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Heart wrenching news to report out of Iowa today. Kenneth Weishuhn, a 14-year-old Iowan who came out as gay just last month, died from bullying-related suicide on Saturday.
Ahead of his death, Kenneth told his mother "Mom, you don't know how it feels to be hated."
Reports the local NBC affiliate:
Teasing started in school, according Kayla, a sophomore. She says it was the boys in her class, that bullied her brother over his sexuality.
"A lot of people, they either joined in or they were too scared to say anything," she said.
She says they took their teases online, to websites like Facebook, creating a hate group against gays and adding Kenneth's friends as members. However, it was only the beginning, family say he started receiving death threats from South O'Brien students on his phone.
"When I'd question him about the phone calls, like he just blew it off, so I just thought everything was ok," said his mother.
According to Kenneth's mother Jeannie, those South O'Brien boys were given a warning, but she was never contacted by the school. She's unsure whether she'll press charges against the students she says drove her son to his death.
According to family and friends, Kenneth's favorite quote was "be buddies, not bullies."
Kenneth's Pinterest site also became somewhat of a news item today largely because of its heart breaking title, "When I Get Married. (:"
(Source and image: KTIV)
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