Just one month after filming an "It Gets Better" video in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth, a California-based gay teen filmmaker has taken his own life.
Nineteen-year-old Eric James Borges, who went by EricJames among friends, worked as an intern with The Trevor Project, and as a supplemental instructor at the College of the Sequoias, according to Queer Landia blogger Jim Reeves.
"A brief introduction left me with the impression of a fine young man, and I regret that I did not get to know him better," Reeves writes of his experience with Borges.
Borges spoke frankly of being tormented throughout his adolescence and young adulthood in his video. "I was physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally assaulted on a day-to-day basis for my perceived sexual orientation," he said. "My name was not Eric, but 'Faggot.'" He claims his mother performed an exorcism on him in an effort to cure her son of his homosexuality before eventually kicking him out of his home.
Need help? Visit The Trevor Project's website or call them at 1-866-488-7386. In the U.S. you can also call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or visit stopbullying.gov.
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