Jadin Robert Joseph Bell was an American child known for his suicide which raised the national profile on youth bullying and gay victimization in bullying. Bell, a 15-year-old gay youth, was "intensely bullied" both in person and on the internet because he was gay. He was a member of the La Grande High Schoolcheerleading team in La Grande, Oregon, where he was a sophomore. On January 19, 2013, Bell went to a local elementary school and hanged himself from the play structure. He did not immediately die from the strangulation and was rushed to the emergency department, where he was kept on life support. The Associated Press reported that a spokesman for the OHSU Hospital in Portland announced that after being taken off life support, Bell died on February 3, 2013. Bell's death was widely reported in the media, starting discussions about bullying, the effect it has on youth, and gay bullying. The Huffington Post, Salon, Oregon Public Broadcasting, The Raw Story, GLAAD, PQ Monthly, Pink News and many other media outlets reported on Bell's death. The media reported his suicide stemmed from being bullied for being gay, which Bell's father fully believed, stating: "He was hurting so bad. Just the bullying at school. Yeah there were other issues, but ultimately it was all due to the bullying, for not being accepted for being gay." Of Bell's death, Oregon LGBTQ activist Alex Horsey stated: "Sometimes, it can be easy to become disconnected to so many stories like Jadin's in the media... Every story has equal importance... It's heartbreaking that Jadin's story has become a reminder of the horrifying consequences of bullying, rather than a story of a young man overcoming adversity and a community changing its ways."
Legacy
After Bell's death, his father, Joe Bell, planned a cross-country tribute in honor of his son. He planned to walk across the entire continental United States within two years, spreading awareness about bullying and the effects that it can have. Bell resigned from his position at Boise Cascade and helped launch Faces for Change, a non-profit anti-bullying foundation, to speak in high schools across the U.S. He stated: "Not doing anything is not acceptable. are just as guilty. They are saying that it is acceptable." Joe Bell was killed halfway through his journey after he was hit by a semi-truck in Colorado. The driver of the truck, Kenneth Raven, was charged with reckless driving and may have fallen asleep at the wheel. Joe had begun the walk-in April 2013 and was killed on October 6, 2013. He was pronounced dead at the scene on the shoulder of US 40 when authorities arrived. Faces for Change created a scholarship program in memory of Jadin Bell "to make awards to scholastic institutions on behalf of individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and the development of community tolerance in our area of service." The story was adapted for the 2020 film Good Joe Bell.
