Taking Action

Should We Be Surprised the Suicide Boys’ Mothers Are Talking?

For all the stigmatization felt by boys like Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover and Jaheem Herrera for being called gay, their mothers don’t see it that way. The horror stories of these boys — whether gay or just too feminine or different for their classmates — actually killing themselves after being bullied and taunted in school are being done justice not simply because the mainstream media are reporting on them, but because the parents of these kids are speaking so openly about it.

Jaheem’s mother Masika Bermudez talked to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Carl’s mother Sirdeander yesterday talked to Ellen DeGeneres (above).

WE WANT MORE OF THIS.

The parents of kids who are being bullied right now SHOULD SPEAK UP. Teachers who witness the bullying but find their administrators turn a blind eye SHOULD SPEAK UP. Older brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles who see their tormented loved ones growing more depressed and shut off SHOULD SPEAK UP.

Bullying in schools will never end. But by going on CNN and talking to ABC News and appearing on Ellen and writing in to Queerty and blogging and Twittering about these experiences, we can at least put a face on the problem and demand tolerance, respect, and action.

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