A gay teenager calls with, he tells me, a gun in his hand and it is pointed at his head. His friends and family have discovered that he is gay, and he doesn't see much point in living with what they regard as his "shame." Thanking with each breath I took the training Horizons' Bruce Koff has given me, I manage to steer him to a youth program before he ends his life.
A Chicago fireman, one with bravery awards in his file, calls to tell me that since some co-workers discovered he was gay he reports to duty each day and is sent to another station to work, and another and another and another, until the day ends. He's pretty sure the only route out for him is suicide. I beg him to meet me some place where we can talk but he doesn't agree, and I never hear from him again.
A 12-year-old calls, terrified because while he doesn't "feel gay," he only feels complete when he is dressed as a girl. Gender Alliance receives our call and takes over, welcoming him into a future he'd given up on having.
A young woman calls. She has changed jobs six times already because of the rape threats she gets from co-workers because she is openly lesbian. She is tired of fighting and believes the only alternative she has to suicide is changing jobs once again, and going back into the closet.
In 1983, when I was appointed Mayor Harold Washington's Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian Communities, the only telephone listing in the city which specifically mentioned the word "gay" was mine and so I got those calls. Twenty-seven years ago, years of progress for GLBTs, growing openness and acceptance, many more resources for kids and yet … so many are still in despair, their humanity and identities are still demeaned on a daily basis, and they are still dying.
I confess to having mixed thoughts and feelings when the proposal for a Pride Campus of the School for Social Justice in Chicago was first made, but no longer. At all costs, we have to protect our kids. It's clear that unless we shepherd them safely through the years during which they are most vulnerable emotionally and even neurologically, we are in danger of losing them, either when they are young or later in their lives when their unhealed wounds are re-opened by hatred and derision.
In a culture where lack of civility prevails and is even glorified, there is little hope for convincing adults to recognize their responsibility to counsel against bullying and to discipline their kids when they are caught engaging in it. Let's then concentrate our efforts instead on building a safe environment for our GLBT children, one which builds in them the confidence and skills they will need to have a chance for the happy and fulfilled lives to which they are entitled.
Let's revive the idea of the Pride Campus, and then let's get it done. And if I may suggest, let's name it for a woman who devoted her life to these kids. Let's name it the Renae Ogletree High School.
IN THIS ISSUE [ LINK HERE OR FROM THIS ISSUE'S MAIN INDEX ]
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php Anti-suicide project reflects on cases
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php DePaul vigil remembers teen suicides
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Kirk Williamson
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Tracy Baim
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Toni Weaver
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Amy Pirtle
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Bobby Pirtle
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Eric Marcus
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Alexandra Billings
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Caleb's Story
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Karlis Streips
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by John R. Cepek
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Judy Shepard
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Lee Lynch
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Kristi Keorkunian
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Joshua Plant
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Chris Hill
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php Trevor Project Chicago events
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php Stopping Bullies in Illinois
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php Mother of Slain Teen Gwen Araujo Addresses LGBT Youth Suicide by Sylvia Guerrero
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Carl G. Streed Jr.
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Thom Bierdz
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Vernita Gray
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php by Wancy Young Cho
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php RESOURCES
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php QUOTES