Parents: Bullies drove son to suicide
The Houston Chronicle reports an eighth-grader committed suicide Sept. 23, shooting himself in the head after enduring antigay harassment from students at Hamilton Middle School.
Asher Brown’s family said he was “bullied to death” — picked on for his small size, his religion and because he did not wear designer clothes and shoes. Kids also accused him of being gay, some of them performing mock gay acts on him in his physical-education class, his mother and stepfather said.
The 13-year-old’s parents, David and Amy Truong, said they complained about the bullying to Hamilton Middle School officials during the past 18 months, but claimed their concerns fell on deaf ears.
School district spokesperson Kelli Durham said no students, school employees or the boy’s parents ever reported that he was being bullied.
Senator’s office source of anti-gay slur
TheHill.com reports the office of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) confirmed Sept. 23 that an anti-gay slur posted to an LGBT blog originated from one of its computers, but said the author had not been identified.
“That part of the review is ongoing, and is now in the hands of the Senate sergeant at arms,” the office said in a statement.
Questions arose Sept. 22 when “All [gays] must die” was posted as a comment on Joe.My.God, a blog that covers gay and lesbian issues. Blog author Joseph Jervis, with readers’ help, traced the IP address of the post’s author to an Atlanta office building shared by Chambliss and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).
Key West task force to keep gays safe
USA Today reports a new task force in Key West is seeking to safeguard gays from hate crimes.
The Anti-Hate Crimes Task Force hopes to bring more diversity training to Key West schools following an incident last month in which a man and his boyfriend were beaten and addressed with a gay slur.
The Key West Citizen reports the Gay and Lesbian Community Center also is developing an information sheet to distribute to bars, restaurants, taxi drivers and other businesses that will contain tips on what to do if attacked, and on avoiding dangerous situations.
— Larry Nichols