Another Gay University Student Dead by Suicide - Meanwhile Gene Robinson Goes on Offensive Against Anti-Gay Churches

Sadly, the wave of gay teen suicides seems to be continuing. The Michigan Messenger is reporting that the body of 19-year-old Corey Jackson (shown at left), a student at Oakland University, was found in a wooded area of the campus. The local police and the medical examiner’s office have advised that the young gay man hung himself. So far bullying does not seem to have been a factor. But candidly, living in much of the USA as an LGBT citizen is in and of itself a constant case of being subjected to bullying: by many churches, the U.S. government - think DADT which has been at least temporarily reinstated at the request of the Liar-in-Chief, DOMA and other laws that are daily reminders of inferior status - local governments and of course much of the media. While some religious denominations are becoming more LGBT accepting, their silence in challenging the hate emanating from other denominations is deafening. Here are highlights from this latest suicide:
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The suicide happened Tuesday night, as activists across the nation were preparing for a Facebook driven day of activism to counter a wave of suicides of young gay people across the country that have been tied to bullying. Wednesday was dubbed Spirit Day by the Facebook plans, and was designed to draw attention to the suicides by encouraging people to wear purple. Police say there is no indication bullying was a factor in Jackson’s suicide.
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And while bullying may not be a factor, Melissa Pope, director of the university’s Gender and Sexuality Center said the issue points to larger, hidden epidemic of suicides among LGBT youth.
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We must look beyond the term “bullying” to the overall treatment of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community to begin to grasp the long-standing epidemic of suicide among our LGBT youth.
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While the national press has picked up this issue over the last two months, we have been losing high numbers of LGBT youth to suicide for decades. In recent years, we’ve labeled the cause as bullying. But the root cause goes deeper – it goes to the very core of our society that discriminates against the LGBT community on all levels, including the denial of basic human rights that are supposed to belong to every person.
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Ms. Pope is 100% on point in her remarks and the reality is that one force motivates all of the anti-gay bigotry faced by so many of us on a daily basis: RELIGIOUS BASED BIGOTRY. While the ELCA, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and others are gay accepting. But out of professional courtesy or whatever one might call it, they fail to loudly and openly condemn the modern day Pharisee elements of Christianity. At least until today when Bishop Gene Robinson went expressly after the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. Christs as reported in the Bible (for what that's worth) did not hold back in condemning the Pharisees. Would that more real followers of Christ would emulate Bishop Robinson: