PFLAG mom Toni Weaver wrote the following essay for the PFLAG Open Doors newsletter, and introduced Windy City Times Publisher Tracy Baim to the Pirtles at the recent Rockford, Ill., protest of Exodus; their photo appeared in the Windy City Times coverage of the event. Following Weaver’s essay are essays by Amy and her 15-year-old gay son Bobby, reflecting on the harassment he faced, and how his family helped him cope.
I’d like to tell you about a special family—the Pirtles. Amy and Mike Pirtle relocated to this area from Racine, Wisc., a little more than a year ago. Their son, Bobby, spent a miserable freshman year at one of the McHenry County high schools being the brunt of anti-gay jokes and bullying even before he came out. During the summer he told his parents that he simply couldn’t go back to that school in the Fall. Amy and Mike made the very difficult decision to put their home on the market and to rent a townhouse in Lombard so that Bobby could attend Glenbard East High School.
Early on, Amy had been in touch with Shannon Sullivan at Illinois Safe Schools Alliance and learned that Glenbard East has an active Gay/Straight Alliance and rates highly as a school that has taken measures to protect their LGBT students. The climate there should provide Bobby with a safe and nurturing environment in which to learn.
In addition to being a volunteer with the Open Door Clinic in Elgin, Amy has been a dynamic member of our Woodstock chapter of PFLAG, and her loss is devastating, for she has brought so much energy and enthusiasm to the chapter. However, whichever chapter picks her up will be so much the richer.
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=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=29037 by Kit Duffy
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
windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29040 RESOURCES
windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=29041 QUOTES
This is what love does.