Is It Worth it?

Brandon Elizares (For Photo Credit: Click Here)

(I'd also like to state that I did not know Brandon personally, nor his family. I got the infromation from a KFOX14 news cast. This is an article that really touches my heart, not an article that I wrote myself.)

EL PASO, Texas-

Brandon Elizares was a bright-eyed boy with a big smile and bold dreams. The Andress High School sophomore knew what he wanted to do with his life.

"I'd ask him, 'Brandon, what do you want to be? (and he'd say) I want to be a model, a fashion designer, a poet, I'm going to write me a book," Zackalyn Elizares, Brandon's mom said in an interview.The teen tried to stay sane and true to himself. He was open about his homosexuality at the tender age of 14.

"When he first came out, he told me that he had lost a lot of his friends because he wanted to live openly as a gay person and he did not understand. He'd be like 'I'm still me. I'm still Brandon, nothing's changed other than the fact that I like boys," his mother said.

On June 2, 2012 the 16-year-old boy took his own life.

His mother said bullying and threats led to Brandon's suicide.

"My name is Brandon Joseph Elizares and I couldn't make it. I love you guys with all of my heart," Zackalyn said Brandon wrote in the note he left behind before he committed suicide."He wrote that he was sorry, that he felt like he had to hide under his skin from being who he was because it made him feel terrible."The teen's mother said Brandon had friends but also had bullies.

"Brandon was the type of person that if you're mean to him or you say something to him, he just smiled, kept on walking, and he wasn't going to say anything back. It's really sad because I always wish that he'd found his voice and I thought that he was getting better at it since he came out. But he internalized a lot of it," Zackalyn said.

            Our world is cruel. Full of evil people who seem to be heartless. Full of people who will never understand. And full of people who just simply don’t care. Society tells you that you have to be perfect. You have a single hair out of place? We’ll then you’re not perfect and you don’t belong. So I’m going to judge you for who you are, and what you look like.

This subject is a very touchy subject, for me, and really hits home. I know what it’s like to not fit in. I know what it’s like to feel like no one understands. This is why I strongly support equal rights, gay marriage, and suicide prevention. NOT because I am in any way bisexual, or a victim of bullying myself.

Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington, are the nine states that allow same sex marriage. Gays in these states are allowed to get married, and have the same rights that different sex couples have. Isn’t this how it’s supposed to be? Aren't we all supposed to have the same rights? At least I think that’s how it should be. People who like the same sex are not “weird”, “abnormal”, nor “different”. They just have different tastes. And I don't get what’s so “wrong” about having different tastes in something ,or in this case, someone. Yes, everyone has their own entitled opinion about same sex marriage, and I understand that. But what I DON’T understand is why people are judging other people about who they are. Even pushing yo, bright teenagers, into the point where they feel like taking their own life is the only way out. Of course that’s not the case. 

Most homosexual teenagers that haven't fully “came out” don’t believe that anyone will understand, or be their for them.  1-800-273-TALK  is a suicide prevention hotline where it gives anyone going through a hard time, needing someone to talk to, a chance to do so. This is a well trusted hotline that will connect you to a trained professional and help you find programs in your area that will meet your needs. 

I honestly don’t think we'll ever really KNOW why people judge other people about who they are, what they do, or even what they look like. Ever since the beginning of time we have judged people. But do we really have to take it to this extent? Name calling, physical abuse, and even deaths to innocent people, who clearly don’t deserve it. All because someone is different than you. I believe that all gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights as the rest of us. To be able to get married and be happy. To live like everyone else and be treated with respect. 

This article means a lot to me, and it’s something I feel very strongly about. Words hurt, and sometimes people don’t understand that. Words also have consequences. You say something hurtful one day to someone, and the next... They could be dead. Think before you speak!