Mother: Gay Son Suffered Brutal Harassment at 4-h Camp

Harassment at 4-H Camp
Mother Says Gay Son Was Tortured at Camp

RIPLEY, W.Va. (WSAZ) — A mother from Jackson County, W.Va., says her teenage son was brutally harassed at summer 4-H camp because he’s gay.

“He was unconscionable, he was, he could barely speak,” says the boy’s mother, Valera White.

White said the language was so vile that she can’t categorize what was said. In fact, she didn’t find out what these campers said until the police report was filed.

The catch is that police can not do much because there is no law that protects White’s 15-year-old son from what happened. West Virginia does not include sexual orientation in its hate crimes law.

The family said what happened at camp isn’t their first experience with being ridiculed because their teenage son is gay. Doing things like going to the grocery store have become enormous tasks for White and her son because the taunting seems unending.

White’s son says he cannot go to the movies anymore. When asked if he wanted to tell WSAZ.com what kind of comments people made to him, he said, “it’s not worth it.”

A spokeswoman for the 4H camp says that the two boys in question were sent home from camp, though the family says there were actually three people.

The spokesperson also says 4H always works to create an environment for children to feel safe. She says that counselors were nearby during the attack.

See Mother: Gay Son Suffered Brutal Harassment at Camp WSAZ-TV

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Celebrities Champion State’s Same-Sex Marriage Bill

State Senator Shirley L. Huntley, a brassy, big-haired Democrat from Queens who opposes same-sex marriage, received a call on Wednesday that left her momentarily stunned.

Maya Angelou was on the line, and she wanted to know if the senator might reconsider her position. Ms. Huntley, hardly the type to be played for a fool, at first thought her staff might be pulling a fast one.

“I said, ‘What?’ ” Ms. Huntley recalled on Thursday, adding that she was not convinced that it was Ms. Angelou until she heard her deep timbre. “I heard the voice, and I said: ‘My God. It is her.’ And that was that.”

Ms. Angelou’s call — one of three the poet and author placed to state senators this week — was part of an effort by prominent supporters of gay rights to persuade reluctant senators to vote for the same-sex marriage bill before the Legislature. Cynthia Nixon, co-star of HBO‘s “Sex and the City,” who is a lesbian, and Paul Tagliabue, the former commissioner of the National Football League, who has a gay son, are among the other high-profile people who have lent their celebrity to the cause.

The Assembly passed the bill, promoted by Gov. David A. Paterson, on May 12, but gay rights groups remain short of the support they need in the Senate. With just four weeks left before the Legislature adjourns, those groups have been increasing their efforts to reach out to senators.

See Celebrities Champion State’s Same-Sex Marriage Bill
New York Times