Well I really hate what happened, and it's kinda heartbreaking, but for one reason or another I don't think wearing purple in honor of them sends the right message. These kids committed suicide. In the end that action however provoked it may have been was their choice. I don't really like how the facebook page for the event, as well as other people use the line of reasoning "Teen suicides due to..." No. I'm sorry it doesn't work like that. Due to nothing. Whether you take yourself out of this world is your decision. The buck stops with you.
Having this national wear purple day for these downtrodden gays almost sends the idea that what they did was entirely okay, understandable, forgivable, etc. As if any normal person would kill themselves given that situation right!?
Yeah, it's sad. I think this incident should be used to raise awareness of bullying in the LGBT community in general rather than singling out six teens.
Plus purple never looked good on me anyway.
Look, it's true that no one can force another person to commit suicide, but using that to lay
all the responsibility on the victims is a cop-out. It's not as if they just woke up one day and thought it would be cool to kill themselves. While the decision was ultimately theirs, they never would have even considered it if they hadn't been persecuted.
They were under difficult circumstances that most of us have never had to face. I mean, think about what suicide means. Ending your own life means leaving behind everything familiar, your home, your loved ones, for something completely unknown. It must have seemed like the only escape for them to do such a thing, whether that was true or not.
Being so downtrodden can actually affect your brain chemistry, make you depressed to the point where you can't think logically anymore.
It wasn't a good decision for them to commit suicide, but you have to take circumstances into account. They weren't forced, but that doesn't mean the blame is all theirs. The people who persecuted them share the responsibility. Just because they were the agents of their own deaths doesn't mean they don't deserve remembrance. That remembrance is also meant to raise awareness, so that the same thing won't happen again.
No one's saying that only gays would commit suicide in such circumstances. In fact, I think a lot of people would. There are plenty of examples of people who have dThe problem is that gays are a group that face that kind of persecution so often. It's wide-spread discrimination, and that's why it needs attention. Not that individual issues shouldn't be addressed, but a lot of people could be helped through action over this one area.
It
should be forgivable. Not ok, mind you. But the reason it's wrong to take your own life in the first place is that it hurts you and those you love. It takes away all the good that might have existed in the future. That's why it's so sad in the first place. What drove them to do it still needs to be spoken about.
Honestly, I don't think wearing purple that day will be terribly effective. I don't know if I'll do it... but something needs to be said about it. A lot of people are speaking up already, and that's good. The more people speak up, the greater the message that persecution of gays isn't acceptable.