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Schoolboy, 15, jumped to his death after rumours he was gay
A Gloucestershire teenager jumped to his death after rumours circulated that he was gay, an inquest has heard.
Dominic Crouch, 15, a pupil at St Edwards School in Cheltenham, threw himself from a six-storey block of flats last May after returning from a school trip.
An inquest in Cheltenham heard that pupils played spin the bottle on the four-day art trip and there were rumours that Dominic had kissed a boy.
His parents said he appeared happy when he returned from the trip but just days later, he left school at lunchtime to go to the block of flats where he got to the roof via a trapdoor.
Notes were found in his pockets apologising to his parents.
According to Metro, Dominic’s father Roger said after the inquest: “Dominic was clearly upset about rumours that he believed were being spread about him. We need to realise that what may be a laugh to some young people are deeply upsetting to another.”
Coroner Tom Osbourn said there was no evidence that the game of spin the bottle had affected Dominic to the extent that he would want to kill himself.
A verdict of suicide was recorded.
Dominic’s family are raising money in his name for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund which supports children in South Africa.
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UK civil partnerships consultation opens
A government consultation on the future of UK civil partnerships opens today.
Interested parties are being asked to give their views on ceremonies being permitted in religious buildings, if faiths wish to hold them.
Currently, civil partnerships cannot contain any religious elements. However, faiths such as the Quakers, Unitarian Church and Liberal Judaism have said they want the right to perform the ceremonies.
A provision was included in the Equality Act to allow this and coalition government ministers are now working out how the change can be implemented.
In a written ministerial statement, equality minister Lynne Featherstone said that faith groups would have to agree whether to hold the ceremonies. Individual premises would then have to apply for approval from their local authority.
She said the proposals were “designed to respect the wishes of faith groups whether they wish to host civil partnership registrations or not, and to keep burdens on local authorities to a minimum”.
Churches will not be forced to hold civil partnerships, a clause in the Equality Act stresses. The provision and proposals to widen the definition of marriage apply only to England and Wales. The governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland will consider these issues separately.
Legislative changes are required for religious civil partnerships but it is understood that the law could change by the end of the year. The measure has already been approved by MPs and Lords.
Ministers said last month that a separate consultation will be held on marriage equality.
Gay rights campaigners say the current civil partnerships system is discriminatory and claim that many gay couples would prefer the right to marry.
It is understood that the government’s preferred option is to eventually open civil marriage and civil partnerships to all couples, whether straight or gay.
Last February, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg wrote on PinkNews.co.uk: “I support gay marriage. Love is the same, straight or gay, so the civil institution should be the same, too. All couples should be able to make that commitment to one another.”
Marriage equality was later adopted as official party policy.
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Louis Theroux returns to anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church
Four years after his documentary on the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, Louis Theroux revisits the homophobic Kansas cult to see what has changed.
When the presenter first visited the 80-member family church in 2007, viewers were shocked at its beliefs and the use of young children in roadside pickets.
The church, which claims the death of soldiers is a sign of God’s wrath against homosexuality, is best known for picketing troops’ funerals with the chant ‘God Hates Fags’.
It continues to dominate headlines by upsetting mourners and condemning AIDS victims and its antics have resulted in members being barred from entering the UK.
But in a BBC Two programme to be screened on Sunday, Theroux finds the church has been shaken by a series of family defections and a Supreme Court struggle over free speech rights.
He discovers that members’ beliefs have become more extreme, including the assertions that President Obama is the ‘beast’ in the Book Of Revelation and that the second coming of Jesus is imminent.
Theroux, whose first film has been viewed by church members, is now reviled by them as “evil” for apparently mocking true Christianity.
However, they are keen to exploit the publicity he gives them and even present him with his own ‘Louis in Hell’ placard as a gift.
‘Louis Theroux – America’s Most Hated Family In Crisis’ will be shown on Sunday at 9pm on BBC Two.
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