Senseless waste of young life
There are moments, rare moments where I feel so proud to be an out and proud gay man but then there are times which makes me angry, sad and guilty. In Queensland, another young man has taken his life because of being bullied because he was gay. This could have been me, many of you or someone you love.
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Next month it has been a decade since I have been an out and proud gay man. I feel this is a milestone and it makes me happy. This story has reminded me of the times where I attempted suicide because the thought of coming out was too much and then those suicide attempts after I came out because of things that some how relate to my sexual orientation.
Ironically and scarily enough the first time I was hospitalised for a suicide attempt was in grade 6, I remember that hospital visit to the Ballarat Base Hospital and being sad it didnt work and at the same time guilty that I had attempted it .
But if I could go back and talk to my 17 year old self on the 15th of December 2007, the night I rang my Mother to tell her I was bi-sexual ( I lied because I thought it seemed less disappointing), I would now say;
"You are going to be okay, you will find people who love you for you. You are going to be more proud of yourself and care for people like you more then you would ever believe. You will have tough times, the people who walk away from you after you come out are no hopers in the future and you will have the last laugh. Times will change and it will get easier and easier and in some little way you may even be able to help make a more accepting place. Your life is going to be worth it, don't give up.
Learn to love you. I know you won’t believe me but you're a beautiful person but it may be hard for you to see but people will remind you, the good people you are yet to meet. Have faith and always see the goodness of the world and goodness will come to you"
These words apply to anyone who is struggling with their identities or gender identity. You are an individual and you are beautiful because of that. It's easy to say it and hear it but please believe it.
Malcolm Turnbull, you need to be a leader with a heart. He can help but will he? It is hard to admit but every Australian has blood on its hands, even me. We elected this Government. We need drastic action, into the ACL and marriage alliance and immediate marriage equality.
Koby Lance Bunney,
Life line 13 14 44 or Qlife 1-800-184-527
TOO EARLY TO BE DOING IRREPARABLE HARM
Many Australian school-leavers are currently in Queensland and elsewhere, unsupervised, lots of them drinking, brawling etc. It's a pity. These youngsters have had lots of somebody's money spent on their "education". Aged mostly about 18, Australia's laws permit them to drive vehicles, drink alcohol; even to vote. Neuroscientists these days suggest that brain development isn't complete until about age 25 or even into the 30s. Likewise, vehicle insurance companies. They should know; they're the ones losing money when young clients kill or half-kill themselves. They charge 18-year old customers more than over-25s.
Arnold Jago, Nichols Point
SENTENCING NOT equal to harm
People of the Woodend region and throughout Victoria are rightly dismayed at the light sentence handed out in the case of the Sunbury man who shot a kangaroo named Spot with a crossbow bolt. The kangaroo was eventually captured by wildlife volunteers and had to be euthanased. The children from the property where Spot was injured were said by their father to be traumatised and frightened. The sentence, three months jail, does not in any way reflect the seriousness of this crime.