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Gay News Headlines: Relationships, Marriage, Adoption

 

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Marriage

Sioux City Journal, Iowa Newspaper, Devotes Front Page To Fighting Bullying

In a rare and forceful act of advocacy, an Iowa newspaper devoted the entire front page of its Sunday edition to an anti-bullying editorial after a gay teen committed suicide.

Relatives have said 14-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn Jr. suffered intense harassment, including threatening cellphone calls and nasty comments posted online, after coming out to family and friends about a month ago. He died April 15 from what the local sheriff's office described only as a "self-inflicted injury."

The Sioux City Journal's front-page opinion piece calls on the community to be pro-active in stopping bullying and urges members to learn more about the problem by seeing the acclaimed new film, "Bully," which documents the harassment of a Sioux City middle school student. It notes that while many students are targeted for being gay, "we have learned a bully needs no reason to strike."

"In Kenneth's case, the warnings were everywhere," the editorial said. "We saw it happen in other communities, now it has hit home. Undoubtedly, it wasn't the first life lost to bullying here, but we can strive to make it the last.

Editor Mitch Pugh said the newspaper has run front-page editorials before but has never devoted the entire page to one.

"A lot of newspapers shy away from putting editorials on the front page, but we feel we have to be a strong advocate for our community," he said. "And if we don't do that, we're not sure who else is."

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Bullying

 

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Bullying

 

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Bullying

 

Elton John Has Some Advice For Bullies

Elton John opened up about his experience with bullying to E! News' freshly-minted correspondent David Burtka.

In his E! interview, Elton mainly recounts being bullied as an adult:

"It was about control and them being able to keep me under their thumb," he told David. "And I was the perfect candidate for it. Even though I was famous and a big deal, it doesn't matter, it's who you are underneath that, and I was always kind of shy and intimidated."

"One was violent and the other two were mentally violent. They were very important people in my life. They were important people in my career and and in my personal life."

He goes on to dispense advice to bullied teens:

"Speak out, speak out," he instructs victims. "Snitch on them. Try to defend yourself, not like me, who hid it and thought it was OK to just go on like it."

...their tormentors:

"Your insecurities are what drive you to do this. You need to consider your consequences. I'm sure underneath it, you're all very nice people. We've all made mistakes in our life—this is a good time now to correct your mistakes and help people."

...and society at large:

"We have to nip this in the bud, too many people have died. Too many young people have committed suicide because they've been frightened of 15-16-year-olds."

Elton will practice what he preaches by helping Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation with its anti-bullying initiatives.

(Source: E! News)

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Bullying

 

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Bullying

 

Gay News Headlines: Rights, Relationships, Bullying