Gay suicides: For some, it never ‘gets better’

Jamey Rodemeyer was a freshman at Williamsville North High School in New York. For years, he dealt with intense bullying at the hands of peers who told him that he was a ‘disgusting faggot' and that he would burn in hell for being gay.

Following the advice of his idol, Lady Gaga, Jamey tried to hold his head up as high as he could. In May, he contributed his own YouTube video to the It Gets Better Project in order to convey hope to other bullied youth. “Love yourself and you’re set,” he said. “And I promise you it’ll get better.”

But we denied Jamey the harvest of his own promise. On September 18, Jamey’s hopelessness claimed his life. He was only 14. His suicide dealt all of us a sobering reminder that, for some, it really never does get better.

And we’re all to blame, writes Ashton Pittman in The Student Printz.