I'm late on this - I should have known and posted about this before April 17^th.  (It is only slight consolation that most of my fellow bloggers missed it entirely.  Stories do get lost in the chaos, and sometimes the only way to keep on top of what is happening is to link to other bloggers, so if nobody catches it the first time around, it can 'fall through the cracks.')

But April 17^th was when this should have been all over the blogosphere.  Two reasons: April 17^th is the Annual Day of Silence held by the students of many schools in support of gay students and gay rights in general.  And April 17^th would have been the birthday of Carl Walker-Hoover.  Only he didn't see his birthday.  He had been mercilessly taunted by his fellow students for being gay, and, eleven days before his birthday, he hung himself.

There are two other facts that make the story more poignant.  One is the fact that there is no evidence that he thought of himself as gay or was gay - which really doesn't matter but which might open the hearts of some homophobes.

The other is the fact that, on April 17^th, 2009, Carl Walker-Hoover would have turned twelve years old.

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