Gay Canadian teenager kills himself over depression and bullying
A gay 15-year-old boy in Ottawa, Canada, killed himself after suffering years of depression and bullying.
Jamie Hubley documented his struggles on his blog but wrote on Friday that he couldn’t take any more.
He was found dead on Saturday.
The teenager, who studied at Kanata’s A.Y. Jackson school, was out to his friends and family but was being treated for depression and self-harming.
On Friday, he wrote: “Im tired of life really. It’s so hard, I’m sorry, I can’t take it any more.”
Referencing the It Gets Better campaign, he added: “I don’t want to wait three more years, this hurts too much. How do you even know it will get better? It’s not.”
In previous posts, he discussed his loneliness, desire for a boyfriend and self-harming.
Three weeks ago, he wrote that being gay at school was far harder than it appears in gay-friendly high school comedy Glee and added: “I hate being the only open gay guy in my school. It f-ing sucks, I really want to end it.”
Jamie’s parents said that he had suffered anti-gay abuse at school and online after putting up posters to promote a Rainbow Club.
The student’s close friend, Steph Wheeler, told the Ottowa Citizen that Jamie appeared happy and was always greeting friends with hugs.
But she added: “I just remember him wanting a boyfriend so bad, he’d always ask me to find a boy for him. I think he wanted someone to love him for who he was.”
Jamie’s parents, Kanata South councillor Allan Hubley and his wife, Wendy Barber, have thanked Jamie’s friends for their support and asked for privacy.
In a statement, Mr Hubley praised his “compassionate” and “beautiful” son and described the bullying he had suffered.
He said: “We will not say that the bullying was the only reason for James’s decision to take his own life but it was definitely a factor. As his family and friends, or even if you never met him but want to help, we must do whatever we can to wipe out bullying for any reason in our society and especially in our schools.
“Young people are very vulnerable and have enough pressures in life to have to deal with aside from the stress of being bullied. My family’s wish is that no more families have to suffer the unbearable pain of losing a child. No child should have to deal with depression or feel hated because of their beliefs — that is not the Canadian way of treating others.”
Last month, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer, a New York student, killed himself after suffering years of bullying.
His death hit headlines worldwide and prompted renewed calls for action on the issue.
