Rutgers University to open student wellbeing center named for Tyler Clementi

in: http://gaystarnews.com/article/rutgers-university-open-student-wellbeing-center-named-tyler-clementi020213






Rutgers University announces the creation of a center for student wellbeing and suicide prevention named for student Tyler Clementi who killed himself in 2010 after being outed by a roommate

New Jersey’s Rutgers University will honor the memory of Tyler Clementi with a center for student welfare and suicide prevention.

Clementi killed himself in September of 2010 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River after he was secretly filmed kissing another man and then outed online by roommate Dharun Ravi.

The announcement will be formally announced at a dedication ceremony on Moday which will be attended by New Jersey congressmen Frank Pallone Jr and Rush Holt – both Democrats – along with the university’s executive vice president for academic affairs Richard L Edwards.

The Tyler Clementi Center is a collaborative effort between Rutgers University and the Tyler Clementi Foundation and according to the university ‘will draw from academic disciplines across the university and throughout the nation to create new programs and approaches to address issues that confront young people – specifically youth making the transition from home to college.’

‘The center will offer lectures, symposia and training on such topics as the use and misuse of new technologies and social media; youth suicide – particularly among LGBTQ youth and other young people – during the transition to adulthood; adjustment and assimilation into college life; bullying and cyberbullying; and understanding and promoting safe and inclusive social environments,’ the university said in a statement.

‘The goal of the center is to provide scholarly support for the work of policymakers, social activists, community leaders and other advocates for vulnerable youth.’

The Tyler Clementi Center will be headed by Rutgers University associate professor of social work Jeff Longhorn and the executive director of the university’s Center for Applied Psychology Susan Furrer.

Tyler’s mother, Jane Clementi, told the New York Times that she felt ‘bittersweet’ about the announcement.

‘It calls up a lot of pain and sadness, but at the same time it gives me some hope that I can be part of a better future for someone else,’ Clementi told the New York Times.

‘There are other Tylers out there, but they won’t have to go through what Tyler went through.’

The center’s first projects will be a lecture in March on growing up in the digital world and hosting a conference on transgender issues in April.

 

http://gaystarnews.com/article/rutgers-university-open-student-wellbeing-center-named-tyler-clementi020213

Over Half of Native Trans People Have Attempted Suicide

via: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/10/14/over-half-native-trans-people-have-attempted-suicide

A new study indicates alarming poverty, abuse, and suicide among Native Americans.

As Native Americans celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day last week (the reclaiming of Columbus Day that's taken root in recent years), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality released the fourth and final piece in a series of reports designed to specifically shine a light on the experiences of transgender people of color. Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at American Indian and Alaskan Native Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey measured transgender people's experiences of discrimination and showed that the combination of anti-transgender with structural and individual racism meant that transgender people of color experience particularly devastating levels of discrimination.

Among the startling results:

• American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender and gender non-conforming people often live in extreme poverty with 23% reporting a household income of less than $10,000 a year. This compares to a rate of 15% for transgender people of all races. It is about three times the general American Indian and Alaskan Native population rate (8%), and nearly six times the general U.S. population rate (4%).

• American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender and gender non-conforming people were affected by HIV in devastating numbers: 3.24% reported being HIV positive and an additional 8.53% reported that they did not know their status. This compares to rates of 2.64% for transgender respondents of all races, and 0.60% of the general U.S. population.

• Fifty-six percent (56%) of American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender respondents reported having attempted suicide compared to 41% of all study respondents.

http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/10/14/over-half-native-trans-people-have-attempted-suicide

In Tennessee another gay teen takes his own life, family claims it was directly related to bullying

in:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/phillip-parker-gay-tennessee-teen-suicide_n_1223688.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

A Tennessee teen's parents claim that constant anti-gay bullying led their son to take his own life.

As WSMV is reporting, parents and grandparents found 14-year-old Phillip Parker's body last Friday, along with a handwritten note in his trash can reading, "Please help me mom." Family members say they had previously reported concerns about their son's treatment to Gordonsville High School but to no avail.

"I should have knew something was wrong, but he seemed happy," Philip's mother Gena Parker told News Channel 5. "After he did what he did, we found out a lot that we didn't know and there is a lot of bullying that goes on at the school."

Added grandfather Paul Harris: "Because he was gay, he got mistreated physically, mentally by several people out there at the school, and I am very resentful as a result of it. After he did what he did, we found out a lot that we didn't know and there is a lot of bullying that goes on at the school."

Although numerous sources, including Towleroad, Queerty and Metro Weekly, are also reporting the story, an official cause of death does not appear to have been revealed.

The Tennessee Equality Project's Upper Cumberland Committee will hold a candlelight vigil in Cookeville on Thursday, honoring Parker as well as other bullying victims, including Jacob Rogers,another teen who committed suicide last month.

Sadly, Parker's case follows a spate of LGBT-related controversy in the state of Tennessee. In addition to Rogers, the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would effectively prevent public elementary and middle schools from teaching or distributing material on human sexuality that deals with homosexuality in any way, gained traction once again, while the state's senate Republicanshave also proposed a change to the state's anti-bullying law to exempt condemnations of homosexuality based on religion.

Need help? Visit The Trevor Project's website or call them at 1-866-488-7386. In the U.S. you can also call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or visit stopbullying.gov.

You can also visit Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) website for more resources

Suicide Rate for Trans Women Denied Implants Alarming

in: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/01/01/Suicide_Rate_for_Trans_Women_Denied_Implants_Alarming/

A new study from the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights (RFSL) concludes that breast implants are literally a life and death matter for transgender women who need the operation to "fit in as women in their everyday life." And the suicide rate among those who don't get them is at least 30 times higher than the average person.

According to Swedish website, The Local, RFSL warns that transgender women who are refused breast implants as a compliment to hormone treatment can suffer from a variety of psychological problems, resulting in an “alarmingly” high suicide rate.

Plastic surgery for transgender patients saves lives, according to RFSL. The study shows that psychological complications for those forced to live with a body that doesn't match their gender identity is high and the suicide rate among patients denied breast implants is 30 to 40 percent, compared with only 1.6 percent for the general population.

RFSL petitioned the National Board of Health and Welfare to draw up national guidelines for physicians and hospitals trans breast implants, after a trans woman was reportedly denied implants by the Södra Älvsborgs hospital in Alingsås in western Sweden. “RFSL demands that care for transgender people be given under the same conditions regardless of where one lives in Sweden,” the group wrote.

Parents of gay US suicide teenager launch charitable foundation in his name

in: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/12/14/parents-of-gay-us-suicide-teenager-launch-charitable-foundation-in-his-name/

Tyler Clementi jumped from a bridge in New Jersey last September

The parents of a gay teenager who killed himself last year have launched an anti-bullying foundation in his honour.

Tyler Clementi, 18, a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, jumped from the George Washington Bridge last September.

He had allegedly discovered that his room-mate Dharun Ravi, 19, had secretly recorded and broadcast a sexual act between him and another man.

Ravi is currently standing trial for invasion of privacy and bias intimidation among other charges.

Clementi’s mother, Jane, said when her son came out to her a month before his death, it was like “being kicked in the stomach”.

She told Anderson Cooper 360: “It’s a never-ending process, and it kind of ebbs and flows almost like an ocean. It comes and goes, and it’s very overwhelming at times. But the positive [side] would be that the publicity did generate interest in some of these big issues that need to be addressed.”

The foundation says it will work to support initiatives to discourage bullying, promote acceptance of LGBT teens, reduce the incidence of suicide in young people, and promote “civility and responsibility” in electronic communications.

Joseph Clementi, Tyler’s father and president of the Foundation, said: “The nationwide outpouring of compassion following Tyler’s death has been truly humbling and comforting for our family.

“During that time we have become increasingly aware of the difficulties young people face due to their sexual orientation, especially in this digital age.

“Part of our mission is to raise awareness of cyber-bullying by promoting responsibility in our children’s personal lives and on-line presence. We want them to understand the importance of their words and actions.”

“We want to do our part to help save lives and reduce the anguish of those who are tormented because of the way they look, their sexual orientation, or just for being different.”

Jamie Hubley, a 15 year old boy from Ottawa, Canada, took his own life this weekend after being bullied for being gay

in:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/teen+blog+reveals+final+weeks+before+suicide/5562350/story.html#ixzz1b4vyQfNR

Jamie Hubley documented the final month of his life in heartbreaking and painful detail. The 15-year-old Ottawa boy, a son of Coun. Allan Hubley and his wife, Wendy Barber, kept a blog in which he wrote openly of his struggles with depression and the challenges of being an openly gay teenager.

Photograph by: Family photo, .

OTTAWA — Jamie Hubley documented the final month of his life in heartbreaking and painful detail.

The 15-year-old Ottawa boy, a son of Coun. Allan Hubley and his wife, Wendy Barber, kept a blog in which he wrote openly of his struggles with depression and the challenges of being an openly gay teenager.

"I wish I could be happy, I try, I try, I try . . . I just want to feel special to someone," he wrote.

He was, of course, special to many people but, tragically, the Grade 10 student took his own life Saturday.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Canadians between the ages of 10 and 24 and disproportionately affects gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.

The flag at Kanata's A.Y. Jackson secondary school was flying at half-staff Monday and nearby, several groups of students were hanging out together in huddles, some crying and offering each other hugs.

"Our school community is in mourning and together, we will support each other in this time of need," said the school's principal, Mark Harris, in a written statement.

"From the outside, he looked like the happiest kid. He was always smiling and giving everybody hugs in the halls," said Steph Wheeler, a close friend who had known Jamie since the pair were in figure-skating together as children a decade ago.

But Wheeler, 16, knew the sensitive boy was struggling with being out in high school and often felt the sting of verbal bullying. She said all that Jamie wanted was what every teenager wants — somebody to love.

"I just remember him wanting a boyfriend so bad, he'd always ask me to find a boy for him. I think he wanted someone to love him for who he was," she said.

Jamie had struggled with depression in the past. But despite how he felt on the inside, he often put a smile on his face, setting aside his own pain for others.

"Even though he was feeling down all the time, he always made everybody else feel better," she said.

A gifted actor and singer — he loved Lady Gaga, Adele and Katy Perry, and posted numerous videos of himself singing on his personal YouTube channel — Jamie wrote a month ago that he was looking forward to taking dance lessons this winter.

"Something to look forward to," he wrote.

But he also wrote of his sadness and despair, about being called a "fag."

In a post three weeks ago, he said he was depressed, that medications he was taking weren't working, and that being gay in high school was so hard — a thousand times harder in real life than on the popular television show, Glee, which he loved.

"I hate being the only open gay guy in my school . . . It f---ing sucks, I really want to end it," he wrote.

The blog postings are interspersed with angst-filled quotes and startling images of self-harm — gathered from all over the web, as well as other pictures of celebrities, clothing and men kissing passionately.

On Friday, Jamie made a final, heartbreaking post.

He thanked his family and his friends, but wrote that he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Im tired of life really. Its so hard, Im sorry, I cant take it anymore.

"Its just too hard," he wrote, later referencing It Gets Better, a popular online campaign in which millions of people have posted heartfelt video messages directed at young people struggling with their sexuality and acceptance in the world.

"I dont want to wait 3 more years, this hurts too much. How do you even know It will get better? Its not."

He ended with another reference, this one to Glee and a subplot this season about Kurt Hummel, a character who is also openly gay and highly talented.

"Remember me as a Unicorn," he wrote.

On the show, the unicorn refers to someone who is different, but special inside.

The Hubley family requested privacy Sunday, as did many of the people who knew Jamie best.

"Thank you to all the people sending us messages. Their love for Jamie will keep us going in our time of need," Allan Hubley said Saturday on Twitter.

In Jamie's honour, Wheeler has ordered 1,000 silicone bracelets, which she plans to sell at A.Y. Jackson and other local high schools to raise money for Jer's Vision, an anti-bullying and anti-homophobia group Jamie was fond of.

The rainbow-coloured bracelets will say "acceptance" on the outside and "Rest in peace Jamie Hubley" on the inside.

She also said the Rainbow Alliance club Jamie started in order to help other students in his shoes feel at home in the school will hopefully continue in his honour.

Cathy Curry, the public school trustee for Kanata, said a team of counsellors will be in the school this week to support students and make sure everyone has someone to talk to.

"It's unbelievably sad," she said. "I can't imagine what Allan and his wife and his family are going through."

A funeral will be held on Thursday.

in: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/teen+blog+reveals+final+weeks+before+suicide/5562350/story.html#ixzz1b4vyQfNR