It was an unforgettable bit of impromptu television. In a setting we’re you’d more likely hear a discussion of the finer points of trash pickup, curb easements and property values, here was a city elder pleading for teenaged lives.
Joel Burns, an openly gay Fort Worth City Council member, used his alloted time for comments at a Tuesday evening meeting to beg despondent gay, lesbian and questioning teens not to take their lives.
“This story is for the young people who might be holding that gun tonight, or the rope, or the pill bottle,” said Burns, whose tearful speech has now gone viral. “Give yourself a chance to see how much better life will get.”
Burns’ is the latest high-profile response to a string of suicides of teens bullied because they were or were perceived to be gay. But writer Gregory Hinton, producer of the Out West at the Autry series, also has been affected by the news.
“What these kids don’t know is that there are other people who feel the exact same way,” he said. “We all know these feelings.”
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http://blog.theautry.org/2010/10/15/out-west-producer-gregory-hinton-on-gay-teen-suicides/
