Bullied Gay Teen Hangs Himself in Oregon Schoolyard: VIDEO

A tragic story out of La Grande, Oregon, where 15-year-old Jadin Bell has been taken off of life support after hanging himself in a schoolyard last week, KOMO News reports:

Dozens of people came together last week in La Grande in a vigil for Jadin, trying to understand what drove him to despair nine days ago. He came to the playground of Central Elementary School in La Grande. He climbed on a play structure and hanged himself. Someone passing by tried to rescue him. He was brought to Portland and Doernbecher Children's Hospital where he was put on life support.

Hill says Jadin was pushed to suicide after being bullied in person and on the Internet for being gay.

"He was different, and they tend to pick on the different ones," Hill said.

Hill says Jadin asked his parents to home school him. He feared turning in the bullies would make things worse. But he had found the courage, recently.

Watch KOMO's report, AFTER THE JUMP...

 If you are considering suicide or need someone to speak with, please call the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.

Gay Portland Couple Celebrates 60 Years Together, Gets Awesome Interview in 'The Oregonian'

For a series called Northwest Love Stories, Jennifer Willis at The Oregonian interviews Eric Marcoux, 82, and Eugene Woodworth, 84, who will celebrate being together for 60 years in June.

Here's part of it:

Q: What advice would you give to new couples today?

Marcoux: God, that's just a terror of a question. To know it's not easy, and leave if it's toxic. Wait long enough to know whether or not it's toxic or just a pain. And be in love with love.

Woodworth: The main thing that I come back to is commitment. You have to decide from the very beginning whether it's going to be a committed relationship for a long period or if it's just going to be as long as it lasts. Which is what most people do. They fall in love with lust instead of love. And they think that when the sex starts getting bad, that's the end of the relationship. That's the beginning of the relationship! That's when you start working on it.

Q: What's the biggest lesson about love and partnership you've learned along the way?

Woodworth: It never lets up.

Marcoux: To be more gentle toward my own vulnerabilities and to his inadequacies, because they disappoint him as well as me. Oh, that didn't make any sense at all.

Woodworth: You never were worried about disappointing me.

Marcoux: Oh, God, I'm going to leave him right now. May I get a ride?

Woodworth: Yeah, teasing is part of it.

Read the full interview HERE.

Too Much Information: VIDEO

There was some kind of explosion in a Portland neighborhood and one of the locals felt the need to share some non-vital information with the news reporter.

"I know that's not why I'm on TV but it's true. It's true. I'm not here to lie to you."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via dlisted)

Bar Owner Denies Telling Gay Customers to Stay Away: VIDEO

Portland, Oregon bar owner Chris Penner is defending himself from discrimination complaints from a customer who claims Penner told him and his companions to stay away because his business, the P Club, was beginning to get the reputation of being a "tranny" or gay bar.

KOMO News reports:

The BOLI complaint said Penner’s first voicemail said "I am going to have to ask for you and your group not to come back on Friday nights. I really don't like having to do that but unfortunately it's the area we are in and it's hurting business a lot."

In the second voice message, the complaint states Penner said "I've done some investigating why my sales are declining and there's two things I keep hearing: people think that a) we're a tranny (trans-sexual) bar or b) we're a gay bar. We are neither. People are not coming in because they just don't want to be there on a Friday night now."

Penner denies the allegations, saying that he welcomes all customers, and has a staff which is half gay and lesbian. "It’s not true,” Penner said. “We're not a homophobic bar by any means."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Portland Police Bureau Makes 'It Gets Better' Video: WATCH

The Portland, Oregon Police Bureau posted an 'It Gets Better' video on Friday:

"Several months ago, a member of the Portland Police Bureau's Sexual Minorities Roundtable shared an It Gets Better video done by the San Francisco Police Department," Sgt. Pete Simpson said. "The Portland Police Bureau Communications Unit decided to create one for Portland and the response from the LGBTQ officers was overwhelming."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Portland, Oregon Bowling Alley Tells Gay League to Leave

The owner of Portland, Oregon's Hollywood Bowl bowling alley doesn't like gays.

From a Towleroad reader:

I am part of a LGBT bowling league (above) in Portland, Oregon that has been a fixture in the city since the '70's. For over a decade we have called Hollywood Bowl our home alley. However, within the last couple of weeks we have watched Hollywood Bowl become increasingly unfriendly to our league.

We received notice through our league administrator that bowling leagues do not fit Hollywoods new business model and thus we are being asked to find a different alley. We were sad at the news but accepted the scenario as we were assuming that all leagues were being asked to leave. Recently, we became aware that the only leagues that were being asked to leave were the two gay leagues and a league that is administrated by two lesbians. All other leagues are being allowed to stay as they fit into Hollywood's new family friendly business model.

This has not gone over very well in the league at all. We feel really alienated as we have families too and brought a lot of revenue to the alley both during and outside league meets once a week.

Hollywood Bowl's contact info can be found here, should you wish to tell them how you feel about this. HB's Facebook page is here.

UPDATE: The lane's owner Mark Frank denies the accusations to the Portland Mercury.

Our reader responds:

The timeslot offered is already taken by a smaller "straight" league. About ten or so teams. The house has started a new promotion on Sundays that would leave no room for non-league bowlers if we took the 6:30 timeslot offered. Why start a new promotion only to have the entire house filled with league bowlers? It doesn't seem legit to us as a league. And this offer was presented to us after we contacted the local media. It feels like a ploy to save face. We are a league of 26 teams with four people each. There's no way that we could be accommodated in that timeslot and the owner knows that.