Boston City Councilor honors bullying victim

Boston City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo.  

In an effort to bring awareness to anti-gay bullying and the recent teen suicides that have left the nation in shock, Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo closed the Oct. 6 city council meeting in honor of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman who took his own life.

"We are still dealing with homophobic attitudes. That is evident in some of our national discourse around ’Don’t ask, don’t tell’ and that is evident in the high suicide rates of our LGBT youth," Arroyo said. "I am proud to serve on a City Council that has continually supported LGBT rights and equality. I closed in memory of Mr. Clementi and the many other LGBT youth who have made the tragic decision to take their own life to drive home the fact that government must play a pro-active role in ensuring that everyone can be who they are and choose who they love."

Clementi committed suicide after his roommate and another classmate surreptitiously videotaped Clementi during a sexual encounter with another male student and broadcast it over the Internet. Clementi’s was one of multiple recent suicides from anti-gay bullying and harassment victims across the country, ages 13 to 19.

"The recent spate of LGBT teen suicides demonstrates we must continue to be vigilant," Arroyo said. "We need to continue working to create safe spaces for our youth as they go through the process of learning about their own sexuality and who they are. The death of Mr. Clementi, and so many more like him, is a terrible tragedy, and reminds us that we still have much work to do."

-end-