Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Gay El Paso Teenager Tormented To Death By School Bullies

Brandon Elizares, 16, committed suicide after two years of homophobic bullying.

El Paso, Texas – A 16-year-old gay boy took his life in response to two years of relentless bullying at school in El Paso.  Saturday, his mother left Brandon Elizares at home for a short while to run errands, only to find him dead upon their return, according to KFOX14 TV.  Elizares, who could not bear to live in the closet any longer, had come out to family and friends. The response from his own family was mixed. Most family members supported Brandon,  but some made it clear to him that they did not approved of his “lifestyle.”  At Andress High School, the 2,000 student senior high school he attended on the northeast side of El Paso, however, the response to his sexual orientation was brutal, unrelenting bullying.  His mother, Zachalyn Elizares, says that the torment her son received from schoolmates pushed him to suicide. “He got bullied simply for being gay,” Elizares said to KFOX. “He’s been threatened to be stabbed. He’s been threatened to be set on fire.”

Brandon’s mother said that officials at Andress High School had worked aggressively to stem the bullying, but in the case of her son, it was not enough. “They’ve reprimanded several kids and they did everything that they could,” she said. Brandon’s friends told Elizares that he had been insulted for being gay just before the weekend, and that at least one of his tormentors had threatened to fight him when they saw each other on the following Monday, according to the Dallas Voice. Elizares believes the threat of physical violence was what drove her son to take his own life. “My son had every right to live his live the way that he wanted to, without having to fear that people would call him names or threaten to beat him up,” she said.

Although officials of the El Paso Independent School District could not comment on this specific case, they affirmed to KFOX14 that they have a strong anti-bullying program in place and working in their schools, including Andress High. Brandon Elizares death from homophobic bullying underlines the problems schools face when a culture of intimidation has taken hold in a locale. Debra Carden, EPISD’s bullying committee leader, noted to KFOX14, “What a bully is looking for is to try and scare you into not reporting it, so that nothing is done.” She issued an appeal to students, parents, and friends to report any actual or suspected incidents of school bullying immediately.

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Bullycide, Bullying in schools, gay teens, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Latino and Latina Americans, LGBTQ, LGBTQ suicide, suicide, Texas | , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

   

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