People should not be bullied for their sexuality. Instead of asking how he knew he was gay at 9, people should be asking how the kids thought to bully him for being gay. People literally told him to kill himself. This is a bullying and homophobia problem- nothing more, nothing less.

    If you want to see the homophobia I'm talking about, here you go:
    https://twitter.com/DomIzDope/status/1034433390844542976

    If you don't want that negativity in your life and just want an article:
    https://kdvr.com/2018/08/26/mom-say...5431&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
     
    #1 choni, Aug 30, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2018
  2. dano218

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    Im conflicted about this. Sure straight kids express their sexuality all the time at younger ages why cannot a kid who is gay express his sexuality. But at the same time when kids are younger they are not as strong to fight against bullying and I wonder as unfair as it is the kid took too much of emotional risk to come out. Not of all society is yet progressive and accepting and I am sure in some areas its possible for a kid to come out this young but its a hard decision when weighting the positives and negatives. I remember as a kid other kids are mean and they will find any little thing to taunt someone else and having been there myself it is probably would of been better if the kid would waited till he was older to express himself. Its sad and unfair in so many ways but kids are mean as it is at that age without bringing sexuality into it.
     
  3. mnguy

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    That is so incredibly sad! I don't understand how he could go so quickly to suicide rather than talk to his mom or teacher which makes me wonder if something had been going on longer or there's more to his tragic death. Did no authority at school hear what other kids were saying or doing to him? It was only four days at school so maybe not enough time to think it's going to be a problem? I don't think I knew enough at that age to even consider suicide. I guess kids know more at a younger age than in the past which can be good and bad. Where do kids learn to pick on each other and what things to target in the first place? Is it all from parents and other adults or something ingrained? I dunno, these tragedies are so sad and I feel terrible for his family.
     
  4. fadedstar

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    I think from the 2000s to the early 2010s it became less "socially acceptable" to be openly homophobic or make fun of LGBT people which lulled everyone into a false sense of security. Now that politics has changed slightly and things are looking less certain, the assholes are all crawling out of the woodwork again, the homophobia never went away, people were just hiding it. It's a crappy world full of crap people.
     
  5. Jude B

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    Unfortunately, a lot of the world is still homophobic. I know that from first-hand experience sadly. :frowning2:

    It’s so sad to hear news like this because we know that it could have been prevented, if only society wasn’t structured to bully those who are different and to try to fit people into molds.