A gay teenager calls with, he tells me, a gun in his hand and it is pointed at his head. His friends and family have discovered that he is gay, and he doesn’t see much point in living with what they regard as his “shame.” Thanking with each breath I took the training Horizons’ Bruce Koff has given me, I manage to steer him to a youth program before he ends his life.

A Chicago fireman, one with bravery awards in his file, calls to tell me that since some co-workers discovered he was gay he reports to duty each day and is sent to another station to work, and another and another and another, until the day ends. He’s pretty sure the only route out for him is suicide. I beg him to meet me some place where we can talk but he doesn’t agree, and I never hear from him again.

A 12-year-old calls, terrified because while he doesn’t “feel gay,” he only feels complete when he is dressed as a girl. Gender Alliance receives our call and takes over, welcoming him into a future he’d given up on having.

A young woman calls. She has changed jobs six times already because of the rape threats she gets from co-workers because she is openly lesbian. She is tired of fighting and believes the only alternative she has to suicide is changing jobs once again, and going back into the closet.

In 1983, when I was appointed Mayor Harold Washington’s Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian Communities, the only telephone listing in the city which specifically mentioned the word “gay” was mine and so I got those calls. Twenty-seven years ago, years of progress for GLBTs, growing openness and acceptance, many more resources for kids and yet … so many are still in despair, their humanity and identities are still demeaned on a daily basis, and they are still dying.

I confess to having mixed thoughts and feelings when the proposal for a Pride Campus of the School for Social Justice in Chicago was first made, but no longer. At all costs, we have to protect our kids. It’s clear that unless we shepherd them safely through the years during which they are most vulnerable emotionally and even neurologically, we are in danger of losing them, either when they are young or later in their lives when their unhealed wounds are re-opened by hatred and derision.

In a culture where lack of civility prevails and is even glorified, there is little hope for convincing adults to recognize their responsibility to counsel against bullying and to discipline their kids when they are caught engaging in it. Let’s then concentrate our efforts instead on building a safe environment for our GLBT children, one which builds in them the confidence and skills they will need to have a chance for the happy and fulfilled lives to which they are entitled.

Let’s revive the idea of the Pride Campus, and then let’s get it done. And if I may suggest, let’s name it for a woman who devoted her life to these kids. Let’s name it the Renae Ogletree High School.

IN THIS ISSUE [LINK HERE OR FROM THIS ISSUE’S MAIN INDEX]

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=28993 Anti-suicide project reflects on cases

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=28994 DePaul vigil remembers teen suicides

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29017 by Kirk Williamson

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29018 by Tracy Baim

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29019 by Toni Weaver

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29020 by Amy Pirtle

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29021 by Bobby Pirtle

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29022 by Eric Marcus

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29023 by Alexandra Billings

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29024 by Caleb’s Story

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29025 by Karlis Streips

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29026 by John R. Cepek

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29027 by Judy Shepard

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29028 by Lee Lynch

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29029 by Kristi Keorkunian

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29030 by Joshua Plant

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29031 by Chris Hill

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29032 Trevor Project Chicago events

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29033 Stopping Bullies in Illinois

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29034 Mother of Slain Teen Gwen Araujo Addresses LGBT Youth Suicide by Sylvia Guerrero

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29035 by Carl G. Streed Jr.

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29036 by Thom Bierdz

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29038 by Vernita Gray

windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29039 by Wancy Young Cho

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