INDIANAPOLIS- In what has unfortunately become the norm for our LGBTQ youth, Darnell Young endured the wrath of many school bullies at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis for being openly Gay. After months of harassment and negative rumors being spread about him throughout campus, Darnell began contemplated taking his own life. “I was at my wit’s end. I didn’t know what to do and I thought about suicide,” Darnell, 17, told CNN. Fearing for his safety, his mother, Chelisa Grimes, notified school authorities of the constant bullying her son was having to deal with at school. According to Chelisa, however, the problem was vir
tually ignored by school administrators and the bullying continued towards Darnell.
tually ignored by school administrators and the bullying continued towards Darnell.That is when she decided to take matters into her own hands.
On Monday, April 16th, Darnell (who also goes by the nameDynasty) said he was surrounded by 6 bullies on campus, and the vulgar onslaught and threats of physical harm pushed him over the edge. He pulled a stun gun out from his back pack, aimed it towards the sky, and pressed the trigger, sending electrical discharges into the air. Horrified, the bullies ran off screaming. Moments later, Darnell was arrested by campus police and is now facing expulsion. He told campus police his mother gave him the stun gun for his protection.
Recently, suicides amongst LGBTQ youth over bullying have been making national headlines and as a result some parents have been considering drastic measures in order to keep their children safe, but in the case of Darnell “Dynasty” Young did his mother go to far? “I do not promote violence- not at all- but what is a parent to do when she has done everything that she felt she was supposed to do,” she told CNN. “I did feel like there was nothing else left for me to do, but to protect my child.”
Chelisa’s charge that school administrators showed ambivalence towards the bullying her son suffered through may have been confirmed by comments made by Arsenal Technical High School principal Larry Yarrell. “If you wear female apparel, then kids are kids and they’re going to say whatever it is they want to say… Because you want to be different and because you choose to wear female apparel, it (bullying) may happen.”Today it was announced that the Indianapolis Public School District has expelled Darnell from Arsenal Tech for the remainder of 2012. He will be eligible to return to school on January 2013.
