This should be the number 1 topic for all gay activist groups. PROTECT OUR CHILDREN. Not just the ones we have adopted (they probably need it also) but gay children who commit suicide because we live in a society that will not tolerate; let alone accept us. Protect the gay kids out there. Bring that up every time a debate comes up about marriage equality or equality at work. Or any basic human rights. Protect the Gay Kids!!

Um, no. Excuse me but if you put up an open forum anywhere on the internets you will get garbage posted there. It's your job to police it because you know it will happen. Especially when the subject has been on the news around the world. Being aghast when you knew it would happen is just dense.

elenchos, seriously. for fuck's sake, it's outrageous that they would do that, and we are right to be outraged by it.

should we not be upset by any of the avoidable things people do that affect others? if a drunk driver hits and kills your family should we just not give a shit because, "hey, they're out there?" come on.

@2 - Agree completely. Anything that allows online comments will get quickly trashed without someone monitoring it. But I still keep wondering what kind of shitbag leaves hate messages on a memorial internet site for fuck's sake?!

If you think seeing garbage posted on the internet is the equivalent of your family being killed, try to get a little perspective, OK? Half of the garbage you see is posted as "irony" because somebody his high enough to think it's funny. Or it's a troll. Or it's one single sicko with absolutely nothing else to do.

The anonymous stuff you read online means less than nothing. You need to know who owns the words before they can matter.

all right, all right, it was immature of me to use such an extreme comparison. of course i know they're not the same.

my point is simply that the predictability of something does not override our reaction to it.

my other point (which should be fairly obvious) is that it was a dick move on your part to go out of your way to add insult to injury. would it be so hard to just ... not?

a little indignation on behalf of a dead kid and his grieving family wouldn't cost you anything.

I really hope the people behind all this wake up one day realizing what they've done, and understand that the pain and remorse they (should) feel is nothing compared to one moment in this kids life.

But I doubt they ever will.

If there is karmic justice of any sort, all these hating shitbags will suffer for their thoughts, words and deeds. I hope they rot in hell, if there was one.
Nothing's changed in 40 years, from the time I was in middle/high school. So sad.

well, elenchos, how would you feel if it were your son who was bullied and harassed to the point where he felt suicide was the answer? HMMM?

Teach your children to be compassionate toward others.

Bet those people were outraged by the garbage cat lady and the Bosnian puppy thrower.

@elenchos

I have to agree with most everyone else here: now is not really the time to point out the inherent realities of the Internet. Those are obvious to most people here already. It does absolutely nothing useful to come here and snarkily point them out again. The rage at this situation is justifiable regardless of your observations. My personal analogy would be if someone put a memorial poster or picture up at the school to honor his memory (which is fairly common practice) and some fucktard snuck by and wrote "FAG" across the picture. It's a high school right? Students defiling pictures and posters was EXTREMELY common- at least when I was in High School. But the "reality" of teenage maturity in no way negates the completely justified outrage that would erupt after the picture was found defiled.

@11 How do you know? Did he turn you down for a blow n' go?

These horrible, horrible children. I wonder if they will ever realize the intense harm and hatred they've perpetrated.

I do not understand the need to rub salt in the wounds of others, or the need to belittle someone's grief. Then again, I don't understand the need to bully either. Unfortunately, the world seems to hold a few too many terrified, miserable people who need to spread their pitiful state to others. I hope that someday that all those who bullied or turned a blind eye to Billy Lucas will grow into deeply compassionate individuals; who's energies and acts of compassion are fueled by haunting memories of their own depth of evil and cruelty.

Sounds more like 4chan. Christians aren't that smart and don't know how to use computers.

Kids are dickweeds.

If you're on the Internet, then this stuff is par for the course. It's disgusting, it's horrible, and that's why it exists. If there's an opportunity to offend, it will be taken. So Xanax cocktails all round, and let's move on. =)

A well moderated forum will not be a basis for such drivel. These chimpanzees we affectionately refer to as "wise men" are just that--monkeys.

Yes, this sounds like 4chan. The same folks who wrote nasty things on Phoebe Price's memorial page, and the same folks who sent the police photos of a dead teenager in a car wreck to her grieving parents. Pretty much what you'd expect from a bunch of basement-dwelling sociopathic fifteen year olds.

Sorry-- Phoebe PRINCE.

@11 No we're not, you're just professional persecuters. It makes you feel better for being a waste of sperm and eggs :)

This is actually a good thing. It gives people a taste of the life Lucas endured. There can now be no doubt as to why he killed himself.

Personally, I support the death penalty for bigots.

Interesting that a fat girl was bullied just as viciously as the gay kid, so much that she was driven to drop out of school. There's more to this school's toxic culture than just homophobia: there's a culture of not accepting any deviation from what's considered normal.

Also, if what the fat girl said was true, the principal is to blame as well. He was turning a blind eye to severe bullying, failed to impose discipline, and allowed it to get so out of control that victims were driven to drop out and commit suicide. He needs to be fired immediately and replaced with someone who will crack down and teach the brats that this behavior is not acceptable.

As the mother of a child who was bullied, I am not surprised that the principal is part of the problem. God forbid anyone say anything bad about their precious school.

A teacher friend of mine explained the chain of command at my son's school so I contacted his bosses. Then I pulled my kid out of that school and I have never regretted that for even one second.

@18: Ditto. Probably some bored quasi-homophobic /b/tard.

@27 Translated from troll to english: "Waaahh! How dare gay people stand up for themselves! They should meekly submit to our hatred! Waaahh!"

This isn’t about BEING gay, but about being PERCEIVED as gay. The mindset of the bullies, their resulting actions, AND the inactions and the denial by Principal Phil Chapple is the issue here. This was Common Knowledge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp3qlx1D_…

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-greensbur…

It is as clear as a crystal ball that a community wide denial and cover up of a PERCEIVED gay 15 year old child being pushed to suicide by that very same community’s people is going on in full swing. You own this Greensburg! This mindset that it is Perfectly Okay to harass a child who is perceived as gay to the point of taking his own life, originates with, is perpetuated by, is endorsed by, and is denied by the Parents, and the Educational and Community Leaders of GREENSBURG, INDIANA, U.S.A.

The parents of the bullies and the local athorities are to blame here. They should be held accountable. The locals aren't doing anything about this. They approve of such conduct.

*Please ask CNN to cover the horrible Child Death and Cover-Up of Billy Lucas*
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/newstip…

This isn’t about BEING gay, but about being PERCEIVED as gay. The mindset of the bullies, their resulting actions, AND the inactions and the denial by Principal Phil Chapple is the issue here. This was Common Knowledge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp3qlx1D_…

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-greensbur…

It is as clear as a crystal ball that a community wide denial and cover up of a PERCEIVED gay 15 year old child being pushed to suicide by that very same community’s people is going on in full swing. You own this Greensburg! This mindset that it is Perfectly Okay to harass a child who is perceived as gay to the point of taking his own life, originates with, is perpetuated by, is endorsed by, and is denied by the Parents, and the Educational and Community Leaders of GREENSBURG, INDIANA, U.S.A.

The Parents of the Bullies and the local Educational System are ultimately to blame. The locals aren't doing anything about this. They approve of such behavior.

*Please ask CNN to cover the horrible Child Death and Cover-Up of Billy Lucas*
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/newstip…

The people posting that kind of stuff can only feel hatred, anger, and pain! And when they dream at night that's what waits for them. And when they die, it's still waiting (that's really what hell is IMHO). Untill they rise above it, that's all they have. I've been there, and it hurts. I was a big homophobe (just following the croud), till the early 90's, and I know how it feels to have that shit in my heart. Forgiveness is the first step toward healing. For YOU I mean. If you hold only hatred and anger for them, that leads to the dark side. Once you start down that path to the dark side, forever will it dominate your destiny(Yoda). If you hold a little bit of campassion in your heart for how much pain they're in, you might be suprised at the miracles that can happpen.
Thanks for all you do Dan. You're a saint in my book buddy, as you helped in no small way to bring me back to the light!
PS. Holding compassion in my heart for haters is still a work in progress, but it feel way better than matching their hate(which I still do on occasion=(.

@ 35 - of course there is always some pity for those who are living their lives with only hate in their hearts. (compassion might be a little too generous right here, right now). i wouldn't classify what i'm feeling for the bullies as hate at all, but rather anger. and justified anger at that.

we're all troubled souls to one degree or another, but that does not mean we are not accountable for our behavior.

@35. In theory, it's a nice sentiment. But in reality, compassion is not what these people deserve, and it will do nothing to alter their behavior. How did you overcome your homophobia? Was it because someone said to you, "You're a disgusting bigot, but I'm sorry for the pain you must be suffering, and I love you anyway."? Or was it because your conscience finally tormented you enough to overcome your behavior? Or was it because you could no longer bear the disapproval of others?

Some people have no conscience. I do not believe that excusing or sympathizing with them is a realistic way to modify their behavior. Just like the guy who makes racist remarks isn't going to stop when people only politely laugh in response. External disdain is the only hope for these people. For those in possession of a conscience, the more avidly the external world finds synchronicity with the internal voices condemning hateful behavior, the louder those voices will become.

It's probably too late for the scumbag parents of these kids, but enough people decrying their behavior just might help to wake them up to what little assholes they are. I sincerely hope that they do wake up, that they become better people, and that they are wracked with guilt for the rest of their lives.

Suicide is tragic, no matter what the controversy or circumstances. Bullying, no matter what the reason, is inappropriate and, most would agree, when it does take place, this assault can be profoundly hurtful to those who experience it. Sadly enough, both appear to be perpetuated by our human condition. As human beings, we all attempt to make sense of the world around us, each one of us developing thoughts and opinions on a myriad of controversial life topics, be it the subject of homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, or the like. We sometimes put forth our personal perspective as if our belief is definitive truth. In the process of doing so, people make little effort to share personal vantage points and rarely pause to understand positions different than their own. As I read this blog and attempt to 'listen' to the opinions expressed, this whole banter seems, ironically enough, like more of the same. Fact is, most folks offering strong opinions here did not know Billy, or the full range of complex issues that plagued his life, nor do you know the school administrators, what they did or did not do, nor are you privy to other crucial details that are involved in this matter. Instead, like the alleged batterers, many use this medium to offer chastising criticism and judgments. Some seem to passionately assert their position in such a way to 'batter' a school, its leadership, both student and administrative, and label an entire community! Please pause to take a careful look folks....presume for a moment that this allegation of indifference might be wrong, envision the possibility that folks tried to help this young man, and did right by him as best they could. Not being privy to confidential information regarding attempts at intervention, the media and blogger frenzie may have a weak foundation. If this is the case, then how wounding are your judgments in this light? Isn't this the same dynamic as bullying? Seems like it to me.

@14 I read the article, too. And the two associated with it. Nowhere does it say he wasn't gay. Looks like you're the one with the reading problem, shit-bird.

The kids who bullied Seth Walsh told him they wanted him to die, and now they got what they wanted. I've read they did high fives and said "about time" when the news broke. Now that they are all absolutely satisfied with the success of their enterprise thus far, they will now be emboldened to try it again on other gay kids, or straight kids who seem gay to them in some way.

Incitement to kill is a crime, but is this a crime to incite murder if the murder you wish to take place is of someone else by themself? As a priority, measures should be being taken to find out how many other gay kids these children told to kill themselves. If incitement to suicide is a crime, then without question, those responsible should be charged with the offence.

A lot of people posting on hate sites like YouTube are saying that all gay people should kill themselves and this no doubt impacts on gay teenagers using YouTube and other bully sites.

It is reassuring to note however that while YouTube and its ilk are swamped by hate and violence, the thumbs ups and thumbs downs indicate that the majority are not in support of all gay teens taking their own lives as you might otherwise believe from reading the reams of anti-homosexual rhetoric, most of it coming from self-proclaimed Christians.

While I am sure that Christians as a rule deplore bullying, violence and suicide, sadly the message given out at some of the more evangelical sects run by profiteering hucksters is at the very root cause of holier-than-thou grandstanding ultimately leading to youth gangs feeling justified in attacking defenceless kids half their size.

Gay kids can only take so much before they come to the conclusion that they have no future, if all it holds for them is universal hate and violence from their home, their peers, their school and their church. To such children, death is a merciful release.

May they rest in peace.

chill brah chill