I doubt if the OWH will commentObama doesn’t want to offend the base. Which, apparently, is the GOP base. It would be a statesmanlike thing to speak out, but unfortunately Obama seems to be equal parts Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson these days, glib, but not terribly adroit in management or finance — esp. now that Harry the Horse has gone back to Chicago to run for mayor.
At some point the anti-LGBT harassment might constitute a form of domestic terrorism, at least as the Patriot Act defines it. If that doesn’t anger Obama than nothing will.
Fiat justitia ruat coelum.

Again I ask…Since when do suicide rise to the level of Presidential attention?
I have a secret for you…more people committed suicide this week than the few that were reported on this site.
Here is a bigger secret…people have been committing suicide longer than this man has been President.
So why would this rise to the level of needing Presidential attention?
At this point, a better question would be, is there ANYTHING that happens in this country that you think does not require his immediate attention?
There was a time when Americans had a sense of priorities and recognized that not everything that happens in a nation of more than 300 million people required a response from the Federal government. If someone gets mugged in New York’s Central Park, should the President be expected to make a statement on that? There are a number of drunk driving accidents across the country every day…perhaps he needs to make a statement about those as well.

For onethere’s the Werther Effect (and I studied the initial incarnation of this).
Two, make the distinction between “The Obama White House” (which would include the appropriate personnel in the executive branch) and President Obama himself.
Third, I suppose you would say that Obama shouldn’t comment on school shootings, as well (as President Clinton did) until a Columbine happens.
If then.
 

what the hell, he’s a great talkerIf an incident on a college professor’s front porch can take up his day, why not this? That was a chance for him to give a talk, such that it was, on race in America. Why not this, which is the result of domestic terrorism?
Words are cheap, so there’s no risk of deficit spending with him.

a similar commentary from SalonA case that “many are to blame”.
http://www.salon.com/life/broa…
BTW, the New Jersey authorites may be throwing the book. I don’t know if the hate crime charge will be an easy sell to a jury, but it sure will help when they sit down and talk about plea bargains.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl…
Fiat justitia ruat coelum.

Speaking of the Werther EffectPam, I don’t know about this case, we don’t know if this was a result of anti-LGBT bullying or anything else, hell, it could have been an all too teenagerey typical break-up with his boyfriend for all we know.
Taking the Werther Effect (that is, copycat suicides) into consideration do y’all bloggers really have some guidelines as far as stories like this are concerned?
And…really, Perez Hilton as a link…

I believe it accurate to say that Gay youth are 4 times as likely to commit suicide as straight youth.If athorities that are made up predominantly by straight individual will not address then we must pressure them to do so.  
I am not addressing Obama specifically, but it is the Local Educational Systems, Police, Boards of Education, and the Communities who hire, appoint, and elect same, who are factually, the ones in charge, and primarily responsible for making every effort to prevent suicide, not only of gays.
Having a 400% higher rate within the specified group, Should warrant a Focused Effort at prevention, however, what we predominantly see is just the reverse; a lesser effort, apathy, and even contempt, which fuels the fire. Much of the problem lies within the system.
In order improve this they Must First Acknowledge that there is a problem.  This is difficult.  Many, because of personal or religious beliefs, cannot seperate these beliefs with the interests of the students who are within their care.  They fail.
We must prompt and support them to do a better job. These are children that we are talking about.

This is Obama’s HIV momentHow the fuck long did it take Reagan to consider a national response to HIV/AIDS, or even mention it?
This is Obama’s moment to not be Reagan.  (Fierce Avocado, anyone?)
SciFi Geek, I mean you no ill will at all, but can you not see that all suicides are not created equal?  Some ppl drive themselves to it; some ppl are driven to it by others.
An appropriate Federal response could be to support some anty-bullying legislation (including the cyber and digital transmission kind).
But that might offend the Christers.  Or the Taliban.  I’m sorry, I get them confused.

Scifi Geek = When you make excuses for politicians, you oppose our movementThe LGBT movement is the only social movement that has been required to do double duty:  fight oppression from without and fight bigotry from within.  The African American civil rights movement never allowed racists in its midst.  The women’s movement never elevated misogynists to positions of leadership.  The American Indian Movement never followed the orders of the FBI.
And yet the lgbt movement is different.  The lgbt movement not only has to fight against bigots from WITHOUT the movement (the religious right, politicians who talk but don’t act, gay bashers, etc), but we have to fight the bigots WITHIN:  queers who hate themselves and think gay people don’t deserve equality.  I’m afraid Scifi Geek fits in that category.
If we were living in a political vacuum or in a world like in the film “Groundhog Day”, Scifi Geek’s comments might be correct.  But we don’t.  Instead, Scifi Greek’s comments are highly offensive and need to be condemned.  
We are living in the very real context of inequality, oppression, physical violence, emotional and psychological terrorism, and the anxiety that comes with having to live from day to day not knowing which of the few rights you have will be taken away.  We are living in the context of the overwhelming majority of the country supporting a whole range of equal rights for lgbt people (numbering in the hundreds of millions) and a small number of politicians (436, to be exact) who disregard all that and continue to keep their boots on our necks.  We are living in a context of endless war where economic necessity forces thousands into the military where they face harassment, threats, abuse, and constant anxiety.  We live in the context of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and where lgbt people face this crisis with two hands tied behind our backs.  Because of homophobia, even college-educated lesbians, on average, earn less than their heterosexual, non-college educated counterparts.  Employment discrimination and joblessness are at epidemic proportions among the transgender community.  And, of course, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, with more than 90% support among the general population and which has been kicking around in one form or another since 1974, was dead on arrival in the era of Obama.  
Yes, Mr. Geek.  Barack HomophObama does need to make a statement.  It’s the least, THE VERY LEAST, he can do.  Once again I repeat:  our job is not to make excuses for millionaire politicians.  Our job is to make our demands known.  Repeat that to yourself 500 times or, if you’d prefer, give me your phone number and I will call you once a week for the rest of your life to remind you of what your job is.  Rahm Emmanuel left the White House today.  I’m sure Obama has found another Chief of Staff.  He doesn’t need you to play that role.

Well, you don’t have to specifically addresssuicides for anti-gay bullying; actually you can address teenage suicide (and bullying) period.
Remember, suicide is the third leading cause of death for black males ages 15-24 (and if you make it that far, then you should be able to eat pu**y, at least according to 50 Cent…OK, that was a bad joke).
Personally, I would rather Michelle Obama address this at this time.

I received this news from the RILGBT newslistThere was no link in the email, but I’m familiar with the newslist so had no reason to doubt this.  I quoted the newslist in a post below.  
Don’t blame the messenger.
OT and not to lessen the tragedy of yet one more loss of youth, the school Johnson and Wales was started by lesbian couple, Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, in 1914 or thereabouts as a secretarial school.  Hidden herstory as the Province Journal archives refers to them as women friends or “maiden ladies” as was the parlance of the 1900′s.  The articles says, ‘After the war, in 1947, Miss Johnson and Miss Wales retired to their Warwick home…”

Is there even a remote shred of decency anywhere in you?Or simple humanity?
Don’t bother responding.  The question is purely rhetorical.  We all know the answer.
If Obama were caught on camera raping a crippled nun, you’d pull some damn rationale out of you @$$ to defend him.

Hmmm? Perhaps a Very good suggestion for Mrs. O!and how in the world could that harm the elections?
Not at all I’d say.  
It would probably appeal to most (especially Mothers) bridging the gap between the Right and Left??
Helping Children.
She might want to jump right on that one!

It’s been reported elsewhere(I don’t know with what authority; there were no links) that Chase had recently come out to his mother and she rejected him.

I STRONGLY disagreeAll suicides are equal. It the idea that some are more tragic than other that really bothers me.

The piece on NPR this morningwas a follow-up to the Tyler Clementi story and involved one of our own, Ari Shapiro, talking with Sue Rankin, a prof at Penn State who did a study on campus life for LGBT folks.  The statistics were alarmingly sad for what one would hope to be a more enlightened environment.  The gist of the story revealed the fact that many kids who were out in high school subsequently returned to the closet once going to college, because the atmosphere was not conducive to being open.  Ari’s reactions to Rankin’s statements were ones of surprise and disappointment.  Being out in college is every bit as difficult as being out anywhere else, especially when students are often far away from the support of their families and friends. These stories on our kid’s suicides are so heartbreaking.

More on the statistics from RankinYes, here’s more from Rankin…
* NPR: College Campus Not Always Safe For Gay Students
* Out Mag: In the Wake of Student Suicides, Study Finds That Harassment Is Forcing Gay Youth Back into the Closet.

You know…at some point you’ll grow up and learn to have an adult conversation. Someday, perhaps, you’ll learn to understand that not everyone is required to agree with you.
But of course, some people never grow up and continue to act like petulant children their whole lives…Throwing tantrums and resorting the name calling because others have the audacity not to see the world the way they do.
You know, its ironic that we happen to be discussing bullying, since you exhibit all the behaviours of a bully on a regular basis.  

I would have to see that but thisjust came in at Rod 2.0.

Ray was a truly respectable person, along with his jokes and cool dances that everyone loved. There is not 1 memory where i dont smile. truthfully i believe it was something other than him being gay b/c everyone knew and accepted it, but according to the media they “assume” its bullying just b/c he was gay NO ONE EVER made fun of ray b/c everyone liked him. He was the cool guy in school that everyone wanted to be around in order to have fun. he will be loved and missed FOREVER R.I.P. RAY

I’m more concerned about the feeding frenzy now, for reasons that I wrote about over at Rod’s (and to some extent here).

it may not be “werther effect” but simple pervasive abuseEnough hostile badgering, whether through the media (e.g., 50 Cent, Buju Banton, Lou Engle et al) or in person, and some vulnerable youth will snap. It’s not emulation but a concerted campaign of hate, directed hate, as 50 Cent so revealed.
So it’s not suicide, not really. It’s wrongful death. When one recognizes it, at that point it’s time to look for proximate causes and culpable parties.

Here dead we lie because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
But young men think it is
and we were young.
– A.E. Housman

For one, suicide should never be an optionand you’re talking here to someone who’s not one of those black Americans that SciFi Geek likes to romanticize about that has such great coping mechanisms; I remember wanting to commit suicide as early as the age of 9.
Between 9 and the time I left home at 18, I had already seen 4 different counselors/psychotherapists, etc.
I repeat….suicide is not an option…and I’ve tried it since I left home and thought about it even more times than I care to admit.
Suicide is not an option.
And I wasn’t making a strict equivalence to the vogue in teenage suicides following the release of Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther (the book which Goethe, if I remember correctly, renounced as he was blamed for the suicides)
Wrongful death? An atmosphere of hate?
Given all of the racism that has spewed since President Obama has become President and given the racist garbage that SciFi Geek spewed here today, I am concerned about the mental health of the black community as well.
There’s a lot of hate going around in this society (as it has always gone around)…
Especially for a teenager, suicide is not an option. Period.
And we need to do something about, because (and I agree with Geek on this) hate ain’t goin’ nowhere no time soon, with or without legislation.

no disagreement

And we need to do something about, because (and I agree with Geek on this) hate ain’t goin’ nowhere no time soon, with or without legislation.

Indeed. And tolerance curricula will only go so far. But there is plenty of legal weaponry to strike back at bullies and harassers of all ages and professions, particularly in education. This is true whether the motive is homophobia, racism, misogyny, or just generalized bulling. Make some examples and maybe it’ll deter some of them.
Oderint duum metuant. Let them hate, as long as they fear.

tragicWhat does “equal” even mean in this context? Everyone’s life is equal, yes. All suicides are horrible, yes.
But the latest ones in the news seem to be caused by SITUATIONAL depression, depression that’s due to the situation a person is in. Situations which are bad and shouldn’t happen to anyone. That’s different than suicides due to chronic depression, which may be harder to treat, where people just treating each other decently won’t have any effect.

ROTFLMAOIs that the latest talking point Axelrod faxed you?  That people who all you on your callousness are bullies?  Your indifference (not to say hostility) to the pain and hardships other LGBT people live with is constantly appalling.  How many times have you brushed it all aside with a self-absorbed wisecrack like, “That’s not my issue”?
Trying to shift blame for your coldness and heartlessness onto someone else won’t work, Geek.  Everyone here knows what you are.

Statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the Recent Deaths of Two Young Men     “This week, we sadly lost two young men who took their own lives for one unacceptable reason: they were being bullied and harassed because they were openly gay or believed to be gay. These unnecessary tragedies come on the heels of at least three other young people taking their own lives because the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear.
   ”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. 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.”

Well…Perhaps the President should be confining himself to  showing leadership…to whit…

“American citizens are tormenting other American citizens, deliberately acting to deny the inalienable rights of all humans.  This denies the fundamental principles on which this country was founded.  The Declaration of Independence outlines these rights, the Constitution defines them, and mandates that I defend them to secure the blessings of liberty, and ensure domestic tranquility.  Bullying and harassing our LGBT citizens contravenes these principles, and I must speak out against these sorts of acts!
To quote one of my heroes, President Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugeral address:  
‘We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.’

That is what Pres. Obama can, and must do!  He must summon the better angels of our nature, and do it now.

That is not the point. IF suicides are happening, and they are, and IF the local powers that be are not addressing these incidents properly (ignoring, apathy, etc)
ALL BECAUSE the victim was gay, then a newly impemented law CAN be a jump-start for getting on the right track.

How can we contact Mr. Duncan?He says: “This is a moment where…(everyone) needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance…”
Isn’t this HIS respponsibility?  Isn’t HE the Grand Educational Poobah?  
There is a GREAT DEAL of responsibility being shirked by the Educational Systems here.  This is Job #1; Holding schools responsible for knowing what is going on, and for acting proactively on it, rather than denying responsibility after the fact.
His was a rather useless statement.  It’s like saying “Now is the time to join hands and improvew the economy.”
Bolic!

Thanks Pam