Gay Bullying Must End, Says Joel Burns [VIDEO]

Joel Burns, Fort Worth Councilman

A Fort Worth Councilman took a stand against gay teen bullying during a city council meeting earlier this week after a rash of suicides amongst gay teens has exploded in the country.

Joel Burns told the stories of, and showed photos of, teenagers around the country who had recently committed suicide due to being bullied for being gay – or being perceived as being gay.

The video is incredibly sad, and incredibly touching.

While telling the deceased teens stories, Joel Burns became choked up and has to pause before continuing. The video is hard to watch without shedding tears of your own. Joel continues, telling teenagers that he too was bullied while growing up. But he wants the kids to know that it does get better.

“They said I was a faggot and that I should die and that I should go to hell where I belonged. That erupted the fear that I had kept pushed down. That what I was beginning to feel on the inside, must somehow be showing on the outside. Ashamed, humiliated and confused, I went home. ‘There must be something very wrong with me,’ I thought. Something I must never let my family or anyone else know.”

Joel Burns pauses, tries to gather himself, the pain in his face shows.

“I think I’m going to have too hard a time with the next couple sentences that I wrote. And also, I don’t want my mother and father have to bear the pain of having hear me say them. . . .”

(My feeling is that he may have contemplated suicide himself.)

Burns continues:

“So I will just say, and I will skip ahead, I have never told this story to anyone before tonight. Not my family, not my husband, not anyone. But the numerous suicides in recent days have upset me so much and have just torn at my heart. And even though there may be some political repercussions for telling my story – this story is not just for the adults who might chose or not chose to support me – this story is for the young people who might be holding that gun tonight.”

A great video to pass on. I think it is one that all teens should see. I’m so glad attention is being called to bullying in our country because when I grew up as a kid no one did anything about it. Ever. Hell, teachers even bullied the kids! Sadly, I doubt bullying will ever end. It’s the dark, ugly side of human nature. But hopefully with education and stories like Joe Burns’ we can help to reduce it.

Kudos to Joel Burns for being so open and honest for the sake of kids who need to hear it.

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