Suicide takes another gay teen

It can be said that prejudice is a product of ignorance that hides behind barriers of tradition. Here, in Norman Oklahoma, when the city council was weighing a debate about October being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month in the city -which was passed 7 to 1 in favor of it- the debate about it rose to a predictable dislike for that said group.

A 19 year-old teen named Zack Harrington was there, and he was witness to his fellow Oklahomanians illogical reasons as to why this was a bad idea. We don't have to go over the minutes, as you can read the article. But none of you will be surprised at what was said.

But for one young man, whom his sister described as a person who was "internalizing everything and analyzing everything," it was his breaking point. While the measure passed, I think he saw all the ugliness that came from adults, people who were his parents age. Like all gay youths who somehow survived the High School years, and now are trying today to tell kids who are coming out so much sooner, that it does get better, to see adults acting like this must have triggered something in Zack.

Being face-to-face with intolerance sometimes has an effect of not wanting to fight more, but perhaps to ask one self, "what's the point?"

I think young Zack, while maybe happy for the city passing the bill, felt that the struggle for acceptance, for understanding was a fight he no longer wanted to battle. I'm sad that he decided this, but in some ways even I can understand his plight. We need more people to help fight what is a good cause, and the more we end our lives, the longer the fight will take.

It seems obvious to me, as I've said before, all of us need to help one another. We cannot do this alone, and the weak, the disfranchised, the homeless, the unemployed, the gay youth of today need people to show up at their doors, talk to them on the phone and tell them again and again that life is worth living. Yes, death is a great equalizer, and no matter how rich, how poor you are, you cannot escape it. But to die for this, seems pointless and a waste.

And we all need to stop it.