Toni I understand (but don't agree with) your point about USFSA not responding to this specific tragedy, but that is no excuse for their absence from this conversation over the last year or longer. To my knowledge since this came to national and international attention, most of the kids who have been in the news for committing suicide have not been deeply involved in any particular sports. Yet, as I mentioned in a previous post, most MLB teams have made It Gets Better videos. A number of NFL , NBA and NHL players have also participated. These sports figures and leagues have likely been prompted in part because of the past and current role sports have played in homophobic and other bullying. Skating is just as guilty as football or baseball for this with its long history of wink an nod judging to hold down gay skaters who aren't butch enough.
Other athletes who are doing something about this issue are Hudson Taylor and Ben Cohen. Both have started foundations to create dialogue and support, specifically to encourage kids to stand up and defend their peers from bullying. Heck, Ben Cohen retired from professional rugby in order to launch his anti-bullying foundation. He's literally putting his money where his mouth is. He is not gay and has not been openly bullied himself. On the surface, he has no real reason to have done this. He did it simply because he has fans who support him who happen to be gay. He recognized that bullying is a problem for them and many other groups. So he stepped up and decided to do something about it. You don't have to be constituent member of a group other than humanity to have a deep level of concern about this.
As for skaters or anyone else viewing bullying as simply coming with the territory, frankly that's part of the problem. It's apathy and acceptance of the status quo, which in my mind is actually worse than the actual bullying. You can't ignore these kind of problems and hope they will go away. Not every young skater has the level of talent the Hamilton or Browning have to reach such a level of success that their bullies are silenced.
Skating would have no audience to speak of if it did not have gay men and housewives providing loyal support. I know it's often something establishment figures in skating find somewhat embarrassing, but it's a fact nonetheless. Given all the support they get from gay fans, and active gay participants in the sport as competitors, coaches, choreographers, judges and volunteers there is more than enough incentive and direct personal connection to have done something up to this point. Even if this had zero gay fans or participation, speaking up would still be warranted simply because it's the right thing to do. All I'm asking for is the most minimal level of support or acknowledgment. A link on their website, a tweet, a video. None of those things are expensive or time consuming. If there is concern among the organization or skaters about offending someone, then they should get over it. We can't afford to lose these kids. Their lives are too precious.
