R.I.P. Kenneth James Weishuhn

R.I.P. K.J.W.

Today is the funeral for Kenneth James Weishuhn, a 14-year-old high school freshman in Iowa who killed himself after coming out as gay and subsequently facing a storm of brutal bullying, death threats and hateful Facebook and cell phone messages.

Iowa teen commits suicide; family says he was bullied because he was gay – LGBTQ Nation

Tennessee Teen Is State's Second Suicide in Two Months

Tennessee Teen Is State's Second Suicide in Two Months
In Tennessee, where lawmakers are once again considering the “don’t say gay” bill aimed at schools, a 14-year-old Gordonsville student named Phillip Parker killed himself Friday.
The Tennessee Equality Project plans a candlelight vigil Thursday at the Cookeville Courthouse Square to remember Parker and to call on lawmakers to stop sending a negative message to students.

The so-called don’t say gay bill would bar teachers from discussing homosexuality in public school classes in kindergarten through eighth grade. It managed to pass the state Senate on a 20-10 vote last year. But the House ran out of time to consider it, and now lawmakers are trying again.

“We are reaching out and we continue to call for our General Assembly to turn from discriminatory legislation and toward positive solutions to bullying,” the Tennessee Equality Project wrote to its followers on Facebook.

They point out that this is the second suicide in Middle Tennessee in two months, with Cheatham County teenager Jacob Rogers killing himself December 7 after repeated bullying.

Friends say classmate killed himself due to anti-gay bullying – LGBTQ Nation

Friends say classmate killed himself due to anti-gay bullying – LGBTQ Nation


ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. — Students at a local school are grieving a classmate. Friends say the young man took his own life because he couldn’t take any more bullying.

And they say school officials knew about the torment but didn’t do enough to stop it.

Friends say that kids bullied Jacob Rogers at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but in the past few months it had become so bad he dropped out of school.

And Wednesday, he ended his life.

“He started coming home his senior year saying ‘I don’t want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a f****, they call me gay, a queer,’” friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

Kaelynn said her friend Jacob felt ignored.