Advertisement
Letter: Climate of mental and physical abuse worsens
Op-Ed · February 02, 2012


When I read Soapbox last week, it was exactly a week since Eric James Borges had committed suicide.
Eric James Borges was a 19-year-old gay man from California. He had come out to his parents last fall, and they kicked him out of the house after his mother performed an exorcism on him, attempting a “cure.” He had recently reached out to others facing similar circumstances in a video he called “It Gets Better.”

In it he explained, “I was raised in an extremist Christian household. My earliest recollections of my experience with the relentless and ongoing bullying was in kindergarten, but of course to a lesser degree. Throughout elementary, junior high and high school it got progressively worse. I was physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally assaulted on a day-to-day basis for my perceived sexual orientation.”

My question to you is “Who would choose this?” Unfortunately, his tragic life story is a tale that is all too familiar these days. I urge you to Google his name and, also, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com. You clearly need to educate yourself before you are confronted with a situation in which someone close to you or another family member needs to tell you he or she is gay.

The newspaper should be an educational resource for the community. We do not want anyone in our community to suffer a moment of Eric’s torment. It is unacceptable to contribute, as you have, to a climate for someone to mentally or physically abuse someone who is gay.

Deborah Owen, West Branch