Jeffrey Fehr

Jeffrey Fehr, 18

Meet Jeffrey Fehr, 18.  Jeffrey hung himself on New Years day, 2012, on the front entrance to his family's home. 

From the story:

...

In the early hours of New Year's Day, Jeffrey hanged himself in the front entrance to his family's home in a tony Granite Bay neighborhood. He was 18 years old.

Since that day, his parents have searched their hearts and minds for answers. Though Jeffrey, who was gay, had recently ended a relationship and had been treated for depression, they believe something more insidious put him on the path toward suicide. They are convinced that a lifetime of taunts and bullying contributed to his decision to take his own life.

"We will second-guess ourselves forever," his father said. "But we do know that for years and years, people knocked him down for being different. It damaged him. It wore on him. He could never fully believe how wonderful he was, and how many people loved him."
 ...
 As early as the third grade, Jeffrey was the target of taunts, family members said. He had few friends and felt comfortable only when he was at home or on vacation with people he trusted.

"He would come home from school and cry," said Tyler, 21. "He would say he felt alone, that he wasn't accepted for the things he liked."
It was in the sixth grade that people first started calling him "fag," the Fehrs said.

"It broke my heart that he was abused that way," his mother said. They talked about how they could fix things.

Jeffrey's parents sent him to counseling, tried to build his confidence and encouraged him to pursue his interests, including art, theater and dance. Later, they got him treatment for depression.

His parents hoped high school would be a more welcoming place for Jeffrey. But his first two years were "pure hell," they said.

"He would literally hang his head when I dropped him off," his father recalled. "It was just awful for him."
...

Sources:
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/15/4188596/granite-bay-teen-who-committed.html
http://www.queerty.com/nearly-1000-gather-to-mourn-ca-teen-who-committed-suicide-after-years-of-taunts-20120117
 http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/01/17/Teen_Killed_Himself_on_New_Years_Day

EricJames Borges

EricJames Borges, 19

Meet EricJames Borges, 19, of California.  Eric committed suicide Jan 12th, 2012 after a traumatic coming out experience.  He had made an "It Gets Better Video" and was a volunteer with the Trevor Project.

From the story:

...
Friends say EricJames Borges, 19, killed himself Wednesday after having endured a traumatic coming-out experience.

Borges had worked for the Trevor Project, which described him as “a dedicated, trained volunteer” in its mission of preventing suicide among LGBT youth. And he’d taped an It Gets Better video that tells the story of how he “was raised in an extremist Christian household” and was kicked out of his parents’ home.

“My mother knew I was gay and performed an exorcism on me in an attempt to cure me,” he said in his video. His family told him he was “disgusting” and “damned to hell.”
...

Here is his It Gets Better Video:




From SDGLN :

Bullied gay teen's suicide note: Insight on EricJames Borges' tragic death at age 19

“To my friends you gave me life and love, never think this was your fault ... To Lady Gaga, you have been a fearless relentless proud LGBT advocate ...” - Excerpt from a suicide note by EricJames Borges

Unlike during his life, 19-year-old EricJames Borges was in control at the end; he uploaded the music and chose the people; he designed his own funeral service and it was poignant. This past Saturday, Borges was celebrated at one of three memorials held in Visalia, and the one I attended was held by the small California Central Valley town’s grieving LGBT community, those describing themselves as his new family.

His religious-extremist parents had been invited but did not attend.

Mere months before, EricJames came out, recorded an “It Gets Better” video, made a short film and gave anti-bullying suicide prevention workshops to other teens; yet he could not sustain his own pain and committed suicide just two weeks ago.

Sources:
http://sdgln.com/news/2012/01/26/bullied-gay-teen-suicide-note-insight-ericjames-borges-death-19#.TylFcPtnoVc.facebook
http://news.advocate.com/post/15753265844/ericjames-borges-19-leaves-behind-message-of-love
http://instinctmagazine.com/blogs/blog/trevor-project-intern-takes-his-own-life?directory=100011
http://www.queerty.com/ca-teen-filmmaker-commits-suicide-after-making-it-gets-better-video-20120112

Jacob Rogers

Jacob Rogers, 18

Meet Jacob Rogers.  Jacob of Ashland City, Tennessee, committed suicide on Dec 7th, 2011 due to constant bullying related to his sexual orientation. 

From the story:

...
Friends say that kids bullied Jacob Rogers at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but in the past few months it had become so bad he dropped out of school.

And Wednesday, he ended his life.

"He started coming home his senior year saying 'I don't want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a f****, they call me gay, a queer,'" friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

Kaelynn said her friend Jacob felt ignored.

"Jacob told me no one was helping him. He constantly was going to guidance," she said.
...
Kaelynn says Jacob lived with his grandmother who primarily took care of him.

She found a couple notes that Jacob left for her. In those notes Jacob left passwords to his email and his phone so investigators could determine why he chose to kill himself.
...

Sources:
http://www.wsmv.com/story/16213348/friends-say-classmate-killed-self-after-bullying
http://www.queerty.com/before-killing-himself-jacob-rogers-left-passwords-so-everyone-could-read-the-anti-gay-bullying-he-faced-20111208
www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/12/08/Internet_Local_Communities_Remember_Bullying_Victim_Jacob_Rogers

TPoH Update

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog.  My apologies.  I guess I keep hoping that I won't need to. 

I have been dragging my proverbial feet for a bit - it's pretty depressing making entries here, and I have a few to add.  

I have to get in the right frame of mind.

Of course, if I actually wait for that, then I'll never make another entry :(

So, I will add some of the entries I have been putting off, and updating some existing ones with new information. 

One 'update' that really kind of hits me hard is for Dominic Crouch.  His father, Roger Crouch, apparently never came to terms with his son's suicide and committed suicide himself.

I really hope for a day when this shit finally stops, but I suspect we have a long way to go still.

Jamey Rodemeyer

Meet Jamey Rodemeyer.  Jamey was 14 when he committed suicide Sept 18th 2011.  According to friends and family, relentless bullying at school and over the Internet based on his sexual orientation was the primary factor.

He had even made an "It Gets Better" video for the It Gets Better project May 4, 2011.

From the story:

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WIVB) - A young life has been cut tragically short by suicide. Now, two grief stricken parents are vowing to carry on their son's message.

Jamey Rodemeyer's parents believe years of bullying drove their son to suicide. The Williamsville North freshman took his life Sunday, he was only 14 years old.

Jamey Rodemeyer posted a message online hoping that others would be inspired by his struggle with bullying. A part of the message reads, “That's all you have to do. Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better.”

Soon after coming home from a family camping trip, Jamey was found dead Sunday. His parents say he was always under pressure because of struggles with his sexuality.

Jamey’s mother Tracy Rodemeyer said, "So he hung around with the girls a lot, so then the teasing started happening like 'Oh you're such a girl or you're gay or whatever and that bothered him for many years."

...

His last tweet, addressed to Lady Gaga read:

"bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever"

"I can't stop crying"

This picture was posted to his twitter account Feb 9th, 2011.












Here is his "it Gets Better" video on youtube.

Sources:
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/parents-carry-on-anti-bullying-message
http://www.towleroad.com/2011/09/jamey.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pb1CaGMdWk&feature=player_embedded
http://twitter.com/#!/hausofjamey
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/schools/article563538.ece

Kameron Jacobsen

Kameron Jocobsen

Meet Kameron Jacobsen, age 14.  Kameron committed suicide in January of 2011.  He was a freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School n New York.  Although Kameron was not believed to be gay, bullying based on the perception that he was, played a role in his death.

From the story:

MYFOXNY.COM - A community in Orange Country, N.Y., is in mourning and in shock after a 14-year-old freshman took his own life and Facebook bullying may have pushed him over the edge.

Sources said that Kameron Jacobsen of Monroe Woodbury High School was tormented by Facebook bullies who taunted him about what they thought was his sexual orientation.

His fellow students and parents are devastated.

...

An excerpt from an article written by his father:

It is a very difficult process to write about my son’s life, but my hope is that you become a bit more familiar with him and you realize that he is the same as any young boy. They are all loved, they are all our sons. They all have dreams, they all have fears. They sometimes cry and sometimes hide their tears.

-Kevin Jacobsen Sr.

UPDATE 3/20/2012

A reader alerted me to some heart-breaking news.  From the article:

Kevin Jacobsen

MONROE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — It is an unimaginable loss for a Hudson Valley family.

A father who became an anti-bullying advocate after losing his son to suicide, has now taken his own life, reports CBS 2′s Tony Aiello.

A shadow of grief is once again upon a house in Orange County, following the weekend suicide of Kevin Jacobsen.

“That whole family to go through this twice now, I just can’t believe it,” neighbor Jacqui Vega said.

“There’s never an answer to it. It’s sad, you know. That’s all I can say. Just keep ‘em in your prayers and hope the wife can carry on,” added resident Bill Hale.

Back in September, Wanda and Kevin Jacobsen spoke about the suicide death of their son, Kameron, who suffered physical, verbal and cyber bullying.

...

Sources:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/10/n-y-anti-bullying-crusader-takes-his-own-life-near-anniversary-of-sons-death/
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_york_state/sources-teenager-kills-himself-after-facebook-taunts-20110119
http://www.kindnessabovemalice.org/meet-kameron/
http://www.towleroad.com/2011/01/jacobsen.html
http://www.askthejudge.info/freshman-made-lots-of-people-smile-and-laugh/8476/

Jadon Higganbothan

Meet Jadon Higganbothan, age 4.  Jadon was shot in the head by his "stepfather" (and suspected cult leader) Peter Lucas Moses sometime in October of 2010 because Peter thought Jadon "might be gay".

From the story:

Prosecutors laid out the case Friday against a Durham man charged with killing a 4-year-old boy and 28-year-old-woman, saying he led a “religious” group of women and children who called him “Lord” and feared him.

Peter Lucas Moses, 27, faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against him. Defense attorneys didn't speak in his behalf at a court hearing Friday.

Prosecutors said Moses killed Jadon because he thought the child was gay and McKoy after he learned she couldn't have children and wanted to leave the group.

Prosecutors said the case came to police's attention in February when a young woman escaped from a house at 2109 Pear Tree Lane house, where she had lived with McKoy, Jadon, eight other children and three women charged in connection with the two slayings – Jadon's mother, Vania Rae Sisk, 25, Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40, and Larhonda Renee Smith, 40.

...

Moses feared that Jadon might be gay because his father had left Sisk, and Moses told her to "get rid" of the child, prosecutors said.

"In the religious belief of that organization, homosexuality was frowned on," Cline said.

Sometime in October 2010, Smith told Moses that Jadon had hit another child's bottom, and Moses became angry and started walking around the house with a gun that belonged to Sisk, prosecutors said.

"He starts screaming, 'I told you to get rid of him!'" and told Sisk, "'How am I going to do this?'" Cline recalled the witness' account.

Moses ordered two of the women to set up computers and speakers in the garage, prosecutors said they were told by the witness. They said he started playing music with the Lord's Prayer in Hebrew, took Jadon in the garage and shut the door, and the women then heard a gunshot.

Prosecutors said the witness told them that the women helped clean up the body of Jadon, who had been shot in the head, and put it in a suitcase in Moses' master suite. He later told them to get the body out because it was beginning to smell, prosecutors said.

...

Sources:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9836148/
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/07/08/DA_Man_Kills_4_Year_Old_Boy_He_Thought_Was_Gay/
http://www.gazette.com/articles/missing-115801-mother-boy.html