Well said Part 2

6 Homeless LGBTQ Kids Will DIE on the Street Today #LGBT #LGBTYouth

LGBT persons often have great difficulty finding shelters that accept and respect them. Transgender people are often forced to classify themselves as a gender with which they do not identify. These individuals are particularly at physical risk in shelters. This risk comes from a lack of acceptance. Ex. Transgender women (born with male genitalia but identify and live as women) forced to take shelter with heterosexual men are frequently subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. Transgender individuals are often turned away from shelters and in some cases signs have been posted barring their entrance.

• 20% of homeless youth are LGBT. In comparison, the general youth population is only 10% LGBT.
• While homeless youth typically experience severe family conflict as the primary reason for their homelessness, LGBT youth are twice as likely to experience sexual abuse before the age of 12.
• LGBT youth, once homeless, are at higher risk for victimization, mental health problems, and unsafe sexual practices. 58.7% of LGBT homeless youth have been sexually victimized compared to 33.4% of heterosexual homeless youth
• LGBT youth are roughly 7.4 times more likely to experience acts of sexual violence than heterosexual homeless youth
• LGBT homeless youth commit suicide at higher rates (62%) than heterosexual homeless youth (29%) 

Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24.

• LGB youth are 4 times more likely, and questioning youth are 3 times more likely, to attempt suicide as their straight peers.
• Suicide attempts by LGB youth and questioning youth are 4 to 6 times more likely to result in injury, poisoning, or overdose that requires treatment from a doctor or nurse, compared to their straight peers.
• Nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives, and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt.
• LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide as LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.
• 1 out of 6 students nationwide (grades 9-12) seriously considered suicide in the past year.
• Suicide attempts are nearly two times higher among Black and Hispanic youth than White youth.
• Each episode of LGBT victimization, such as physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by 2.5 times on average.

If you, or a young person you know, is LGBT and thinking about suicide, call The Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.

For adults over 24, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-866-273-8255.

Consider supporting or volunteering at one of these great orginazations that do so much for LGBT youth.

• Forty to None
• Matthew Shepard Foundation
• GLSEN
• The Trevor Project
• Family Acceptance Project
• PLFAG
• Family Equality Council 
• Lyric.org
• Covenant House
• True Colors Fund
• No H8 Campaign
• Stand Up for Kids
• National Safe Place

No, My 10-Year-Old Son Isn't Looking for a Girlfriend. He Likes Boys.

At the beginning of this semester, our kids' school sent home a list of extracurricular clubs available to the students. My husband sat down with the list and our two elementary-school-aged sons. They could pick a club, any club. Our middle son, a second grader this year and the most loveable of nerds, picked board-game club. Our older son, now a fourth grader, picked Zumba. Given the choice, our oldest kid usually picks sports above all else, but he wanted the dancing-based exercise that is Zumba. He does love singing and dancing as well, so we just shrugged our shoulders and said, "OK, sounds great." We signed the kids up, and all were happy campers.

As the semester went on, they both enjoyed their clubs, but our older son's choice of club almost always got the same reaction. It went something like this: "He's a smart kid. I bet he's the only boy. He's got his pick of the girls in there."

The first time this happened, I was shocked, because I had never actually thought about that. We don't exactly adhere to traditional gender roles in our home. My husband is a stay-at-home dad who does all the cooking and domestic stuff, and I'm the one with the full-time, out-of-the-house job. We have three sons in all (though the youngest doesn't start school until next year), and what they want to do is just what they want to do. We go with it; it doesn't matter if it's traditionally masculine. Despite this, our oldest son is a stereotypical boy. He loves his sports and video games and ninjas. We see singing and dancing as fun-for-everyone things. In public my husband and I are known to break out into improvised song-and-dance numbers that embarrass our children on a regular basis.

"How many boys are in Zumba?" I asked my kid.

A Stunning Blonde, Blue-Eyed Freshman Sits Next To Him In Church. Things Don't Go The Way He'd Like.

Coming out as gay is hard. Coming out within a faith that rejects you is often devastating. Here is one person's plea, addressed to his youth pastor, delivered so poetically and eloquently that I find myself at a loss for words. I hope it reaches the ears and hearts of many of our religious leaders so this heartbreaking cycle of rejection and bitterness may end.

Sometimes parents, either intentionally or unintentionally, are hard on homosexuality. To a kid, disappointing your parents is hard. In some religious households homosexuality is taught as being a sin. Disappointing God? Just as hard to hear.

LGBTQ kids are at least twice as likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers. With that mind, here are some tips if you find yourself or a loved one raising a child who may be LGBTQ.

1. Be accepting

A lot of LGBTQ kids think their parents don't accept them because of times in the past when their parents insulted or disparaged another LGBTQ person. An off-hand comment about how someone else's child is "probably just going through a phase" could stick in your kid's head as an example of how you might not accept them for who they are.

2. Be supportive

If your child may be getting bullied, the best way to deal with the situation is head-on. Figure out a solution with your kid or their teachers if it's very serious so kids know you're completely in their corner.

3. Be open

The "sex talk" is an uncomfortable conversation for any parent, but it can proveunbearable for parents who are uncomfortable with their child's sexual identity. If you're a good parent, obviously you love your child and want to protect them, so make sure they know how to protect themselves. LGBTQ youth groups can help as well. Support makes all the difference.

4. Be aware

Some people who are considering suicide talk about it before they make an attempt. If an adolescent you know talks about feeling "hopeless" or "wanting to die," take it seriously. Don't assume they're only doing it for attention. Make sure they get help.

How Gay Genius Alan Turing Got Me Through Middle School

In a field dominated by heterosexual giants, science is a lonely discipline for a gay teenager. From Jonas Salk to Albert Einstein, nearly every scientific genius in history is straight, leaving few idols for a young scientist who happens to be gay. While shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and, most recently, Looking have led to a widespread acceptance of LGBT individuals in mainstream media, they have not done many favors for the stereotypes that surround being gay.

When I initially started questioning my sexuality, I was bombarded with messages that pressured me to conform to stereotypes such as a need to jump into fashion or interior design. And while both are valid professions, my passions rested instead among cell culture flasks and digestive enzymes in the lab. These pressures were amplified in the weeks after my coming out, with friends and family stating “You can’t be gay, you don’t know how to dress” and “You do science, that’s not what gay people do.”

Indeed, when I looked around at the science fairs that I was so fond of, I began to realize that I had never met a fellow gay scientist, and some science fair participants would regale me with how homosexuality was a crime in their countries. These pressures, combined with the confusion associated with coming out publicly and the social stress characteristic of middle school, created a deadly cocktail, which resulted in me becoming increasingly depressed, with my academic and social lives taking a tailspin. Fortunately, my story does not end in tragedy; I did not lose my life to my depression, nor was I permanently harmed, but nevertheless, the experience has remained with me.

Eventually, through extensive online research, I discovered my first role model in science who also was gay: Alan Turing. I quickly became fascinated with the stories of how he thwarted Nazi Germany in World War II and laid the groundwork for modern-day computers. Through his groundbreaking work and indefatigable spirit, he was able to shorten the length of the way by several years, and save hundreds of thousands of lives in the process.

However, despite his extraordinary contributions to science, he lived in a time when homosexuality was a criminal offense, and, as a result, he was persecuted by authorities. This witch hunt resulted in Turing’s suicide, 16 days before his 42nd birthday. Nonetheless, he became my idol, and I incessantly filled the ears of my parents and friends with stories and facts from his life. But while my straight friends had contemporary role models such as Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, and Stephen Hawking, I only had one … who was dead and from a completely different era in terms of LGBT rights.

A modern LGBT scientist role model simply does not exist. Among the 2013 Out 100 honorees, there were only three scientists. Everyone else was an actor, fashion designer, or lawyer/social advocate. During an interview at this party honoring the LBGT icons of the year, it wasn’t my science that was discussed, but rather what clothes I was wearing and if I had a boyfriend. The bulk of invitees to the party were actors, TV personalities, and fashion icons, and a porn kingpin was one of the favorite attendees. I was praised more for being young and cute than for finding a new way to detect pancreatic cancer. Never before have I felt more objectified.

Perhaps this speaks more about our society as a whole; however, the exaltation of youth and looks over brains is far more rampant in LBGT culture. Just as other people project onto us, we can be guilty of allowing our sexuality to signify who we are, rather than our identities. We become identified by who we like rather than who we are. This is all too apparent through our media presence in TV shows and movies. Members of our community are represented in all professions, from social activists to scientists. We are lawyers, actors, and doctors who happen to be LGBT as opposed to LGBT people who happen to be lawyers, actors, and doctors.

Such a distinction, while subtle, is critical to realize because it is we as a community that create society’s perception of us. We can choose to continue to be pigeonholed as a singular persona or we can choose to allow ourselves to diverge from this path and create role models for all LGBT youth, regardless of what profession they wish to pursue.

The sacrifice of our intellectual diversity is one that is not necessary and simply not acceptable. If we truly desire equality in our society, then we must break free from our stereotypes, making our foremost feature not our sexuality, but our potential to improve the world. We must strive to make all people in the LGBT community feel welcome, not just those who know how to match clothes and create a fabulous dinner party.

It is now our duty to make sure that another tragedy like Alan Turing does not occur, so that the next generation of LGBT youth can look up and see a role model, regardless of what his or her passion is. As Carson Kressley would say, it’s time for the LGBT community to get a "make better."

14 year old boy coming out to his sister

They're Just Normal Kids, But Their Stories Made My Skin Crawl, Heart Sink, And Blood Boil

I can't even imagine the bravery required to talk about this on camera.

A letter to the ‘Christian’ mom wishing death for her disabled lesbian daughter

Video has again captured a “Christian” parent behaving badly. This week, the Facebook page Stop-Homophobia broadcast out one depicting the plight of a lady named Kelly.

Public disapproval over who could marry whom was an issue for Kelly’s family early on. Her father is black, and her mother is white. Kelly and her brother were bullied frequently in the small town of Guntersville Alabama. They were the only mixed race kids in town. Kelly was quiet and shy and kept to herself.

When she was 16, Kelly found a name for the identity that had been growing within her: lesbian. Her feelings had been developing for a while, but it came to fruition when she started a relationship with a girl in her class.

Kelly was confident that the hardships her parents had gone through would make them accepting of who she was growing up to be. She was wrong.

“At the time I thought that being gay that my parents being a bi-racial couple that they would be more accepting. My father had nothing to say. Til this day he hasn’t spoken about me being a lesbian. My mother freaked out. She put me in counseling to try to make me straight.”

The counseling did not change Kelly, as her mother had hoped but in fact, made her more confident in who she is.

Kelly’s mother kicked her out of the house. While her father did not intervene, he divorced her mother shortly thereafter, and Kelly suspects that her mother’s behavior might have been a contributing factor. Kelly found refuge with her aunt in Huntsville, Alabama.

Kelly passed her GED, and did not see or hear from her mother for over a year. After a period, Kelly’s mother made contact again. She said she had reconsidered, and wanted to re-establish contact. Kelly was reluctant but over time, resumed sporadic communications.

Eight years ago, Kelly had moved to Florida and met a woman named Leslie.

Leslie fell in love with Kelly immediately, and had to work hard to get through the protective emotional walls that Kelly had built up. Kelly, over time, was able to trust this wonderful woman in her life and to trust that the love they shared was real.

As they quickly became soul mates, and were working towards a happy ever after in their life journeys, tragedy struck…

CONTINUE READING →

#BornPerfect

Even as the LGBT community enjoys huge gains in understanding and acceptance. Even as we have key leaders from every sector and across every spectrum supporting our full equality and rejecting rank bigotry. Even as we seem closer than ever to winning the freedom to marry nationwide, a persistent and longstanding threat has reemerged.

You have likely heard or read a chorus of anti-LGBT voices in the last few weeks supporting so-called “conversion therapy,” the vile practice used by some unethical counselors and therapists to try to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Texas Republican Party recently officially endorsed this dangerous practice which has been condemned by every major medical organization in the country, saying “we recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients who are seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle. No laws or executive orders shall be imposed to limit or restrict access to this type of therapy.”

Days later, Mathew Staver, an ardent opponent of LGBT equality, told a congressional committee in Washington, D.C. that attempts to protect youth from this dangerous practice “represent one of the greatest assaults on children and families that has arisen in recent times” and, in a blatant lie, said that mental health professionals could “successfully reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors or identity.”

Then, former Texas Governor and Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry equated being LGBT to alcoholism, saying “I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”

For more than 20 years, NCLR has diligently worked to end conversion therapy, especially for LGBT youth. We know the practice—which often includes the use of shame and verbal abuse—does untold damage. We know it is dangerous and wholly discredited. We know sexual orientation and gender identity cannot and should not be changed. We are committed once and for all to ending conversion therapy, ensuring that every LGBT person knows they were born perfect.

But recent statements by the Texas GOP and others over the past few weeks make clear that the vocal minority of anti-LGBT advocates who profit from this destructive practice will not go quietly. These statements are not just random comments or events. This is a coordinated effort to reassert the legitimacy of this fully discredited practice and to resurrect the fraud that sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed. 

Conversion therapy’s vicious assault on human dignity is on the ropes—but it is essential that we finish the job. Over the last two years, NCLR has played a pivotal role in passing and successfully defending laws protecting LGBT children from these practices in California and New Jersey. State legislators and policymakers across the country have seen the damage this quackery inflicts on young people and taken action to stop it. We are now working closely with legislators and state leaders in several states to pass laws similar to those in California and New Jersey.

To support our multi-pronged effort to end conversion therapy in the next five years, we have launched #BornPerfect: The Campaign to End Conversion Therapy.

We have seen firsthand the damage done by this dehumanizing and shaming practice. We’ve heard Sam Brinton share the lasting trauma from a doctor who used ice and hot coils to associate images of men with pain. We’ve heard Ryan Kendall testify about turning himself over to social services at 16 rather than be forced to continue the conversion therapy that was driving him to the brink of suicide. We’ve heard Deb Cuny recount the heartbreaking struggle to suppress her attraction to women by spending her teenage years being prayed over and even exorcised in an attempt to keep her family intact and fulfill her dream of becoming a minister.

Those who traffic in these practices have now joined forces with anti-LGBT lawmakers and fringe organizations to defend them. We do not intend to let them win.

For every Sam, or Ryan, or Deb, there are countless others who have endured this practice and live with the scars. They may survive and even thrive, but they never forget. And too many get lost along the way. Conversion therapy is a dangerous fraud. We intend to end it.

To join us, get the facts, and take action in your state, visit www.NCLRights.org/BornPerfect.

If I Have Gay Children: 4 Promises From a Christian Pastor/Parent

Sometimes I wonder if I'll have gay children.

I'm not sure if other parents think about this, but I do -- quite often.

Maybe it's because I have many gay people in my family and circle of friends. It's in my genes and in my tribe.

Maybe it's because, as a pastor of students, I've seen and heard the horror stories of gay Christian kids -- from both inside and outside of the closet -- trying to be part of the Church.

Maybe it's because, as a Christian, I interact with so many people who find homosexuality to be the most repulsive thing imaginable, and who make that abundantly clear at every conceivable opportunity.

For whatever reason, it's something that I ponder frequently. As a pastor and a parent, I wanted to make some promises to you, and to my two kids right now...

1. If I have gay children, you'll all know it.

My children won't be our family's best kept secret.

I won't talk around them in conversations with others. I won't speak in code or vague language. I won't try to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, and I won't try to spare the feelings of those who may be older, or easily offended, or uncomfortable. Childhood is difficult enough, and most gay kids spend their entire existence being horribly, excruciatingly uncomfortable. I'm not going to put mine through any more unnecessary discomfort, just to make Thanksgiving dinner a little easier for a third cousin with misplaced anger issues.

If my children come out, we'll be out as a family.

Gay Teen And Mother Come Out To Each Other

Are you ready for this one?

This video is certainly a welcome experience, especially considering some of thehorrific coming out stories we've seen as of late. Though this video isn't new, it's recently making the rounds on the Internet and generating a lot of attention for a very clear reason: after this gay teen comes out to his mother... she comes out to him as well.

"That's very brave of you to tell me that," the boy's mother notes. "Thank you for telling me. It doesn't make me love you any less -- at all. Ok? Your choice is your choice. I accept you however way you are. You're still my boy... Honey, I'm okay with it. Okay? I am okay with it. Can I tell you something too? As you've been so open with me, I'll tell you a secret too... I've had a girlfriend."

Check out the video to hear the rest of the exchange.

I May Not Always Understand My Gay Son, But I Accept Him

I picked up my 20-something son, David, at the Metro a few weeks ago. After he got into the car, he put out his hands towards me, and asked:

“Do you like this color? Kind of a deep purple. I get a lot of compliments on it.”

Yes, David wears nail polish — bright, glossy, frequently-changing-colors nail polish. And it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I like the deep purple shade.

When David first told us he was gay in his junior year in high school, my husband and I were somewhat surprised, but when we thought about it, it began to make sense. At first I worried about the increased chances that he would develop AIDS and I was concerned about problems he would likely face being accepted as a gay man in the less tolerant world we lived in a decade ago. But the gay part? We had an inkling. Okay, more than an inkling. (What parent doesn’t?)

As an avid reader and news-watcher, I did have some knowledge of the evolving gay community. I was aware of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, I remember when Barney Frank became the first U.S. congressman to come out as gay in 1987 and when a New York Court ruled in 1989 that it was legally possible for a same-sex couple to constitute a family.

But when our teenage son told us he was gay, my personal knowledge of what it meant to be a gay man was, unfortunately, tainted by popular media stereotypes which told us that most gay men:

dressed impeccably

were extremely neat and organized

often chose interior design or hair styling as their professions

had high pitched, effeminate voices

liked to gossip

had many women friends

From time to time, in my son’s late teen years, I honestly wondered if maybe he had been mistaken. After all, he was incredibly sloppy, his bedroom was knee-deep in dirty clothing, he planned to major in chemistry and disliked idle chatter.

He is comfortable with his own identity. And because he is so comfortable, we are too. He has patiently explained that what I first thought I knew about gay men was all wrong. And finally the media has caught up a bit. We hear about gay football players and (sometimes) see gay men who don’t wear stylish clothing.

Unfortunately, it still makes the news when a gay man is the first in his field or profession.

Earlier this year, when our synagogue hired a new rabbi who happened to be gay, it became a news story in The Washington Post. “Rabbi Adam Rosenwasser recently became the first rabbi hired to fill a major pulpit in Washington who is married to someone of his own gender. But he doesn’t like to focus on that. ‘I’m gay, but I also like to scuba dive and play guitar.’ ”

So now we all know that some men who are football players, some who are messy and some who are rabbis, can be gay. And that the fact that they have sexual partners of the same gender is not what defines them.

And there are some men who wear nail polish. And change colors frequently, and with great pleasure.

But I draw the line at mint green. A few days ago, when David showed me his latest color, his nails were mint green. Reminded me of medical scrubs, bad memories. Better to go back to the purple or maybe try a new shade, I suggested, how about deep pink?

David looked up at me as if I was crazy, “Mom, I am not that gay.”

Okay, so maybe I don’t totally get the gay male thing yet. But I accept it, and I accept him. Purple nail polish, mint green. Whatever. His color choices don’t define him either.

Nancy L. Wolf, the mother of two young adults, erroneously thought that the difficult years of parenting were behind her. She is a recovering lawyer, who lives in Washington and blogs at Witty Worried and Wolf.

GAY TEEN COMMITS SUICIDE AFTER BEING OUTED AND HARASSED BY CATHOLIC SCHOOL OFFICIALS

Sergio Urrego, 16, took his own life last month after Catholic school administrators harassed the teenager by making his relationship with another young man public and accused him of sexual harassment.

Sergio’s mother, Alba Reyes, has just recently opened up to the media about her son’s suicide in order to clear his name.

Reyes said her nightmare began in May when a teacher at Gimnasio Castillo Campestre school in the Colombian capital Bogotá, saw a photo of Sergio kissing his boyfriend of a month and a half on his cellphone. After confiscating the phone, both boys were sent to the school psychologist.

The boyfriend was then forced by the school to tell his parents about his sexuality and was quickly withdrawn from the school.

The school refused to release Urrego’s academic results and blocked his transfer to another school. He was continuously suspended from classes, send on multiple visits to the psychologist and accused of sexual harassment.

Unable to cope with the betrayal and harassment at the hands of school administrators, Urrego sent his friends goodbye messages and then jumped from the Titán Plaza shopping center on the morning of August 4. He passed away three hours later at a local hospital.

‘My sexuality is not my sin, it’s my own paradise,’ Urrego wrote on his Facebook page before taking his life.

He also shared the lyrics from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” on Facebook the day of his suicide:

Goodbye cruel world
I’m leaving you today
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye all you people
There’s nothing you can say
To make me change
My mind
Goodbye.

Of the 42 students who were in the 11th grade with Sergio, 40 attended his funeral on August 8.

Shortly after his funeral, his classmates were called into a meeting with the principal who described the deceased teen as an ‘anarchist,’ ‘atheist,’ and ‘homosexual,’ never once showing any sadness or sense of loss for the former student. The school psychologist also told the students to be ‘discreet’ about the suicide, according to a student who wished to remain anonymous.

The school also informed the students who attended the funeral without prior permission, they would have to make up the day they missed the following Saturday.

Sergio’s father insists his son’s suicide was a cry of protest against the school who bullied and harassed their teen son.

In one of the three letters Sergio left behind, one was addressed to his grandmother. He wrote that he would miss her hands, the way that she would look, her smile: “I never wished to die before my grandmother, but I can’t not continue on. In reality, I ask your forgiveness for this.”

Sergio had plans to study English in Australia and to become an environmental engineer.

R.I.P. Sergio Urrego.

CA Pastor Says Christians Should ‘Alienate’ Gay Kids and ‘Turn Them Over to Satan’

Pastor John MacArthur, host of the Grace to You show, has a solution for the whole gay…thing. Parents struggling to reconcile their faith-based bigotry with the news that a family member is gay simply shouldn’t worry about it — they should just “alienate” their gay kids and “turn them over to Satan.”

MacArthur stated,

“If that adult child professes Christ, claims to be a Christian, then that becomes an issue for confrontation of the sternest and strongest kind because that falls under Matthew 18. If they profess to be a Christian, you have to alienate them, you have to separate them. You can’t condone that; it’s inconsistent with the profession of Christ. So, you isolate them; you don’t have a meal with them; you separate yourself from them. You turn them over to Satan, as it were as scripture says.”

This advice is only for parents of gay Christians. Non-believers, MacArthur says, should be repeatedly hammered with admonishments and Bible verses to “expose that sin and all other sins, and call that person to salvation and repentance.”

MacArthur unleashed some “love speech,” as he calls it, on the gay community in 2012 when he claimed that the Democratic Party supports a “homosexual revolution,” which came about because God had abandoned ‘Murika and “unleashed on the world the horror of AIDS.”

See it for yourself, below:

The Forsaken: A Rising Number of Homeless Gay Teens Are Being Cast Out by Religious Families

One late night at the end of her sophomore year of college, Jackie sat in her parked car and made a phone call that would forever change the course of her life. An attractive sorority girl with almond eyes and delicate dimples, she was the product of a charmed Boise, Idaho, upbringing: a father who worked in finance, a private­school education, a pool in the backyard, all the advantages that an upper-middle-class suburban childhood can provide – along with all the expectations attendant to that privilege.

"There was a standard to meet," Jackie says. "And I had met that standard my whole life. I was a straight-A student, the president of every club, I was in every sport. I remember my first day of college, my parents came with me to register for classes, and they sat down with my adviser and said, 'So, what's the best way to get her into law school?'"

Jackie just followed her parents' lead understanding implicitly that discipline and structure went hand in hand with her family's devout Catholic beliefs. She attended Mass three times a week, volunteered as an altar server and was the fourth generation of her family to attend her Catholic school; her grandfather had helped tile the cathedral. "My junior year of high school, my parents thought it was weird that I'd never had a boyfriend," she says, "so I knew I was supposed to get one. And I did. It was all just a rational thought process. None of it was emotionally involved."

After graduating, Jackie attended nearby University of Idaho, where she rushed a sorority at her parents' prompting. She chose a triple major of which they approved. "I remember walking out of the sorority house to go to Walmart or something, and I stopped at the door and thought to myself, 'Should I tell someone I'm leaving?'" she says. "It was the first time in my life where I could just go somewhere and be my own person."

Read more 

Gay teen kicked out of parents' home directs funds raised online to finance LGBT homeless shelter

Last week, a heartbreaking video surfaced of Daniel Ashley Pierce "coming out" to his family, who went on to disown him and kick Daniel out of their home.

An online fundraiser went viral and within six days, nearly $100,000 has a been raised to help Daniel get on his feet in a new home. Overwhelmed by the support and understanding there are many others in the same predicament, Daniel asked people to stop donating to him and turn their attention to an organization called Lost N'Found, which is renovating a building to serve as a homeless shelter for LGBT youth. Thus far, the organization has received roughly $10,000 from his post and plans to open in spring of 2015:

"I would say we're right at $10,000 (through Pierce donations), said Westbrook. "Daniel is an incredibly bright and courageous young man. He is the epitome of who Lost n' Found is here to serve."

In an interview, which can be seen here, Lost N' Found Executive Director says roughly 50 percent of gay teens in the southeast who come out to their parents are disowned and kicked out of their homes, calling it an "epidemic."

How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay

In a disturbing and terribly sad video posted on YouTube Wednesday, a boy named Daniel is berated and disowned by his parents after coming out. The family claims to have supported him despite "knowing" he was gay since a young age, and though the details of the situation are murky, their hostile and, in the end, violent response is utterly reprehensible. 

The video, posted by user Regina Ryan, had this description:

A perfect example of how much hate and intolerance still exists today. This family gave a young man two options: attend a pray the gay away intervention, or face being disowned by the very people who are supposed to love him unconditionally.

Disclaimer: This is a 19 year old friend of mine who is currently staying with very supportive friends. He is safe and removed from the situation. I am posting this on his behalf per his request. I was not witness to the events that transpired, but was present immediately after to help him relocate.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Daniel now that he is without his family's care. In just twenty-one hours the video has received over one million views and Daniel has received nearly $100,000 in donations from strangers, showing that there is a great deal of support and kindness in the world. Our thoughts are most definitely with him as he traverses this horribly tough patch in life.

Couple Tried For Killing "Gay Acting" Eight Year-Old Son

In a case that mirrors a similarly tragic outcome earlier this year in Oregon, a Los Angeles couple is being tried for viciously abusing and murdering the mother's eight year-old son after taunting him for playing with dolls. You may not want to read any further.

Before 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez was allegedly beaten to death by his mother and her boyfriend, they doused him with pepper spray, forced him to eat his own vomit and locked him in a cabinet with a sock stuffed in his mouth to muffle his screams, according to court records made public Monday. Sworn grand jury testimony provided a graphic examination of the abuse that the Antelope Valley boy allegedly suffered before his death in May of 2013. The incident prompted calls for sweeping reforms to the troubled Los Angeles County foster-care system because child welfare workers failed to remove the boy. Officials have taken steps to fire two social workers and two supervisors, while others involved in the case received letters of warning or reprimand. Fernandez and Aguirre deliberately tortured the boy to death, hiding their tracks with forged doctor's notes and lies to authorities, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami told the grand jury. "For eight straight months, he was abused, beaten and tortured more severely than many prisoners of war," Hatami said. The abuse worsened in the months leading up to Gabriel's death, according to testimony from two of his siblings, both of whom are minors. They said Gabriel was forced to eat cat feces, rotten spinach and his own vomit. He slept in a locked cabinet and wasn't let out to go to the bathroom. Fernandez and Aguirre called Gabriel gay, punished him when he played with dolls and forced him to wear girls' clothes to school, the siblings said.

Gabriel had written a suicide note, but child welfare authorities reportedly "dismissed" that information because the note contained "no specific plan" for him to kill himself.

Ian McKellen Supports LGBT Youth

What Factors Besides Sexuality Contribute to LGBT Suicide Rates?

A recent study published by the American Journal of Public Health has added key innovations that help nuance a commonly stated finding about LGBT youth: that they are more likely than non-LGBT peers to attempt suicide.While the new study corroborates this finding, it also gathered more targeted information related to the degree of injury inflicted and the race of respondents, reports the University of California Los Angeles' William Institute.

Gathering pencil-and-paper survey answers from over 73,000 teens, ages 13-18, from across the U.S., Wendy B. Bostwick and her team of researchers compared data from the 6,245 self-identified LGBT respondents against the rest of the group.

While overall the researchers found LGBT youth over three times more likely to have attempted suicide in the previous year (22 percent compared to six percent of non-LGBT teens), the statistic jumped strikingly higher when researchers considered the seriousness of the suicide attempt, as determined by the resultant injury and required medical treatments. LGBT youth were four times as likely than their non-LGBT peers to have made a seriously injurious or life-threatening suicide attempt (eight percent of LGBT teens versus two percent of those who are not LGBT-identified).

Moreover, these results varied significantly by race. Pointing out the importance of gathering data along several identifiers instead of "lump[ing] LGBT youth of color into one category," LGBT media watchdog group GLAAD explains that "the researchers considered the significance of intersectionality, or having multiple minority identities that operate together."

Compared to white LGBT youth, Latino and Native American/Pacific Islander LGBT youth were more likely to attempt suicide. Particularly striking was a revelation that Latina LGBT girls had a significantly higher prevalence of suicide attempts than youth of any other race; Latino LGBT boys reported feeling sad twice as often as boys of other racial categories.

On the flip side, Black and Asian-American LGBT youth fared better on several outcomes, including suicidal ideation and planning, than their white LGBT counterparts.

"Moving forward," concluded Bostwick, "it will be important for researchers to continue to take into account the unique cultural contexts and backgrounds of LGBT youth to see which factors in the home, school, or cultural environment are protecting certain groups such as Black and Asian-American youth, and leaving Latino youth at greater risk."