26-Year-Old Joseph Jefferson Didn’t Kill Himself Because of Gay Bullying. Neither Did Raymond Chase.

[fabnana]

The New York Times has an insightful piece today about Joseph Jefferson, the 26-year-old gay Brooklyn community activist who committed suicide in October. Before hanging himself, Jefferson left a message on his Facebook wall which read: “I could not bear the burden of living as a gay man of color in a world grown cold and hateful towards those of

Comments

[redstar826]

Well, I do think the media discussions around the issue of gay people committing/attempting suicide have been rather over simplistic, and that bullying may not always be a factor. I tried to kill myself 8 years ago because I didn't want to be gay, bullying was not an issue at all for me at that time. Rather, I was dealing with stuff related to my religious upbringing and fears about how my family would react. Internalized homophobia is about a lot more than just being bullied at school.

I also think there needs to be more discussion around access of mental health services for lgbt people and how some queer or trans folks might not feel safe seeking out help specifically because they are not sure how they will be treated. The folks who were supposed to be helping me when I was hospitalized didn't seem to know a damned thing about queer women (I dealt with a lovely mix of sexism and homophobia over the 3 days I was hospitalized), and in fact said some pretty awful things that made me feel even worse.

That said, I also think it's a bad idea for these folks to say that they know for certain that a person is not being bullied. And I really hate this idea that if a person hasn't spoken about something, then clearly it must not have happened.

[andnightsgrow]

THIS, ty. i'm out of high school so i don't really experience bullying and never did, but finding a therapist after i moved that wouldn't condemn or dismiss my pansexuality took weeks and hundreds of calls, and i'm sure there are tons of other people, depending on geographic area, who could say the same (i'm in arkansas, which might be a factor)