A Tragic Suicide

On Wednesday January 11 one of our College of the Sequoias students, Eric James Borges, killed himself.  Yesterday a memorial in our theater drew about 250 people to celebrate Eric James's life.  Though he was only 19 years old Eric James had an impact beyond his years.  His death was reported by all the major U.S. networks and newspapers, and even around the world.  You can see a sampling of them here.   

You see, Eric was a budding film maker.  He had a lot to deal with in his short life, and he tried to express it in a few short films.  It is reported his films on You Tube have recorded 250,000 hits.  From the time he was in kindergarten, Eric was recognized as different and persecuted for it.  As he said in It Gets Better, "I was physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally assaulted on a day-to-day basis for my perceived sexual orientation," Borges said. "I was stalked, spit on, ostracized and physically assaulted."  After he came out, he decided to try to help others in the same predicament by joining the Trevor Project, the largest organization dedicated to preventing gay youth suicide.  You can watch his heartfelt appeal to other LBGTQ youth in It Gets Better here.  In it, he counsels other gay youth to weather the storms of abuse they may face, because "it does get better."  How ironic and telling that he succumbed himself to the very despondency he warned against.

Eric James did not have a good coming out experience.  He reported that his family referred to him as "disgusting" and "perverted," and that his mother subjected him to an exorcism in an attempt to "cure" him.  Two months ago he was finally kicked out of the house.  The Washington Post reports that youth who come out and are rejected by their families are eight times more likely to commit suicide than those who are accepted.  You can see another of his offerings, Invisible Creatures by clicking here.  It underscores the theme of the universality of love and affection. 

In Eric James Borges we have lost a good and gentle soul.  Our society loses far too many by crippling people's spirits with hatred and rejection, simply for being who they are.  This is surely one of the great civil and human rights issues of our time.  While legal and societal progress has certainly been made, Eric James's story reminds us there is still much to do.  Let us each resolve to do our part.