http://www.lhj.com/relationships/family/raising-kids/gay-teens-bullied-to-suicide/
September 9: Billy Lucas, age 15, of Greensburg, Indiana, hanged himself from the rafters of his family’s barn. September 19: Seth Walsh, 13, of Tehachapi, California, hanged himself from a tree in his yard. September 22: Tyler Clementi, 18, a Rutgers University freshman, jumped off the George Washington Bridge in New York City. September 23: Asher Brown, 13, of Houston, Texas, shot himself in the head. These four boys didn’t know each other, but they did have something in common. They’d been bullied at school, and one by one, they all apparently came to the same conclusion: If you’re gay or thought to be gay, life just isn’t worth living.
For most Americans the news reports were heartbreaking. They took us beyond our political arguments over gay marriage and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — even past our deeper disagreements about homosexuality. For once we could all agree: Those kids should be in their classrooms, not in caskets.
September’s gruesome trend raised pressing questions. Homosexuality appears to be more widely tolerated than ever: Fifty-two percent of Americans consider it morally acceptable, according to a recent Gallup poll. Kids can join gay-straight alliance groups at more than 4,000 high schools and more than 150 middle schools nationwide and find advice and support online. Yet according to the Journal of Adolescent Health, about one-third of gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens report an attempt at suicide. Why are so many still driven to try to take their own life?