The legacy of gay teen Zach Harringtonwho committed suicide as a result of anti-gay bullyinglives on through Joel Burns' words, his emotional comments on a Tuesday night in October in Fort Worth, Texas, some 185 miles south of where Harrington lived.
The two will forever be linked through YouTube and other social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter.
It's the same for Burns and suicide victims Asher Brown, 13; Billy Lucas, 15; Seth Walsh, 13; Tyler Clementi, a college freshman; and others.
Burns, 41, is the openly gay Fort Worth city councilman who, on Oct. 12, delivered an emotional, heart-rendering, very personal, near-13-minute speech about bullying, suicides and the message that, yes, without question, life gets better.
His speech has been viewed about 2.4 million times.
Harrington would be smilinghe was the impetus for Burns' words.
And Burns didn't even know Harrington.
Harrington, was 19 when he killed himself at his family's home in Norman, Okla., a week after attending a Norman City Council meeting where a heated public debate centered on the fact that the council acknowledged receipt of a proclamation recognizing October as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month in the city.
Harrington attended the meeting that evening.
" [ Zach's ] death, and reading about it on Oct. 11, was what prompted me to go sit down and write my speech. Sure, I had been thinking about [ writing ] it for many weeks, but just never took action on it," Burns said.
Harrington's death was the final straw.
So, at lunch on that Tuesday, Burns went home. He cried more, reflecting on the recent rash of teen suicides and his own teen troubles growing up and being bullied for being gay.
And then he wrote.
Burns wrote his now-famous Oct. 12 speech at lunch that same day. And he didn't edit a word when he delivered it.
"Each and every bullying story spoke to me personally because of my own personal experiences," when bullied, Burns said. "It was, realizing that a kid killed himself after hearing disparaging remarks at a city council meeting," that truly set Burns off. That suicide was the green light to address this at my own city council, or, as he said, "a sign, something I had to take on."
Burns talked Oct. 12 about his childhood, including the time at age 13 when he was bullied. He was going to tell, for the first time ever, of his attempted suicide. His emotions took over, and he skipped that part.
Burns, who has had the same partner for 19 years, has been a worldwide sensation since his speech hit the web. He's appeared on CNN, NBC, MSNBC and The Ellen Show, among other high-profile media outlets.
The response to his speech "has been completely unlike anything I would have expected. It's been amazingly encouraging, very gratifying," Burns said. "When I read it, I had in mind that, at some point in the future, I wanted to use [ the speech ] to talk to local high school students in the district that I represent to address the issue of bullying. I had no idea what kind of … pulpit or opportunity that I would have to have a conversation about this issue."
The flood of feedback has been incredible, to say the last. He's gotten more than 30,000 messages. And although Burns is only paid $25,000 annually to sit on city counciland also works as a local realtorhe is using his own personal money to pay part-time help so everyone gets responses. "Every bit of that [ money spent ] is worth it, even if it just impacts one kid," he said.
Burns has gotten e-mails, phone calls and Facebook messages from literally around the world. And he's been invited to speak all over the world about his story and bullying. "It's amazing that the conversations [ about bullying ] still continues," a month after my speech," he said.
Burns has been on the Fort Worth City Council since 2007and he's up for re-election in 2011.
"I got very positive responses from all of my [ fellow ] city council members," about the speech, Burns said. "Others cried during and after [ my speech. ] Numerous Fort Worth [ city ] staff members who were in the meeting [ also acknowledged that they too ] had dealt with suicides, and I never knew about [ their troubles ] ."
Burns' speech was powerful, moving and grippingand he was given a standing ovation when he finished.
The local ABC-TV affiliate went live from City Hall with a report on Burns' speech, even though the reporter had finished a story about city matters before Burns spokeand yet the reporter scrapped that story for, instead, a report on Burns' speech.
By 10:04 that night, after the ABC broadcast, Burns said his cell phone, "was exploding."
Including a message from a friend who asked if Burns was planning to post his speech on YouTube. Burns said he was, perhaps over the weekend.
But the friend said that wasn't soon enoughit needed to be posted immediately, and volunteered to do so.
Sure enough, by 5 a.m. the next day, it was on YouTube. And by noon on Oct. 13, the speech had more than 5,000 views.
Today, the speech has been viewed about 2.4 million times.
Talk about a viral sensation.
"I remember thinking, 'I can't believe 5,000 people have seen this; that's crazy, more than I could ever imagine,'" Burns said. "It's been an amazing experience; that's for sure."
Especially, Burns said, the response he's received from teens worldwide.
Burns has since communicated with more than 10 teens who were planning their own deaths, but each re-considered after viewing his speech and reaching out to him.
"That's pretty amazing," he said. "I think about that and, well, I don't know of anything I'll ever do that will be as fulfilling, as rewarding."
More Joel Burns:
The quote: "My life [ since that speech ] is a lot busier; I just have less free time than I did before. But that's OK."
His partner, J.D. Angle, works in politics.
Burns and Angle met 19 years, in 1992, working on then-Gov. Bill Clinton's primary election campaign, when he was running for the Democratic nomination for president.
Being gay: In 2007, some of Burns' opponents tried to make his sexuality an issue in the press. But Burns won, "so that proved [ my sexuality ] wasn't that big of a deal to the people of Fort Worth, or at least in my district," he said.
Also please see It Gets Better by Councilman Joel Burns, 2010-11-17 at
www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php