Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Gay University Freshman Commits Suicide After Privacy Invasion with Hidden Camera

Piscataway, New Jersey – An 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge September 22 after his roommate live-streamed his sex session with another male using a hidden camera.  The New York Daily News reports that Tyler Clementi, a renowned young violinist who had just enrolled at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, left his car on the New Jersey shore, walked to a spot on the George Washington Bridge near the New York side, and plunged to his death in the Hudson River.  His body has not been recovered.  Authorities say that he left a suicide note.  His roommate, Dharun Ravi, 18, posted that Clementi had “asked for the room” at midnight, so Ravi enabled a hidden web cam, went to the room of his high school friend, Molly Wei, and switched on her computer to live-stream Clementi’s tryst.  Wei is also 18 years old.  “I went into Molly’s room and turned on my webcam,” Ravi posted.  “I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”  The Twitter post went out on the internet on September 19, three days before Clementi’s suicide.  Ravi and Wei, both from Asian American extraction and Rutgers freshmen on the Piscataway campus, are charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy under a New Jersey law.  Illegally collecting or viewing images showing sexual contact involving another individual without that individual’s consent in the Garden State is a fourth-degree crime. Transmitting or distributing such images is a third-degree crime. Ravi has also been charged with two more counts of invasion of privacy for his attempt to broadcast another sex session Clementi is alleged to have had on September 21.  Both suspects surrendered peacefully to university police.  Ravi is free on $25,000 bond.  Wei was released on her own recognizance pending prosecution.  The top penalty the two web-voyeurs could receive if found guilty as charged is five years in prison for each count.  Officials of the university are making no comment on the alleged crimes so long as the investigations are proceeding.  Clementi is remembered as a wonderfully gifted musician.  His parents have been devastated, and are making no comment to the press.  Apparently the shock of being outed in such a public and humiliating way led him to such despair that he could not bear to live.  As Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin said, “It’s not just high school kids being bullied and humiliated to their deaths.”

September 29, 2010 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Asian Americans, cyber voyeurism, gay men, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ suicide, New Jersey, New York, suicide | , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gay Houston Boy Bullied To Death: Shoots Himself After Unbearable School Torment

Houston, TX – An eighth grader took his life on September 23 as a consequence of unbearable bullying in his school.  School officials deny any knowledge of the boy’s mistreatment, an allegation that the boy’s parents vehemently deny.  13-year-old Asher Brown, a bright student at Hamilton Middle School on the outskirts of Houston, shot himself in the head after at least two years of torment from bullies who taunted him for being small for his age, for not wearing designer clothing, and for being “gay.”  According to the Houston Chronicle, Asher’s stepfather found him dead at about 4:30 pm from a gunshot wound on the floor of a closet in their Cypress, Texas home.  He had used a 9mm Beretta pistol his stepfather kept hidden in a closet drawer.  His parents, Amy and David Truong, say that bullies in gym class took advantage of his small stature, and performed mock male-on-male sex acts on him to humiliate their son.  In the most recent case of harassment, Asher told his parents that a student tripped him coming down the stairs, causing him to spill his books on the floor.  When he stooped down to collect them, the bully kicked the books out of his reach, kicked him down the rest of the stairs, and taunted him. His stepfather said to Queerty, “I thought he was laying there [on the floor of the closet] reading a book or something,” he says. “My son put a gun to his head because he couldn’t take what he was hearing and the constant teasing.”  His mother related how anti-gay harassment troubled her son: “They called him different names for being homosexual,” she says. “He just had enough.”  There are conflicting reports about Asher’s coming out process as a gay boy.  According to Queerty, one report suggests that he came out to his parents back in the summer, and found them to be loving and understanding at that time.  Another report contends that he came out to his stepfather David the night before his suicide.  Asher found comfort in a group of other students who were ostracized for one reason or another at school.  In a school culture where officials seemed to care a great deal about dress code and tardiness, but nothing at all about bullying, the pressure got greater than Asher could bear.  The Truongs contend that they have called and emailed Houston Cy-Fair Independent School District officials pleading with them to watch their son.  Kelli Durham, spokesperson for the school, at first denied that any such communication ever took place.  Later, walking back her claim, Durham indicated that she did get an email from the Truongs about Asher, but it wasn’t about mistreatment by bullies.  The Truongs responded to the denials of the school system with anger. “That’s absolutely inaccurate — it’s completely false,” Amy Truong said. “I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. … It’s like they’re calling us liars. “David Truong said, “We want justice. The people here need to be held responsible and to be stopped. It did happen. There are witnesses everywhere.”  The Cy-Fair School District has a history of gay student harassment, as the Unfinished Lives Project reported in November 2009, with a violent attack against a gay youth at Langham High School.  The night before his suicide, Asher seemed sad to his parents.  They asked him about it, but he said he was “fine.”  The next day, he was dead.  Now the Truongs are appealing to other families and friends to go beyond “fine” whenever they suspect depression from a child who has been bullied in school.  They believe that the senseless loss of life due to school bullying and gay teen suicide must stop, and so do we at the Unfinished Lives Project.  Asher may have taken his own life, but the hate-motivated bullying in his school and the attitude that permitted it to go on there constitutes as clear a case of anti-gay hate crime as we have seen. According to the Houston Chronicle, Asher’s mother sent out his message to the bullies who tormented her son: “I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done. I hope you got what you wanted and you’re just real satisfied with yourself.”  A memorial service for Asher is planned for Saturday, October 2, beginning at 10 am in the park beside Moore Elementary School, 13734 Lakewood Forest Drive in Houston.  The public is invited to attend.

September 29, 2010 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, Blame the victim, Bullying in schools, funerals, gay teens, gun violence, harassment, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBT teen suicide prevention, LGBTQ suicide, Slurs and epithets, suicide, Texas | , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter Star, Speaks Out For Gay Suicide Prevention

Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images North America

Daniel Radcliffe, star of Harry Potter and Equus, says LGBTQ teens should “be proud of who you are.”  Radcliffe has made a PSA for the Trevor Project because of his passionate support of their work in suicide prevention for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender teens, according to the Associated Press.  The Trevor Project is the premier organization offering 24/7 phone contact and counseling for queer youth who are struggling with whether they will take their lives. While performing Equus on Broadway in New York City, Radcliffe who is not gay, became aware of the alienation, depression, and homophobia facing so many LGBTQ youth.  The friendships he developed with the New York gay community were integral to his decision to support the Trevor Project financially, and then to commit himself to the filming of the PSA.  “I hate that problems like this exist in the world, but the Trevor Project will help,” Radcliffe said.  The fact that he is a major stage and screen star puts Radcliffe in a position to use his influence and fame to further efforts to stem the alarming rate of gay teen suicide, and he is not shy about using his celebrity to help.  Declaring that he believes homophobia and any form of discrimination to be “abhorrent,” Radcliffe urged others to join him in letting LGBTQ youth know that they are not alone.  “I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals,” he added. “Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it.”  In a moment of charming self-deprecation, the Harry Potter star called himself “gently eccentric,” saying that his childhood in a theatrical family taught him to appreciate the gay men who were in the entertainment industry.  The PSA which was filmed Friday features Radcliffe giving the Trevor Project’s phone number and website information with an encouraging word to gay teens that they need not lose hope, ever.  It is due to air in the Spring, according to a story in The Advocate.  The Trevor Project was founded in 1998 by three filmmakers.  Their Academy Award-winning short film, “Trevor,” follows the story of a 13-year-old gay boy who comes to terms with his sexuality, nearly ending his life.  The response to the 18-minute short convinced the creators of the film to establish an organization offering phone counseling or just a safe place to talk to any youth contemplating suicide because of his or her sexual orientation, gender expression, or gender identity.  Now they have Harry Potter on their side.

February 28, 2010 Posted by | gay teens, LGBT teen suicide prevention, Media Issues, Popular Culture, suicide | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Daniel Radcliffe, Star of Harry Potter, Makes Major Donation to LGBT Youth Suicide Prevention

Daniel-Radcliffe.The Dallas Voice reports that Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe, has made a major donation to the Trevor Project for the prevention of LGBT youth suicide.  The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, and operates the only accredited, nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for queer youth in the nation, the Trevor Helpline.  With teen suicide attempts among LGBT teens occurring four times as often as among their straight peer as a result of bullying and harassment in schools according the 2006 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, the need to staunch this flood of hate-related suffering has never been greater.  LGBTQ youth suicide is the hidden face of anti-LGBT hate crimes in America.  Radcliffe made this personal statement through his press release: “I am very pleased to begin my support of The Trevor Project, which saves lives every day through its critical work… I deeply hope my support can raise the organization’s visibility so even more despondent youth become aware of The Trevor Helpline’s highly trained counselors and Trevor’s many other resources. It’s vitally important that young people understand they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value.”  The young, charismatic Radcliffe joins other celebrities in support of the Trevor Project, Jodi Foster, Sasha Baron Cohen, and Anne Hathaway.  No dollar amount of the gift has been released to the public, but the suggestion is that it is a large donation, and may spur other celebrities to follow suit.

August 10, 2009 Posted by | Bullying in schools, harassment, Hate Crime Statistics, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ suicide, suicide | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Alleged Murderer of Seaman August Provost Commits Suicide

Oceanside LGBT Memorial to August Provost

Oceanside LGBT Memorial to August Provost

Camp Pendleton, CA – Petty Officer Jonathan Campos, 32, has died from apparent self-inflicted asphyxia in the brig at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base.  He was being held for a number of charges primarily related to the murder of Seaman August Provost, a gay sailor, who was shot to death June 30, 2009 while on guard duty.  A routine check of his cell discovered that Campos was “unresponsive,” and attempts to revive him failed.  Campos had apparently choked himself to death with toilet paper, according to The Navy Compass, San Diego’s official Navy paper.  An autopsy has been ordered by the Navy to establish definitively his cause of death.  Both sailors served in the same Navy unit at Camp Pendleton, Assault Craft Unit 5.  Controversy has swirled around the Provost murder case since the discovery of his charred remains in the guard shack where he stood sentry.  Campos allegedly set the shack afire with Provost’s corpse in it to destroy evidence.  Family, the bereaved lover, friends, and LGBT human rights activists contend that the gay sailor, who refrained from reporting sexual harassment for fear of discharge from the Navy under DADT, was murdered because of his sexual orientation.  The Navy has repeatedly denied that Seaman Provost died as the result of a hate crime.  Now, since the issue will never be resolved in a court of law, the truth of why August Provost was shot to death will never be fully known.

August 1, 2009 Posted by | African Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, DADT, gay men, gun violence, harassment, Hate Crimes, immolation, military, suicide, U.S. Navy | , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Alleged Murderer of Seaman August Provost Commits Suicide

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