Zachery Gray, a teenager from Florida, is in 24-hour care at a medical center and unable to walk or talk after attempting to hang himself a year ago. Gray’s mother found him at the time and was able to save him, but he has suffered serious brain damage.

Gray’s family and others have said that he was bullied at school and called hurtful antigay slurs. The catch is that Gray is not gay and has a girlfriend, who noticed people treating him poorly. Gray complained to school officials about the teasing, but they never told his parents. 

EDGE Boston cites an investigationconducted by the Pasco School District after the suicide attempt, which found that Gray had complained to teacher Brenda Carlson that other students had called him “Zach Gay” during a field trip. Carlson told the school investigators she responded by asking Gray, “If someone calls you a tree, are you a tree? And if someone calls you gay, does that make you gay?”

“Her job was to come to me, tell me, go to the principal, go to authorities,” Sissy Gray told Tampa Bay Online. “She did nothing.”

So sad. If you need help, please call The Trevor Project’s lifeline anytime at 1-866-488-7386.