Joseph Jefferson, a 26-year-old gay rights activist based in Brooklyn, New York, committed suicide over the weekend.
Author Nathan James writes, on Facebook: I've been working on the story of another sad ending to a promising young gay life this weekend. Joseph Jefferson, a 2002 graduate of Harvey Milk High School, POCC and GMAD worker, and assistant to LGBT event promoters Laurence Pinckney and James Saunders, died by suicide yesterday at the age of 26. Mr. Jefferson, whose Facebook page includes these words, written by him, could not bear the burden of living as a gay man of color in a world grown cold and hateful towards those of us who live and love differently than the so-called "social mainstream". Mr. Jefferson wrote
"Belonging is one of the basic human needs, when people feel isolated and excluded from a sense of communion with others, they suffer. I have been an advocate for my peers and most importantly youth because most have never had a deep emotional attachment to anyone. They don’t know how to love and be loved in return. The need to be loved can sometimes translate to the need to belong to someone or something. Driven by that need….. Most will do anything to belong."
"Belonging is one of the basic human needs, when people feel isolated and excluded from a sense of communion with others, they suffer. I have been an advocate for my peers and most importantly youth because most have never had a deep emotional attachment to anyone. They don’t know how to love and be loved in return. The need to be loved can sometimes translate to the need to belong to someone or something. Driven by that need….. Most will do anything to belong."
As an advocate for LGBT youth, Mr. Jefferson surely made a positive impact onb those he met and counseled. But this same nurturing and enrichment he offered to others, was absent in his own life to such a degree, that he felt the only way to deal with the pain of his existence was to end it.
Antoine Craigwell reports, on AlterNet: "Pinckney said that Saunders and GMAD are collaborating to hold an event: “Celebration of Life – Stop the Madness” at the LGBT Center on Friday, from 6 – 8pm, to raise funds to assist with Jefferson’s funeral expenses, during which those who are active in the community would speak about the crisis in the Black gay community."
U.S. News - Breaking News and Latest Headlines
Celebrity News, Photos and Videos - HuffPost Celebrity
LGBT News, Culture, Opinion and Conversations
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Midland School Board Member Clint McCance told Anderson Cooper that he is resigning from the school board following a firestorm of outrage...
-
A FIRST, 2 men basking in the afterglow! 14 years ago today was the First Gay Sex scene on Daytime and I believe on Broadcast Televisi...
-
DOPE: Argentinian Cardinal Bergoglio Named the New Pope Plus Dark Cloud AND a Veteran at Dealing with Anger Over the Church's Anti-G...
-
Greg Louganis talks about his coming out, how far we've come since HIV in the 80s.
-
I personally think it was a mistake for George Stephanopoulos to have taken the GMA job, He really doesn't fit in. The worst was that h...
-
Marriages continue in Pennsylvania, but the Governor has filed suit to stop them. We'll have the latest from that state, plus civil acti...
-
No doubt there's some serious backroom dealing going on right about now in the halls of Congress. And that's perfect for Nancy Pelos...
-
Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone star Fess Parker died today at age 85. Parker died of natural causes at his Santa Ynez home near the Fess P...
-
Sure, Matthew Morrison is a Broadway veteran who grew up singing and dancing but that doesn’t mean that he’s gay.Still, the handsome Glee s...
-
T he Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was one of the first official Star ...
Contributors/Series
Our Favorite Sites
- Boy Culture
- Deep Dish
- Edge Seattle
- Fancast
- GLBT Yellow Pages
- Gay Crawler
- Gay Dating on OneGoodLove.com
- Greg in Hollywood
- Jesse Archer
- Kenneth in the 212
- Mark's List in Florida!
- Newser
- Out in Seatttle
- PQ Monthly
- Planet Homo
- Queer Me Up
- Seattle Gay News
- Smoking Cocktail
- The Stranger
- Towleroad
- Trans Lives Matter
- Views from a Broad
- We Love Soaps
- Wicked Gay Blog
Creative Commons License

No comments:
Post a Comment