Eric James Borges' Suicide Note, Memorial Service Sheds New Insight Into Bullied Gay Teen's Life

A published excerpt from a suicide note and comments made by friends at a memorial service is shedding a new light on a gay teen filmmaker who took his own life earlier this month.

San Diego Gay & Lesbian News contributor Melanie Nathan, who attended one of several memorials dedicated to Eric James Borges (known as 'EricJames' to his friends), quotes from the note -- which includes references to friends and his favorite pop icon -- in her exclusive report.

"To my friends you gave me life and love, never think this was your fault," one segment reads. "To Lady Gaga, you have been a fearless relentless proud LGBT advocate..." The 19-year-old Borges, who worked as an intern for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth advocacy group The Trevor Project, also expresses his gratitude to the organization: “I do not want my passing to reflect poorly on the Trevor Project,” he wrote. “That organization was the best decision I ever made in my life.”

The note concludes: “My pain is not caused because I am gay. My pain was caused by how I was treated because I am gay.”

Borges' "extremist religious" parents, who kicked their son out of their home after allegedly performing an exorcism on him, did not attend the memorial, Nathan noted in her report.

Borges' passing left friends and acquaintances confused, particularly as the budding filmmaker had produced an "It Gets Better" video in support of LGBT youth just one month earlier. Jennifer McGuire, with whom Borges lived after being kicked out of his own home, is quoted as saying, "By the time he got to us, his real family, he was so injured and so wounded that the triage we provided wasn’t enough."


Need help? Visit The Trevor Project's website or call them at 1-866-488-7386. In the U.S. you can also call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or visit stopbullying.gov.

You can also visit Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) website for more resources.

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

http://www.stopbullying.gov/

Trevor Project Intern Takes His Own Life

Yet another LGBTQ teen has turned to suicide, this time hitting close to home for the very people who try so hard to help teens in their times of crisis. Details on the sad news of Eric Borges' passing after the jump.
San Joaquin Valley resident Eric Borges reportedly took his own life Wednesday, despite time spent working as an intern with the Trevor Project. The 19-year-old, known as EricJames by friends and family, was a vocal supporter of LGBT youth, even making an “It Get’s Better” video last year.

Laura McGinnis, communications director at the Trevor Project, sent a statement to LGBTQ Nation upon their coverage of the suicide, saying, “We are deeply saddened to hear about the tragic death of EricJames Borges, and our hearts go out to his family and friends, and his community. EricJames was a dedicated, trained volunteer. Our main concern right now is that those affected by his death feel supported and can get the care they need. If you or someone you know needs support, please don’t hesitate to call the Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386.”

LGBTQ Nation also notes that EricJames, who was turned away by his birth family, had been attempting to make a life for himself on his own.

Further details surrounding the incident are not known, and we certainly don’t want to speculate as to reasoning. More importantly, our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time, and we also echo Laura McGinnis in urging anyone struggling or feeling in need of some support to please reach out for help.

The number again for the Trevor Lifeline is 866-488-7386.

Father Who Campaigned Against Bullying Found Dead

Roger Crouch and his son Dominic

 

This I think is a first--- a parent of a gay teen suicide victim of bullies has tekn their own life as well.  This is VERY sad indeed.  What, in my mind this begs of us to ask is...  Doesit get better?  From some I say the answer is yes, for others the answer is clearly no.  It also begs of us to ask what will it take to really make it better for everyone?!

A U.K. man who started a campaign against antigay bullying in honor of his son who committed suicide in 2010 has apparently taken his own life.

Following the death of his 15-year-old son, Dominic, who was teased after purportedly kissing a boy on a dare while playing spin the bottle, Roger Crouch launched a Facebook campaign against homophobic bullying and became a patron for Diversity Role Models. His efforts led him to schools, where he sought to ensure that antibullying policies were put into place and advocated for the teaching of coping strategies for youth. He also visited the House of Commons to urge members of parliament to get involved in the fight against bullying.

Last month the U.K. organization Stonewall named him its “hero of the year,” an honor for which he beat out fellow activists Lady Gaga and Joan Armatrading. At the event, Crouch said, “I see this as an award for Dom. By choosing us for this award you've also chosen to take a stand alongside all the young people whose lives have been ended by bullying.

“We are parents who loved our son. We stood by him in life and we stand by him in death.”

The Guardian reports that on Monday, Crouch himself was found dead at his Gretton, England, home after Gloucestershire police went to the residence citing “concerns” for his welfare.

On Thursday a police spokesperson said the death was not considered suspicious.

Crouch’s wife, Paola, posted a heartbreaking message on their Friends of Dom Crouch against Bullying Facebook group, saying, “The changes you have started for young people everywhere, the work you have done against bullying, will remain as a towering monument to you.”

Jamey Rodemeyer Tormentors Under Criminal Investigation

Police have begun a criminal investigation into the suicide death of Jamey Rodemeyer, the 14-​year old Buffalo-​area teen who was tormented by anti-​gay bullies for years. Local authorities say that while New York does not have anti-​bullying laws, there are other avenues, such as harassment, aggravated harassment, cyber-harassment or hate crimes laws that may apply. Reports state there are several individuals in particular that authorities are investigating.

WATCH: Anderson Cooper: 14-​Year Old Bullied To Death “Even In Sadness, Reaching Out To Help Others”

The Buffalo News today reports, “We’re going to look into whether he was the victim of any crimes leading up to his suicide,” Police Chief John C. Askey said.

“We’re not indicating, not speculating at this point, that that is the cause of his death, … but independently, there may have been crimes that have been committed against him.”
Askey said he spoke Wednesday with Williamsville School Superintendent Scott G. Martzloff, who has pledged the district’s cooperation.
Members of the public, including those from the school community, have reached out to police in recent days with information suggesting that Jamey had been subjected to what would amount to criminal harassment, Askey said.
“We’ve heard that there were some specific students, an identifiable group of students, that had specifically targeted Jamey, or had been picking on him for a period of time,” Askey said.
While investigators are focusing on what may have transpired in the recent past, he said, police are under the impression that one to three students may have been bothering Jamey since he was a student at Heim Middle School.
“We’re looking into it to see if he was the victim of any crimes, and that’s the bottom line,” the chief said. “We’re going to be speaking to school officials and students and anyone with direct information about crimes that may have been committed against this individual.”
Jamey’s mother had previously told The Buffalo News that she believed that a core group of middle school students bullied her son and that the situation worsened for him about a year ago, when many anonymous posts began showing up on Jamey’s Formspring blog stating that he would be better off dead.
…
In a short YouTube video Jamey did in May, he expressed regret for creating the Formspring account “because people would just constantly send me hate.”
The anonymous posts included:
* “Kill your self!!!! You have nothing left!”
* “Listen to us, you’re a bad person, you don’t belong here, jump off a bridge or something!”
* “Go kill yourself, you’re worthless, ugly and dont have a point to live.”
* “You werent born this way. You shouldnt have ever been born.”
Seven months ago, in response to the Formspring question: What’s one thing people don’t know about you? Jamey answered, “How much I hate my life. Maybe it’s cause I’m bullied. a lot.”
His parents and friends said that it took a lot of work and encouragement to get Jamey through that dark period. Eventually, toward the end of last school year, Jamey stopped using Formspring altogether.

The Buffalo News also had published these comments from Jamey Rodemeyer’s FormSpring account:

“JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” read one post.
Another read: “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it  It would make everyone WAY more happier!”

“The Amherst Police Department’s Special Victims Unit has said it will determine whether to charge some students with harassment, cyber-​harassment or hate crimes,” reports ABC News. “Police said three students in particular might have been involved. Jamey was a student at Heim Middle School.”

Jamey had just started his freshman year at Williamsville North High School. (Both Amherst and Williamsville are just outside Buffalo.) But the bullying had begun during middle school, according to his parents. He had told family and friends that he had endured hateful comments in school and online, mostly related to his sexual orientation.
…
“Justin was a smiley, happy boy who loved to play his cello,” said his parents. “School systems need to do more to protect LGBT students from bullying, and not turn their back on them because of their sexual orientation.”

14 year old Jamey Rodemeyer kills himself because of Bullies

Heartbroken Buffalo parents Tracy and Tim Rodemeyer say they found their 14 year-old son Jamey dead yesterday morning in a presumed suicide. Jamey had long complained of vicious homophobic bullying at the hands of his classmates.

Jamey Rodemeyer needed help. At 14, he was grappling with adolescent demons that could torment grown men. And when he was online, he wrote about it. "I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens," he wrote Sept. 9. "What do I have to do so people will listen to me?" Just over one week later, Jamey was found dead outside his home of an apparent suicide. In the months prior, he routinely blogged about school bullying and thoughts of suicide in between upbeat posts about his pop star idol Lady Gaga and the ordinary types of teen rants typical for kids his age. On Sept. 8, he wrote: "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down."

Much of Jamey's tormenting came via cyber-bullying. His parents, who say they discussed and supported Jamey's questioning of his sexuality, intend to carry on his campaign against bullies.

Towleroad notes that yesterday Lady Gaga responded to the suicide of bullied 14 year-old Jamey Rodemeyer by vowing to meet with the president about the issue. Jamey was a huge fan of Gaga and frequently mentioned her in his online postings. His parents say they will bury Jamey in a Born This Way t-shirt.

Teens in Suicide Pact Kill themselves

A pair of Minnesota teens who felt bullied and ostracized by fellow middle school students killed themselves this weekend during what appeared to be an innocent sleepover.
Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz were found Saturday in the small town of Lynd. The two 14-year-olds hanged themselves and left notes in an apparent suicide pact.
"I think they've had this for some time," Robin Settle, Fentress' aunt, told ABC News. The two were found by Fentress' mother. Moravetz was sleeping over at her best-friend's home because her parents were on vacation in Hawaii. "She attempted to resuscitate them," Settle said, but it was too late.

Moravetz moved to the small Minnesota town a year ago and had a hard time making friends, her aunt said. She and Fentress' friendship appeared to grow out of the pair's shared feeling of being excluded. Settle said her niece told her she was "made fun of for being overweight ... and she didn't fit in."

Fentress didn't want "anybody to be sad for her," according to Settle, and dictated in her suicide note that her funeral have lots of pink, princesses and butterflies.  Marshall Middle School, where the two girls attended, held a gathering Tuesday to reach out to parents and provide information on how to discuss the incident with their children.

"You don't get over it," Marshall Superintendent Klint Willert said, according to the Marshall Independent newspaper. "But by working together, we can get through it."

New Jersey: Roommate Charged with Hate Crime In Suicide of Rutgers Student

The roommate of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi (left) was today indicted on hate crime charges stemming from the secret webcasting of Clementi having sex with another man. Clementi leaped from the George Washington Bridge last year after learning about the broadcast.


Dharun Ravi, a former Rutgers University student, was indicted on 15 counts including charges of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and tampering with evidence by a grand jury in Middlesex County, N.J. Prosecutors allege that not only did Ravi invade Clementi's privacy, but he tried to cover it up. Both Ravi and his alleged accomplice, former Rutgers student Molly Wei, are accused of filming Clementi during a "sexual encounter" in his dorm room with a man and then streaming it live on the Internet. Evidence against Wei has not yet been presented to a grand jury. Prosecutors allege that on Sept. 19 of last year, Ravi filmed Clementi with the purpose of intimidating him because of his sexual orientation. Ravi "disclosed a photograph, film, videotape, recording or other reproduction of the image of [Clementi]...whose intimate parts were exposed," the indictment reads. When Ravi became worried about being charged with a crime, he sent false tweets in an attempt "to mislead a public servant who was engaged in such proceeding or investigation," the indictment reads.



Clementi's parents have released a statement applauding today's charges.