Jerkbait - Twins struggle with one of them being a secretly gay ice hockey star, and the other having a very different dream

Jerkbait by Mia Siegert

Even though they're identical, Tristan isn't close to his twin Robbie at all--until Robbie tries to kill himself. Forced to share a room to prevent Robbie from hurting himself, the brothers begin to feel the weight of each other's lives on the ice, and off. Tristan starts seeing his twin not as a hockey star whose shadow Tristan can't escape, but a struggling gay teen terrified about coming out in the professional sports world. Robbie's future in the NHL is plagued by anxiety and the mounting pressure from their dad, coach, and scouts, while Tristan desperately fights to create his own future, not as a hockey player but a musical theatre performer. As their season progresses and friends turn out to be enemies, Robbie finds solace in an online stranger known only as "Jimmy2416." Between keeping Robbie's secret and saving him from taking his life, Tristan is given the final call: sacrifice his dream for a brother he barely knows, or pursue his own path. How far is Robbie willing to go--and more importantly, how far is Tristan willing to go to help him?

Add your review of "Jerkbait" in comments!

Prelude To An Empire - A Questioning Twenty-Something Agonizes Over His Life (With Characters of Color)

Prelude To An Empire by Terry J. Benton

“At 23, how the hell did I get to this point?” Russell Wright asks himself as he sits in his car with a handful of pills, ready to commit suicide. Russell’s life has been a roller coaster ride for as long as he can remember and today he wants to get off – forever.

While growing up in rural Georgia, Russell shares an unusual friendship with his mother, Charlene Wright. Charlene and Russell bond over their private struggle with Russell’s abusive father – a situation that climaxes the night that Russell’s father tries to murder their entire family.

As if things weren’t bad enough with his family issues, Russell has to endure relentless bullying surrounding suspicions about his sexuality – something he has yet to determine for himself. As a result of bullying and conflict with his spirituality, Russell’s personal growth is hindered and he struggles to find himself and his place in the world.

The one bright spot in Russell’s life is his best friend, Mercedes. She is beautiful, a diva, and sometimes a bit too ghetto – but most importantly, she provides comedic relief, strength, and support for Russell… and she’s also a lesbian. Russell and Mercedes’ relationship strengthens over her struggle for acceptance of her lifestyle and they vow to be best friends forever – until they leave for college and their friendship takes a dramatic turn for the worst.

As Russell’s story progresses, he fights to understand himself and the motives of the people in his life, as he experiences the lows and highs of friendships and relationships. In the end, this powerful and dramatic journey comes full circle to resolve the issue of whether he will indeed end his life.

This book is published by the author.  Add your review of "Prelude To An Empire" in comments!

And remember, if you or someone you know is feeling desperate or you just need someone to talk to, there's always someone you can talk to at the Trevor Project's lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.

Stand For The Silent - A Powerful Anti-Bullying School Presentation

Featured in the upcoming movie BULLY, Ty Smalley was 11 when, after years of being picked on and bullied, he finally had enough and physically reacted to his bully's taunts.  Ty was caught for 'fighting'.  Suspended from school.  And he killed himself.

Ty Smalley

Ty's parents Kirk and Laura have made it their mission to stop this epidemic of bullying, and they're taking action through STAND FOR THE SILENT.

I was fortunate to attend Kirk's assembly program at a Los Angeles Middle School this week.  It was powerful, and wrenching.

Kirk had the kids on his side, supporting him as he told the story of his son, and of other children like Ty who took their own lives because of bullying.

He asked for a show of hands, who there had ever been bullied.  Every single person raised their hand.

He asked for another show of hands, who there had even been a bully.  Four hands went up.

He told us that every seven seconds, someone is bullied in our world.

There's work to do.

And then, he got the entire auditorium of 800 plus students to take this pledge out loud:

"From this day forward I promise to respect those around me as well as respect myself.  I am somebody, and I can make a difference.  I can make another feel loved.  I can be the helping hand that leads another back to a path of hope and aspiration.  I will not stand silent as others try to spread hatred through my community.  Instead, I pledge to lift up these victims, and show them that their life matters.  I will be the change, because I am somebody."

It was such a powerful moment.

Kirk spoke with passion and deep emotion, and I cheer him on.  We need all our voices raised to empower children and teens to stop bullying and make their world - our world - better.

Here's a CNN story on Kirk - and in it you can see how raw and honest he's able to be about his loss, and the promise he made to his son on the Father's Day after Ty's death, that he'd stop this from happening to another child.







So let's do it. Let's stand with Kirk. And let's Stand For The Silent.

Let's each of us do everything we can to end bullying.


Namaste,
Lee

Prayers For Bobby - A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son

Prayers For Bobby by Leroy Aarons

Bobby Griffith was an all-American boy ...and he was gay. Faced with an irresolvable conflict-for both his family and his religion taught him that being gay was "wrong"-Bobby chose to take his own life.

Prayers for Bobby, nominated for a 1996 Lambda Literary Award, is the story of the emotional journey that led Bobby to this tragic conclusion. But it is also the story of Bobby's mother, a fearful churchgoer who first prayed that her son would be "healed," then anguished over his suicide, and ultimately transformed herself into a national crusader for gay and lesbian youth.

As told through Bobby's poignant journal entries and his mother's reminiscences, Prayers for Bobby is at once a moving personal story, a true profile in courage, and a call to arms to parents everywhere.

My thanks to Jeff for suggesting this title.  Add your review of "Prayers For Bobby" in comments! 


And if you're in crisis, you can call 866-488-7386 and speak with someone at the Trevor Project Lifeline.

It's Suicide Prevention Week... How To Help Someone In Crisis

Watch this.  It gave me goosebumps:






And here's more info:







There's an interesting back and forth in the youtube comments on that second video, about how they didn't include the "T" in GLBT when giving the statistical data on suicide risks - the explanation given is that they didn't intend to exclude transgender teens or to minimize the importance of stopping transgender teen suicide, it's just that there isn't enough research on transgender teens to include them in the statements about being at additional risk.



The Trevor Project's website has lots more about Suicide Prevention Week and what you can do to help here.



And if you need to talk to someone, anytime, call the Trevor Lifeline: 866-4-U-TREVOR (that's 866-488-7386)



There's a fear that by mentioning suicide in a GLBTQ environment, that maybe we're reinforcing stereotypes that all queer youth are unhappy and suicidal... Which of course isn't true. But it is true that queer youth are harassed and targeted more than non-queer youth in schools, and that our culture is awash with many homophobic currents. And it's critical to talk about that - and to be responsible to those in our community who are suffering and let them know about the resources available.



Let them know that life gets better.



Let them know that so many of us are working to make things better.



Which of course, makes me want to share MY "It Gets Better Video" with you all. So if you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.



Namaste, know it gets better, and be good to yourselves!

Lee

ps - a big hug to my husband for letting me know about the Trevor Project Flash Mob video!

Cheryl Rainfield, author of "Scars" tells LGBTQ Teens: "It Gets Better."

Cheryl's novel Scars moved me, and so did this:



If you are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming or Questioning, and you're in crisis, you can call the Trevor Project's Lifeline, 1-866-4-U-TREVOR (1-866-488-7386) and talk to someone who'll listen.

And Cheryl's right:

It Gets Better.

Namaste,
Lee

Where Gay Teen Suicides Start - My 'Viewpoint' is Published in The Palisadian Post!

So reading my local paper last week, there was a short piece by a parent who described an incident at a local AYSO children's soccer game. In one moment before the game, the coaches were busy, so one father jumped in to get the kids moving - he challenged them to race to the goal and back, telling them:

"Last one is a sissy!"

The parent said: "Sure enough, the last kid was called a sissy by several players."

I couldn't get this out of my mind.

So the next day, instead of working on my novel, I found myself writing this piece to my local paper. It was printed in yesterday's edition.



Here's the text:

WHERE GAY TEEN SUICIDES START

Five Gay teenagers killed themselves in September.

Billy Lucas, 15, in Greensburg, Indiana, bullied for being Gay, killed himself on September 9th.

Seth Walsh, 13, in Tehachapi, California, bullied for being Gay, killed himself on Sept 19th.

Tyler Clementi, 18, at Rutgers University in New Jersey, killed himself on Sept 22nd, after being publicly outed as Gay.

Asher Brown, 13, in Houston, Texas, bullied for being Gay, killed himself on Sept 23rd.

And on September 29, openly Gay Raymond Chase, 19, at Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island, killed himself.


Five suicides in three weeks.

And suddenly the media’s on the case, the country’s paying attention, and headlines (like in People magazine) shout: “Why did this happen, and how can it be stopped?”

And then I read in last week’s two cents column about the father at a local soccer game, who challenged the players on his boy's team to race to the goal and back, telling them, “The last one is a sissy.” The Two Cents caller said, “Sure enough, the last kid was called a sissy by several players.”

This is where hate starts. In small moments like this. A thoughtless comment, meant to motivate, but what did it actually teach? Being last is bad. Being a “sissy” is the same as being a loser. You don’t want to be a loser. You don’t want to be a sissy.

Similar to “You run like a girl,” this is the kind of lesson that teaches our kids to hate and look down on those different from themselves – girls, gays, the weak, the slow – and teaches our kids who are different that maybe they should hate themselves, too.

Why do these Gay teen suicides happen? They’ve been taught to hate themselves. They couldn’t hear the messages of hope over the noise of hate. They didn’t know about the books out there for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning teens. They didn’t hear the voices of out, proud and happy GLBTQ Adults, telling them “It Gets Better,” an important project Dan Savage started on youtube. They didn’t call the Trevor Project’s Lifeline (1-866-488-7386) to talk to someone who could help.

How can these Gay teen suicides be stopped? We can start at the AYSO games right here in Pacific Palisades – when our kids are 5 and 6 years old. We can start by thinking before we “motivate” children by teaching them to feel better about themselves by putting others down or beating them in a meaningless foot race. We can start on the path to a better world, today, just by changing what we say.

We need to.



(Lee Wind, a resident of Pacific Palisades, writes “I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell do I Read?,” a blog about books, culture and politics for GLBTQ teens and their allies. He leads Smashing Stereotypes Workshops in middle and high schools, and can be reached at www.leewind.org)

I'm so pleased to get the word out about this. And I want to thank the Palisadian Post for running my piece in this week's print edition - on the top of page 2!

Namaste,
Lee