Teen Suicides Plague 2012 Hopeful Bachmann
A string of teenage suicides in Michele Bachmann's congressional district is plaguing the presidential contender.
Aliyah Shahid reports:
In her Minnesota school district, there have been a total of nine teens who killed themselves in the past two years - several of whom were gay or thought to be gay, according to a new report in Mother Jones.
The article, "The Teen Suicide Epidemic in Michele Bachmann's District" cites critics - including residents and state public health officials - who blame Bachmann and her anti-gay allies for creating a "climate of intolerance."
The 38,000 Anoka-Hennepin County School District is now under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, Mother Jones reports. Officials are examining whether anti-gay bullying is connected to the hike in suicide rates.
Bachmann's office declined to comment for the article and did not respond to requests from the Daily News.
In recent weeks, the Tea Party favourite and her husband have come under fire for their position on homosexuality.
Bachmann's critics point to her appearance at a rally in 2004 supporting a ban on gay marriage and her voting against a proposed anti-bullying bill in her state 2006.
She told legislators, "I think, for all us, our experience in public schools is there have always been bullies, always have been, always will be. I just don't know how we're ever going to get to point of zero tolerance and what does it mean? ... What will be our definition of bullying? Will it get to the point where we are completely stifling free speech and expression? Will it mean that what form of behavior will there be - will we be expecting boys to be girls?"
Her husband, Marcus Bachmann, has been slammed for his therapy clinic that reportedly counsels patients to "pray away the gay" in order to become straight. He has previously denied that his clinic uses prayer to try to cure homosexuality.
The state's largest school district has a policy that discourages teachers addressing sexual orientation in class, something critics argue Bachmann has helped foster.
Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Minnesota-based suicide-prevention organization SAVE, who has worked closely with the school district and was quoted in the Mother Jones piece, told The News it was inaccurate to call the string of suicides an "epidemic."
"There was a higher number of suicides in a higher period of time in one area than is normal, but if you look at overall trends, it has gone down. … Overall, there was no trending," he said.
But Michele Johnson blames the school district for the death of her daughter, Samantha, a seventh grader teased by students who claimed she was gay. The young teen fatally shot herself with a rifle in her family's bathtub.
"I feel if I hadn't moved to this district, my daughter wouldn't have died," Johnson said.
According to the liberal magazine, seven students at Samantha's school have been hospitalized this year for either attempting or threatening suicide.
Reidenberg said Bachmann and her allies are not solely to blame, but her anti-gay rhetoric can "negatively impact" students and "make their struggles greater."
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