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In past www.BlueHampshire.com blogposts and in public interviews during the past several years, I have frequently said that Governor John Lynch's courage in publicly signing both the Civil Unions bill in May of 2007, then the gay marriage bill, HB 436, in June of 2009, saved lives. The pictures and stories of each signing were widely distributed in the news media throughout not only the nation but the world.
In 2007, the signing received wider distribution throughout the world that week than any other story tracked by Google News -- thousands of news sources picked it up. The gay marriage signing story in 2009 received just a bit less distribution internationally because it was a busy news week, but nationwide it was similar to the Civil Unions bill of 2007.
Saved lives? Yes. I believe it did. I know a lot of people asked Governor Lynch to publicly sign each bill, and as part of my urging I told him that the second leading cause of suicide among teenagers is, in fact, questioning one's sexual identity.
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Too many of our young people live in a society where they are expected to be attracted, exclusively, to the opposite sex. For those young people who are gay or lesbian, or questioning or transgendered, they often cannot turn to friends and family.
I mentioned to the Governor that by publicly signing the bills, he would be letting that young person who might have been beaten up that day, or who is depressed because he or she doesn't know where to turn for support, know that they are not alone, nor wrong; that the popular and respected Governor of a state says it is okay to be who they are, and that the institution of government is giving equality to them. I think he knew that instinctively, and he held public ceremonies for each signing.
The problem of suicide because of sexual identify was made especially clear by the death this past week of 18-year old Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University first-year student who jumped from a bridge after his roommate had posted on the Internet a video showing a sexual encounter in his dorm room with another man. The roommate, who wasn't present in the room but had secretly installed a live WEBCAM, is facing criminal charges.
Perhaps if Tyler's hometown junior or senior high school in New Jersey had been more accepting of gays and lesbians, or his home community and state had supported equality laws, he wouldn't have hidden his sexual orientation or felt so depressed about his sexuality that it would lead to suicide.
It doesn't end there. Searching the news of the past week, Seth Walsh, a 13 year old gay Californian teen, hung himself from a tree a week ago, and 15-year old Billy Lucas, a high school student in Greensburg, Indiana, also hung himself. Each had been extensively bullied for being gay.
In Tennessee, 17-year old openly gay Andrew Emitt went online at his high school library searching colleges, and wanted to check out campus organizations supportive of the LGBT community. His search was denied by the school's computer firewall. In Tennessee, 107 schools use software that blocks gay-related WEBSITES. He did, however, find sites that promise to change gays and lesbians into heterosexuals. By the way, the ACLU is looking into a lawsuit against the state.
I'm sure Governor John Lynch's action to support equality and do so publicly and openly has saved lives -- not only here in our state, but elsewhere where young people who were wondering about whether they would ever be accepted for who they are saw or read about his support for them. Unfortunately, acceptance of our diversity will take a long time, but leaders like John Lynch are models for the cause.
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