Boy, 14, kills himself after classmates tease him at school, on Facebook; threaten him via cellphone

A 14-year-old boy in Paullina, Iowa, has killed himself after constant teasing from classmates, KTIV-TV reports.

Kenneth Weishuhn told friends a month ago that he was gay. From KTIV's website:

"People that were originally his friends, they kind of turned on him," said his sister Kayla Weishuhn. "A lot of people, they either joined in or they were too scared to say anything."

Soon, Kenneth was teased on Facebook and received death threats from fellow students on his cellphone. Click here to read the complete KTIV story.

By Monday, a new Facebook page had been created: Remember Kenneth James Weishuhn.

His grandmother Tullula Moore posted:

"Loved that child from the day he was born and now even in death. I am KJ's grandmother and would like to thank all of you for your support. Hopefully each and everyone of you can make/start a change with the schools, local gov. because Bulling is done by SISSY's. And it really doesn't matter if you are gay, you could be fat, skinny, walk funny, talk funny, have old holey clothes, no teeth. Those that are bullying are just ignorant. Make the Authorities responsible!!!!!!"

GLAAD supports lesbian mother ousted as den leader from young son's Cub Scout chapter

News release from GLAAD:

GLAAD JOINS OHIO MOM JENNIFER TYRRELL IN CALLING ON BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA TO END DISCRIMINATORY RULES

New York, NY, April 17, 2012 – GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, today joined Ohio mom Jennifer Tyrrell in calling on the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to change a discriminatory policy that prohibits LGBT people from serving as troop den leaders.

For more information: http://glaad.org/equalityscouts

Bridgeport, Ohio resident Jennifer Tyrrell was told that she would no longer be able to serve as a den leader of her son’s Cub Scout chapter on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 by the District Councilmember. In response, parents and scouts from the troop have planned a peaceful protest outside of the local BSA chapter on the evening of Tuesday, April 17, 2012 to show support for Tyrrell.

Tyrrell, who served as a den leader for more than a year after registering her son for the Boy Scouts, has launched a Change.org petition calling on BSA to end its pattern of discrimination against LGBT people. GLAAD is encouraging supporters to join Tyrrell’s action here: http://glaad.org/equalityscouts

"The Boy Scouts of America is one of the only cultural institutions to categorically discriminate against LGBT Americans," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Sending the message to America’s youth that they or their parents are somehow less than everyone else is dangerous, inaccurate and should be changed immediately."

BSA has a long history of discriminating against both gay youth and LGBT families. Most notably, in 2004 the BSA adopted a new Youth Leadership policy which strips Boy Scout leaders of their positions in the organization and often denies them access to the organization all together. Just last year, the BSA removed an out lesbian from her volunteer post with a local Potomac Falls, VA chapter because of her sexual orientation (as reported on news outlets including Towleroad). None of BSA’s various websites currently contain non-discrimination policies with enumerated protected classes.

Tyrrell wrote on Change.org: “There was an outcry of support for me by the parents of my Tiger Scouts, many of whom waited for hours to voice their concerns to members of the council and the pack's charter organization, but were turned away without the opportunity to do so.”

“Lesbian and gay parents have proven themselves time and time again to be dedicated, caring, and trustworthy Scout leaders and volunteers, as evidenced by Jennifer and many others who have served in welcoming local Scout groups,” said Dana Rudolph, founder and publisher of popular LGBT parenting blog Mombian. “It is shameful that the Boy Scouts have chosen to stigmatize Jennifer's son by not letting his parents participate in the same way as those of his peers.”

For more information, visit: http://glaad.org/equalityscouts

One Million Moms group outraged by lesbian kiss in April 2012 Urban Outfitters catalog

Update on April 19:

From Miami publicist Sharon Kersten, who specializes in promoting LGBT groups and events:

Although you posted the One Million Moms post, with a link to their website, I’m surprised that you didn’t include a link or email address for people to contact Urban Outfitters, to thank them.

Richard A. Hayne, Chairman 
Urban Outfitters
1809 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA  19103 

Primary Phone: 800-959-8794
Secondary Phone: 215-564-2313
Fax: 800-959-8794
E-Mail: richard.hayne@urbanout.com

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From One Million Moms, a project of the American Family Association, which recently tried to convince jcpenney in February to dump Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman:

Trash Your Teen's New Urban Outfitters Catalog Today!

WARNING! The April 2012 catalog from Urban Outfitters has begun arriving in home mailboxes the last couple of days. On page two of this catalog is a picture of two women kissing in a face holding embrace! The ad and catalog are clearly geared toward teenagers.

Before your child has a chance to read the newest Urban Outfitters catalog call to unsubscribe from their mailing list at 1-800-282-2200, and then throw it away. When you call be sure to let them know why you are unsubscribing. Tell them you will also no longer shop at their stores if you hear this type of advertising continues. The content is offensive and inappropriate for a teen who is the company's target customer.

TAKE ACTION

Please send an email letter urging Urban Outfitters to discontinue this ad and immediately stop the circulation of the catalog with the two women kissing or you will make a conscious effort to shop elsewhere. Also, suggest they refrain from using this type of advertising in the future. An apology statement from the company for sending an offensive catalog to people's homes would be appropriate and appreciated by customers and families as well.

Send Your Letter Now!

The Stranger writer Eli Sanders wins Pulitzer Prize for account of lesbian couple's rape, stabbing

Associated Press

Its best-known staffer is a sex columnist with a new show on MTV. It's famous for irreverent, often caustic coverage of Seattle's entertainment and political scene. Now the alternative weekly The Stranger has another distinction - a Pulitzer Prize.

Eli Sanders of The Stranger received one of journalism's highest honors Monday, winning the feature writing award for his harrowing account of a woman who survived a brutal rape. Her partner was killed, and the surviving woman testified about her ordeal in court.

"I was stunned at first," Sanders said.

The Stranger jokingly bills itself as "Seattle's only newspaper," and staffers, led by sex columnist Dan Savage, go out of their way to poke fun at just about everything. But Sanders said it was "cool that a scrappy little alt-weekly in Seattle can produce something that resonates on this level."

Sanders won for coverage of the murder trial of a man accused of raping and stabbing a lesbian couple in their Seattle home in 2009, killing one of them.

"It's a great, great privilege to work at a paper that will allow someone to hang on to a crime story for so long," Sanders said. "(It) was a credit to how much time The Stranger was willing to give."

Click here to read Sanders' Pulitzer-winning article, "The Bravest Woman in Seattle."

Under the Sun audio | How Wilton Manors came out

• The Census confirms it: Wilton Manors in No. 2 nationally for most gay couples per 1,000

From WLRN's Under the Sun program:

BY KENNY MALONE

It used to be that Key West, Victoria Park and South Beach were the centers of gay life in South Florida.  Over the last decade, this tiny town of about 12,000 people, just outside of Fort Lauderdale – has taken over.  Wilton Manors has more same-sex couples per capita than anyplace but Provincetown, Massachusetts. The latest census numbers got screwed up, but by some estimates, 40% of the population is gay.

John Fiore, a former mayor of Wilton Manors, says if you tried to sell your house there two decades ago, “you’d advertise it saying northeast Fort Lauderdale because if you mentioned Wilton Manors, no one knew where it was.” Not that knowing where it was would help anyway. The city had garnered a reputation as “rundown” – to put it nicely. How things have changed. The story of that transformation is the story of how this little village surrounded by metropolitan South Florida became a gay mecca. Under the Sun’s Kenny Malone tells us how Wilton Manors came out.

Click here to download or listen to the program.

Richard Shack, art collector and retired theatrical agent, dies at 85; survived by wife Ruth, daughters

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER, EBRECHER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Richard Shack, who began collecting contemporary art when a Jasper Johns could be had for $100, and went on to help establish Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art, died Monday at his Brickell Avenue home.

His wife, former Miami-Dade Commissioner and longtime community activist Ruth Shack, said her husband of 58 years suffered heart problems and succumbed to a second stroke in recent years.

Born Aug. 15, 1926 in Brooklyn, the retired entertainment agent, whose stable of stars included Harry Belafonte, Liberace, George Burns and Anita Bryant, was 85. A gallery at Miami Beach’s Arts Center/South Florida bears his name.

“Dick Shack was the consummate collector of contemporary art,’’ said Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts, for The Knight Foundation. “In 1981 He invited me to his home in [Miami Shores Heights] to see his and Ruth’s collection. When I walked into the bedroom, I saw three works of art by Gene Davis mounted on the ceiling over their bed...He showed me that there were no limits to collecting and that building an art collection was an artistic experience in its own right.’’

Click here to read the complete obituary.