Tyler Clementi came out to his parents three weeks before he jumped off the George Washington Bridge. His mother, Jane, says that at the time, her faith kept her from accepting Tyler’s sexuality - and since his death, she has made some changes.

This short New York Times piece is about how Tyler’s parents are coping two years after their son’s death, one of the most widely publicized cases of LGBT bullying and suicide of our generation. Jane has left the church that kept her from fully accepting her son, and she’s started speaking with organizations and other religious families with gay children. 

In the months after Tyler’s death, some of Ms. Clementi’s friends confided that they, too, had gay children. She blames religion for the shame surrounding it — in the conversation about coming out, Tyler told his mother he did not think he could be Christian and gay.

“I think some people think that sexual orientation can be changed or prayed over,” she said now, in her kitchen. “But I know sexual orientation is not up for negotiation. I don’t think my children need to be changed. I think that what needed changing is attitudes, or myself, or maybe some other people I know.”

This piece is heartbreaking - especially the ending - but eye-opening. There’s a reason we’re still talking about Tyler Clementi. His story is constantly teaching us about how we deal with things like coming out, faith, and simple human interactions. We should never stop listening to what his family has to say.