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CASE STUDIES - JACOB OROSCO - FRONT PAGE NEWS

The front page of the October 18 Philadelphia Inquirer featured a lengthy and insightful article about Jacob Orosco, the 17-year-old gay youth in Salt Lake City who committed suicide last month even as he took the helm of the controversial but resilient East High School Gay/Straight Alliance. "This time last year, Jacob Orosco's life was fuller than it had ever been," it begins, discussing his participation with the club and the battles around preserving it, dancing with other boys at the prom, and leading panels on the problems of gay youth. "'To me,' he had said, 'taking clubs from us is like putting a gun in our hands and waiting for the trigger to be pulled.' His friends recall those words with a shudder," the story says. In his last days, "he had been dealing with a new obstacle, finding $400 to buy a $1 million liability insurance policy demanded by the school before the club could resume its evening meetings. Why Orosco killed himself remains a mystery. Those who knew him are hesitant to make a direct link between [his] suicide and the battle over the club--which, at one point, had the state legislature talking about giving up all federal education aid rather than accept the club's existence. In fact, his efforts as one of the founders of the Alliance had seemed to help him." The article discusses the force of the Mormon church in Utah as well. "Orosco wasn't Mormon. But the church's teachings profoundly influence public policy in Utah, and the atmosphere in the schools. State law forbids Utah's public school teachers from saying anything in the classroom that would imply acceptance or advocacy of homosexuality." According to the article, "Members of Utah's gay community responded to the suicide with frustration and despair," and friends of Orosco are concerned about copycat suicides. Still, the work of the young activists continues in the wake of the tragedy, and "gay support groups hope Orosco's death will serve as a rallying pint for people to demand more tolerance, especially in schools," it says. - GLAAD, October 24, 1997