More Than 200 Attend Memorial For Gay Orego Teen

Originally printed 2/14/2013 (Issue 2107 - Between The Lines News)

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LA GRANDE, Ore. (AP) -

More than 200 people attended a memorial Friday for a gay La Grande, Ore., teen who hanged himself in a schoolyard and died two weeks later.

Pastor David Eddy told the gathering that 15-year-old Jadin Bell "touched every single person's life here in some way."

The high school sophomore and cheerleader died last Sunday at a Portland hospital.

The Oregonian reports http://is.gd/aM6i7u that many of those at the memorial were the boy's schoolmates. Devon Bennett said she was a close friend and added, "The day will come when something great happens and I can't wait to tell Jadin."

Family friend and spokesman Bud Hill has said that Jadin and his father visited a high school counselor to report that the boy had been bullied. The boy's father, Joe Bell, spoke this week at the launch of a foundation against bullying, saying he didn't want his son's life to be in vain.

Neither family members nor the school district superintendent have released details about any bullying. No one has confirmed whether it triggered the boy's suicide.

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