Coming Out and Suicide: Words Matter

Via my good friend, Jenny.

This courageous girl, senior Kayla Kearney from Maria Carillo High School, came out to her high school at an assembly honoring Martin Luther King Jr. this year. She takes on the issues of her coming out in an incredibly admirable, brave manner.

Please watch this video. When I started, I was in a hurry with many things to do. 30 seconds into the video I was hooked, and I watched it from beginning to end.

Among other things, she directly answers those who say her sexual orientation is a choice, and those who say she must not act on her feelings. In an especially impassioned section, she describes how she wants to fall in love, walk down the street holding someone's hand, hold them and tell them everything's alright, and eventually, she wants to get married. It just so happens that Kayla wants to be with a girl.


"I want to break the silence... I want to stand up here and talk about this because no one ever does."

The importance of speaking up and standing up for vulnerable teens is extremely apparent. There is a cost, and this cost has a face. Unfortunately, many faces.

Lance Lundsten (March 2011)

Age 18

Adam Wood (March 2011)

Age 19

Nicholas Kelo Jr. (Feb. 2011)

Age 13

Raymond Chase (Sept. 2010)

Age 19

Billy Lucas (Sept. 2010)

Age 15

Caleb Nolt (Sept. 2010)

Age 14

Cody Barker (Sept. 2010)

Age 17

Seth Walsh (Sept. 2010)

Age 13

Tyler Clementi (Sept. 2010)

Age 18

Harrison Brown (Sept. 2010)

Age 15

Asher Brown (Sept. 2010)

Age 13

Justin Aaberg (July 2010)

Age 15

Dominic Crouch (May 2010)

Age 15

There are many more suicides that are not available for me to find on the internet. And there could be many more to come.

The reason for this? It's simple: HATE. And hate often stems from ignorance.

Watch this video of Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber, saying gay kids are inclined to commit suicide because they know being gay is immoral and unnatural.

Kayla understood well the power of words when she came out to her school.  

Words can hurt, but words can also help.

I want to ask you all who are reading this to remember that power, and to promise to never be quiet again. You really can help save lives.