Italy: 14-year-old died by suicide because of anti-gay bullying
A fourteen-year-old in Rome has taken his own life because of anti-gay bullying, and struggles with finding acceptance of his sexuality.
After causing cuts to his arms and groin, the teenager killed himself after 2am on Friday by throwing himself from a balcony.
He had previously left two messages apologising to his family, one on a USB stick, and the other hand-written on a piece of paper, reports La Repubblica.
One read: “I am a homosexual, no one understands my drama and I do not know how to make it acceptable to my family.”
Police investigators found that he had been the subject of bullying because of his sexuality, including text messages on his phone.
The Police Commissioner of Rome was said to have been unable to fight back tears, when he appeared at the scene.
Friends of the deceased said they had not realised there was anything wrong leading up to the incident on Friday.
Another teenager died by suicide back in November 2012, by hanging himself, and this latest tragedy highlights problems in the Italian legal system regarding homophobic bullying, and a lack of laws protecting LGBT people, say human rights activists.
Italy currently has no protections against anti-gay discrimination in public, in the provision of goods and services or against hate speech.
Same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are currently not recognised and same-sex couples do not have adoption rights.
Gender identity is also not a part of official anti-discrimination legislation.
