Unnecessary and Sad.
“A teenager killed himself after a string of anonymous and abusive phone calls about his sexuality. The calls began after Lee Simpson revealed in a letter to his family and friends that he was gay. Months later the 18-year-old student was found hanged at home in Blackley.” [Manchester Evening News]
Unnecessary and sad is right. How many of these stories don’t make the news?
There’s still a tremendous need for reach-out to help young people going through coming out.
Maybe the people at Bolthead industries who are all about the gays could make a contribution.
Stories like this make me heartsick. We’re ten years on from Matthew Sheppard and this crap persists, and when LGBT adults try to reach out to youth in crisis we’re so often labeled perverts.
Obviously someone who kills themselves because they got some prank phone calls was messed up in the head to begin with. If gays killed themselves every time someone called them a fag then there would be none of us here. Yes, it’s sad when anyone dies, but to blame this kid’s death on some stupid phone calls is asinine.
Stupid people do the most damage in this world. Poor kid!
Jon have you never heard that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Just because the majority of homosexuals can handle being called ‘fag’ does not mean we as a group should not explore the reasons why others could not. Remember it is not the language that hurts but the intent.
Estone, sticks and stones… It has nothing to do with homosexuals or “fag”. It has to do with common sense. If you kill yourself over such stupidity then you are a VERY unstable person and the words really had nothing to do with it. Had this kid not killed himself over these words then he would have done it for some other petty reason or he may have decided to get back at everyone who has “picked on him” and done a Columbine.
Jon, were you one of the guys yelling “jump” to the gay teenager who jumped to his death a few days ago?
He looks a little bit “special”.
My point EXACTLY!
Jon-
You missed my point. You are correct in your belief that a mentally stable person would learn to deal with taunting – by learning to be empathetic. Empathy teaches us to understand why others act the way that they do. The possession of such a quality allows us to understand that their taunting is a reflection of them and we learn not to take things personally. Empathy also teaches us to understand those who are less fortunate than ourselves. One might assume that people who do not possess this characteristic are unstable. They may not be a person who would kill, but they are damaged by the taunting (as you and MEN-SAR clearly demonstrate).
I must remember though, in my attempt to be a mentally stable adult to grant you the same courtesy I expect from you, to try to understand what causes you to be the way you are. So please, accept my apologies if I offended you. I now understand it is beyond your capabilities to act otherwise.
Jon,
I am a close friend of Lee’s. Its Christmas Day today, and even though its years on the pain doesn’t get any easier.
For you to call these stupid prank phone calls is a complete slap in the face. I answered several of these calls and it wasnt the odd fag comment, they were absolutely dispicable and still haunt me to this day. I will not insult Lee’s memory anymore than you already have by repeating some of the disgusting threats that were put on him, but I will tell you they make fag sound like an endearment. The sick f*ck who was bullying him knocked on 2 days after Lee passed and asked ‘How’s it hanging?’ And the police don’t care, won’t investigate.
Clearly you don’t know what its like to be tortured on a daily basis for admitting who you are. Me and Lee dont come from an area were it is OK to be different. People at are High School were stabbed for less than being openly gay. He was so brave, much braver than you can imagine, for coming out. Lee took his fair share of beatings in his time I can tell you. Sticks and stones is wrong, the bones healed and he lived to fight another day. Its the mental, emotional abuse that killed my Lee.
He was the kindest most loving guy I ever knew, and I am only glad I had the chance to spend my life with him for the time I did. The only thing special about his looks was he was so beautiful. He would never have hurt a fly, and for you to insinuate he would do a Columbine is just plain sick. He was not petty, he didnt decide in the heat of the moment to end things. He had it planned for months, all his things packed and labelled. He couldn’t cope with living in fear anymore, and chose peace over endless abuse.
It’s soulless pr*cks like you that stop the police investigating these cases and stopping the evil homophobe bullies before the victim can see only one way out. Telling people to toughen up doesn’t help anyone, and it’s this attitude that makes this happen again and again.
Go back to your blog you pathetic egotistical witch. If you had to spend one day living in the middle of a Manchester council estate, with no money, taking hormone pills to help you sound more masculine, after the death of your mam at 14, when nearly every person around you is on drugs and on top of that facing endless threats and abuse, I’d like to see if you were still so cocky. I’d like to see if you could brush it off. I hope you never experience reality, or at least Lees reality, because I’m clearly not as much as a sadist as you and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I sincerely doubt you’ve ever got passed sticking your nose into everyone else’s business for long enough to feel any real pain.
Estone,
Thank you for your compassion. I wish there were more people like you in the world.
@Lees Girl: I’m sorry for your loss, but what is the name of the person who bullied Lee? How do you know who did it, did they trace the telephone number? If you do know who did the bullying, you should tell someone, even if it’s to warn people to avoid this bully. Bullies will continue bullying, or worse, until they get caught, so prevention is important.
It was reported. They traced the calls to a pay as you go mobile, but with no solid proof they were apparently unable to take it any further. Even though the police had been involved in the past because the guy had been arrested for pranking me with sexually harassing phone calls. Eventually I was warned if I carried on I would be guilty of harrassment. And that is apparently justice!?!? I am in more trouble for naming the murderer than the murderer himself is for torturing someone to death!!
In our area people know him for what he is, many memorials to Lee and hate mail against the bully printed in the newspapers have been posted through his door anonomously. Apparently he is now being treated for depression. I guess his punishment will be he has to live with what he has done, and I would not like that on my conscience… I’m taking a big leap here and assuming someone as evil as him has one.