A Brooklyn Teen was left Blind in One Eye after an Anti-Gay Attack

At Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Bergen Beach, 14-year-old Kardin Ulysse was beaten by bullies so bad that he is blind in one eye.

Kardin has had two surgeries on his right eye since the beating in the school's cafeteria. Now, his parents are suing the city.

NY Daily News has more on the story:

Kardin, an eighth-grader, was set upon by a pair of seventh-graders who were calling him a “f-----g f----t,” a “p----,” a “transvestite” and “gay,” according to a Department of Education occurrence report.

While one schoolmate pinned the victim’s arms, the other rained punches on Kardin’s face, head and neck.

Kardin broke away and the fight continued in the cafeteria until school safety officers and school aides finally intervened.

The boy’s family has retained lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, who will file a notice Tuesday to sue the city for $16 million for failing to properly supervise the students.

Rubenstein also called for the authorities to investigate whether the attack is a hate crime and upgrade the criminal charges to felonies. Because they’re minors, the two alleged bullies were charged with misdemeanors in Family Court.


The city’s Corporation Counsel did not immediately return a call for comment.

Those bullies need some serious discipline and this school needs to be investigated. A school should not be a war zone.

Brandon Elizares, 16, took his life

16-year-old Brandon Elizares took his life because of bullying. The Andres High School student committed suicide on Saturday, he was found by his mother.

Here's more info from KFOX14

KFOX14 News spoke Elizares's friends and mother, Zachalyn Elizares, at her Northeast home on Friday, and she said that her son was bullied at school for two years because he did not want to hide the fact that he was gay.

"He got bullied simply for being gay," Elizares said. "He's been threatened to be stabbed. He's been threatened to be set on fire."

Elizares said the El Paso Independent school district did everything it could to help solve the problem.

"They've reprimanded several kids and they did everything that they could," Elizares said.
I really want the kids to hang in there. Death is not an option, survival and perseverance are key.

Zachery Grey attempted Suicide, Now Brain-damaged and Paralyzed

Due to anti-gay bullying, Zachery tried to kill himself a year ago. Saved by his mother, Zachery survived, but now he's brain-damaged and paralyzed. Please watch the clip

In Detroit: A 7-year-old Hangs himself, Bullying could be Reason - WATCH

Detroit Boy, 7, Dies in Apparent Suicide: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Here's more from Detroit's Free Press

The 7-year-old, whom the Free Press is not naming, had been depressed about being bullied by other kids at school and in his neighborhood, and about his parents' recent separation, the boy's mother told police, according to the report.

"It's just a tragedy on so many levels," Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said Thursday, calling the situation "unfathomable."

He said the department is investigating the child's death, but as of Thursday afternoon, it appeared the situation is "exactly as presented" -- a suicide.

The autopsy results were pending Thursday evening, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

Godbee said he was told that the child had expressed a desire to harm himself. The mother also told police her son was being counseled by the family's pastor to help him cope.

I really don't have words for this... my heart goes out to the family.

 

Jay “Corey” Jones took his life

We lost another teen to suicide. Jay “Corey” Jones took his life because he was bullied in school.

Jones, a member of Century's gay-straight alliance, had an image on his Facebook page that said, "Gay & Proud." He was open about his sexuality and occasionally wore tight, colorful tank tops and short-shorts to school, Strader said.

"He just got really depressed about it because the guys weren't accepting him," Strader said.

Jones jumped from a pedestrian bridge near Century High School on Sunday, according to police.

In response to an inquiry from the Post-Bulletin, schools Superintendent Michael Muñoz issued a statement acknowledging there are issues related to bullying in the district. He did not directly address Jones' situation.

The district is in the planning stages of providing training and support for students, staff and families, Muñoz said, and will continue anti-bullying collaborations with Gov. Mark Dayton’s recently formed anti-bullying task force, Rochester police and others in the community.

This has to stop.

Darnell “Dynasty” Young has been expelled

Yesterday, Darnell was expelled from school. His family found out late last night that he was expelled until January 2013.

He will miss months of school and I'm not sure if he has alternative school as an option.

Indystar.com reports:

"I couldn’t believe that they did it," Grimes said. "They really kicked him out."
Grimes and Young can appeal to the Indianapolis Public Schools school board and the courts if necessary, but Grimes said they're still weighing their options. Young said he plans to get his GED and go to college.

Well, if he's expelled, what about the 6 kids who bullied him? What's their punishment?

In Indianapolis: Gay Student faces Expulsion for protecting himself from Bullies - WATCH

Darnell "Dynasty" Young has been teased and bullied at his school. One night the bullies chased Darnell, throwing rocks and bottles at him. When his mother got involved, the school blame Darnell for being too gay or too noticeable. So she gave her son a stun gun to protect himself. Now, he could be expelled from school. Watch, Darnell explain his situation.



If our kids have to go to extremes to feel safe at school, then the schools are failing them. source

Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Faison believes Poor Values, not Bullying, leads Teens to Suicide

If I could, I would mind wipe most folks in Tennessee.  Dummy on a stick, State Rep. Jeremy Faison claimed that poor parenting and values causes teens to commit suicide. He also think that bullying has nothing to do with it.

He said:

“We can’t continue to legislate everything. We’ve had some horrible things happen in America and in our state, and there’s children that have actually committed suicide, but I will submit to you today that they did not commit suicide because of somebody bullying them. They committed suicide because they were not instilled the proper principles of where their self-esteem came from at home.”

His statement was quickly called out and many took to Twitter and other outlets to deal with Jeremy's silly ass.

After the heat hit him, Jeremy apologized:

"After reviewing my comments on the House Floor today, I regret what was a poor choice of words. My true intent was to protect children from becoming criminals. Suicide has touched my family, and I would never want a parent or family member to feel they were responsible for such an unimaginable tragedy." 

Whatever, you're still an asshole.

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President Obama Supports the Safe Schools Improvement Act and Student Non-Discrimination Act

Today, the president endorsed two bills that will counter attacks towards LGBT students in schools.

Washington Blade reports

President Obama has thrown the full weigh of administration behind a pair of bills that would help protect LGBT students against bullying: the Student Non-Discrimination and the Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, confirmed for the Washington Blade on Friday that Obama supports both pieces legislation — bringing him into alignment with a position that many LGBT organizations had sought for some time.

“The president and his administration have taken many steps to address the issue of bullying,” Inouye said. “He is proud to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act, introduced by Senator Franken and Congressman Polis, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced by Senator Casey and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. These bills will help ensure that all students are safe and healthy and can learn in environments free from discrimination, bullying and harassment.”

Both pieces of legislation address bullying in different ways. SNDA would prohibit and harassment in public elementary and secondary schools based on a student’s actual or perceived LGBT status. SSIA would require schools to adopt anti-bullying codes of conduct and submit to states data to the Department of Education on bullying.

Wow, this good to hear. Congrats to Al Franken for introducing SNDA

Kenneth James Weishuhn was Bullied to Death

When Kenneth came out he was bullied everyday. Then, he decided to end it all, he was only 14.

However friends and family want everyone to know what a wonderful person he was. There's a Facebook page and YouTube video in his honor.

Rest in Peace, Kenneth

'Bully' Director explains why We should see his Film - WATCH

Get More: Big Morning Buzz Live

In Ohio: A Gay Teen is in a Coma after a Suicide Attempt

15-year-old Austin Rodriguez attempted suicide last week, by taking over 120 pills of his own medication. His family him and rushed him to the hospital.

He's still there in coma.

33WYTV News reports:

 His mother said the reason he tried to commit suicide is because he was bullied.

"Absolutely nothing was going through my head, and everything at the same time," said Bonnie Rodriguez.

That's how she described last Friday when her son, Austin, 15, told her he had taken more than 120 pills of his own medication and then collapsed on their kitchen floor.

"The night before this happened he said that we didn't know what was going on in his personal life, and we let him know that we were more than willing to listen to anything that he had to say," Rodriguez said.

She said Austin is openly homosexual, a good student and a great son with whom she has an honest relationship. But she didn't know how badly kids were bullying him.

"Until friends came out of the woodwork saying 'we knew Austin was going through this, we thought he was handling it a lot better, we didn't know what to do'," Rodriguez said.

Wellsville Schools Superintendent Richard Bereschik said the case involving Austin Rodriguez is currently undergoing a complete administrative review, and he can't discuss specific details. He said once the review is complete, school officials will follow the bullying policy in place.

Hang in there, Austin. Please, hang in there.

Rafael Morelos took his life because of Bullying

Two weeks ago, 14-year-old Rafael Morelos hanged himself because he was bullied in school. Rafael was gay. Friends knew he was being bullied and did what they could to help, but it wasn't enough.

Rafael's mother had no idea this was happening, she thought he was going through normal teenage problems. Rafael's school, Cashmere Middle School, didn't know that it was this bad either. Rafael reported an incident a year ago and according to the principal at they handled those particular incident quickly.

But now, there is no ongoing investigation.

I really hope the school look closely at this incident. Rafael's gone and if people were truly paying attention, he would still be here.

Rest in Peace, Rafael.



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In Tennessee: A Gay teen took his life because of Bullying

Another teen took his life because of bullying. Phillip Parker killed himself because no one tried to stop students from picking on him. He was only 14-years old.

WBIR reports:

More than 100 people gathered in Gordonsville on Saturday night, grieving the loss of Phillip.
"He was fun, he was energetic, he was happy," said Gena Parker, Phillip's mother.

To his many friends, Phillip was known as the boy who told everyone they're beautiful.

"He kept telling me he had a rock on his chest," said Ruby Harris, Phillip's grandmother. "He just wanted to take the rock off where he could breathe."

Phillip's family said they reported their concerns over their son's bullying to Gordonsville High School on multiple occasions, but the bullying by a group of students just got worse.

"I believe my whole family up in heaven's taking good care of him," said friend Megan Redinger. 

This happened in Tennessee, the state that believes students should not say Gay. It is also the place that may allow students to bully others in the name of the Lord. The officials in Tennessee need to see how this foolish and hateful measure hurts the kids.

Hopefully, Phillip's death will make them think about the truly protecting the youth.

Key Findings from GLSEN's Study of Bias, Bullying and Homophobia in Grades K-6

GLSEN has a new study called "Playground and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States" which looked at bullying and homophobia in elementary schools. The study used 1,065 elementary school students in the third to sixth grades and 1,099 elementary school teachers of kindergarten through the sixth grade.

Here are some sad and interesting key findings:

• About 75 percent of all elementary school students report that students at their school are called names, made fun of or bullied with at least some regularity. 
• Fifty-one percent of students say that fellow students at their school make comments such as "retard" or "spaz" sometimes, often or all the time, while about half of students (45 percent) report that they hear comments like "that's so gay" or "you're so gay" from other kids sometimes, often or all the time. 
• One quarter of students (26 percent) and teachers (26 percent) report hearing other students make comments like "fag" or "lesbo" at least sometimes. Meanwhile, one in four students (26 percent) and 1 in 5 teachers (21 percent) hear students say bad or mean things about people because of their race or ethnic background at least sometimes.
• Slightly more than half (59 percent) of elementary school students say they feel very safe at school.
• Four in ten students (39 percent) say they hear other kids at their school say there are things that boys should not do or should not wear because they are boys at least sometimes. One third of students (33 percent) say they hear other kids at their school say there are things that girls should not do or should not wear because they are girls at least sometimes.
• Students who are bullied at least sometimes are three times as likely as others to say they often feel stressed (15 percent vs. 4 percent).
• Interestingly, 37 percent attributed the bullying to the fact that they weren't good at sports, compared with 26 percent who said their aptitude with schoolwork was the reason.

To read more, please go here

In Tennessee: Christian Right Backs 'License to Bully' Bill - WATCH

Lord, my homestate needs help!

Question of the Day

People are saying this fake cover is a form of bullying. Do you think that's true? Please share your opinions.

In West Virginia: School Board take action to Protect LGBT Students

The West Virginia Board of Education passed a new bullying policy to protect LGBT students.

Metro Weekly has the story:

As Fairness West Virginia announced on Facebook, "Policy 4373 passes! LGBT students expressly protected from bullying under WV state board[.] The decision was unanimous." The group says the move constitutes the first time that sexual orientation and gender identity were included in the state's anti-bullying policies.


Fairness West Virginia executive director Bradley Milam told Metro Weekly, "We put our whole weight behind this policy, we supported it through and through. We met with the Department of Education ... and had recommended enumation very similar to the kind that's in Policy 4373 that was approved today."

In the new policy's definitions of "Harassment/Bullying/Intimidation," which the policy prohibits, it specifies, "Acts of harassment, intimidation, or bullying that are reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics, shall be reported using the following list: race; color; religion; ancestry; national origin; gender; socioeconomic status; academic status; gender identity or expression; physical appearance; sexual orientation; mental/physical/developmental/ sensory disability; or other characteristic."

This is very good and a little surprising coming from the WV.

Jacob Rogers' Funeral is Covered

Within 2 hours, LGBT blogs raised over $5000 to pay for the gay suicide victim Jacob Rogers' funeral. That's truly amazing.

Jacob Rogers took his Life due years of Bullying

In Tennessee, another teen took his life because of bullying


There is word that the family may not be able to pay for the funeral. If you would like to help. Please visit Towleroad to donate.