By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

Several Young men across the United States killed themselves due to anti-gay bullying.

For years, Nadine Smith and Equality Florida fought bigoted legislators to prove that laws needed to be passed to curb schoolyard bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. The recent high-profile stories of gay teen suicides across the country proved that Smith’s efforts were important in securing the passage of Florida’s Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act in 2008. More teenagers may be afraid to reveal themselves for fear of harassment from their peers. The incidents of gay teenagers taking their own lives that grabbed national headlines in September were:

• On September 29, 19-year-old Raymond Chase, a sophomore at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island committed suicide by hanging himself in his dorm room. Friends and family said that Raymond seemed happy and they did not know he was suicidal.

• On September 23, 13-year-old Asher Brown of Houston shot himself in the head in his step-father’s closet. The middle- schooler was constantly picked on by four students at his school and endured being called gay and had mock gay acts performed on him during physical education class.

• On September 22, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey, jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River after his roommate secretly videotaped Clementi engaging in sexual activity with another man. Clementi was not out to his family and officials believe he was so distraught over the video’s release online that that is what caused him to take his own life. Clementi’s former roommate, 18-year-old Dharun Ravi, is being charged with invasion of privacy.

• On September 19, 13-year-old Seth Walsh of Fresno, California hung himself on a tree in his family’s backyard after getting bullied by a group of local teenagers in a park. Seth had been openly gay but not sexually active according to his family. No criminal charges will be filed in the case.

• On September 9, 15-year-old Billy Lucas of Greensburg, Indiana saw no end to the constant stream of teasing and harassment for his openly bisexual orientation and hanged himself from the rafters of his family’s barn. A day before the suicide Billy had a chair pulled out from underneath him in the school cafeteria and his classmates had taunted him by saying he should just go hang himself. “The recent pattern of LGBT youth suicides is cause for grave concern,” said Shane Windmeyer, founder of Campus Pride, a national resource group founded in 2001. “Campus Pride demands national action be taken to address youth bullying, harassment and the need for safety and inclusion for LGBT youth at colleges and universities. We must not let these tragic deaths go unnoticed. Together we must act decisively to curb anti- LGBT bias incidents, harassment and acts of violence.”

According to a 2009 survey of 7,261 middle and high school students by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harassment at school and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation. Nearly a third of LGBT students skipped at least one day of school in the past month because of safety concerns.

The Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Student Non- Discrimination Act were introduced in Congress in 2009, but lawmakers have not been in a rush to tackle the issue.

United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged Congress to devote the time to this important piece of legislation after the recent tragedies.

“This is a moment where every one of us — parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience — needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms,” Duncan said. “Whether it’s students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay, it is time we as a country said enough. No more. This must stop.”

National Coming Out Day, an internationally observed civil awareness day is October 11 and could be a good day for many students to take an anti-GLBT bullying stand and support their peers if they choose to express their orientation.

“The end to bullying and creating a culture of respect for all isn’t a onestep or one-sided effort,” said a joint statement by GLSEN, The Trevor Project and PFLAG. “It is critical that concerned friends, family and community members know they have the power to take action to help at-risk youth right now.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis and has mentioned or is considering suicide take it seriously and get help.

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273- TALK (8255) or the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.