Parents Raise Awareness Of Bullying After Gay Son’s Suicide

A 12-year-old in Tennessee took his own life over the Thanksgiving weekend after a long period of being bullied at school for being gay.

Eli Fritchley was a seventh grader at Cascades Middle School in Bedford County. His parents told local news station WHNT he was a peaceful soul who played trombone in the marching band and wasn’t afraid to be himself.

His mother, Debbey Fritchley, shared that Eli loved the color pink, painted his fingernails and would wear his beloved SpongeBob sweatshirt nearly every day. Debbey thinks the clothing may have helped feed his tormentors.

“I think probably because he was in the same clothes every single day that they used that as a weapon,” she explained. But Eli didn’t seem to mind doing his own laundry every day so they would be clean and ready the next morning.