October 1, 2010, 11:39 am
Tools Against Homophobic Bullying
By LISA BELKIN
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/tools-against-homophobic-bullying/A tragedy shines a spotlight on the ways it might have been prevented.
Tyler Clementi's suicide and the arrest of his roommate for streaming Tyler's intimate encounter with another man online, is highlighting the paths in place to help L.G.B.T. teens find help against bullying.
Suicide rates among L.G.B.T. teens are four times the rate of their straight counterparts, and in last few months alone, four teenagers committed suicide, apparently in response to homophobic bullying. Nothing can erase that horror, but perhaps something good can be built in their memories. "So often the problem is that students are invisible and unprotected," says Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director of Lambda Legal, which works for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men and people with H.I.V./AIDS. "Now we have some highly visible, horribly tragic cases — and, I hope, the potential for all of us stepping up to make a difference."
