Back in my VFS days, I was in a documentary class and had to put together a project for an idea that I wanted to be made into a documentary. I was concerned about gay teen suicides because of the fact that there was no real solid number that said how many teens were killing themselves a year, and it was something I really wanted to explore. So I did research and found out about many publicized gay teen suicides in history (we’re talking mainly US), including that of Bobby Griffith. A book had been written about his life and his mother’s gradual shift from conservative Christian to understanding gay rights activist. It was called Prayers for Bobby, and this was 2007.
I picked up a copy of Prayers for Bobby and after reading, found out that it was going to be made into a Lifetime TV movie. Super excited, I checked up often on the film, anxious to know when it was going to be shown on TV. I ended up *cough* downloading it because I don’t have Lifetime here at home and man, it made me cry like nothing ever has. So many good, emotional moments that I really can’t put into words. You have to see it yourself.
With the highly publicized recent teen suicides in the US, I think this film is more relevant than ever. I read somewhere that an estimated 3000 teens a year kill themselves because of their sexual orientation, and some of them aren’t even queer but bullied and harassed that it gets to that point where they can’t think of anything else to do. My documentary project is still with me, waiting to be made, and after last year, I seriously thought about realizing it. I’ve decided that if I don’t get into UBC when I apply next year, I will go around the US and Canada, interviewing people and speaking with those affected by gay teen suicides. I will try my best to finally make my project.
We’ll see how that goes.
aaron's random musings 