Prayer for Bobby: A Mother Coming to Term with Suicide of Her Gay Boy is a book by Leroy F. Aarons describing a mother's experience of reconciliation with suicide. from his gay son. On January 24, 2009, the TV movie Prayers for Bobby, an adaptation of a book starring Sigourney Weaver and Ryan Kelley in the title role as Bobby, is featured on the Lifetime cable network.
Video Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son
Book Summary
This book illustrates the story of Mary Griffith and her ordeal with her gay son, Robert Warren, known as Bobby. His Christian intolerance and hard indoctrination made him compelled to hate who he was and eventually he died by suicide in 1983. Mary began to question his faith because Bobby had committed suicide and wondered what would happen to his soul. After several quests of his own soul, he came to a fierce consciousness that there was nothing wrong with Bobby in God's eyes. He later became a gay rights advocate to commemorate his son. The story contains Bobby's diary excerpts throughout the book to illustrate his feelings and point of view.
Maps Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son
Development
In 1989, Leroy Aarons read a newspaper story about a young man who committed suicide. What strikes him most is his mother, Mary Griffith, who has tried his son's teenage years to "pray" his "gay nature". At age 20, Bobby Griffith jumped to his death from a highway bridge in Portland, Oregon. Mary was transformed by her loss and finally abandoned a rigid religious belief that made her not accept Bobby during her lifetime.
The story of Griffiths resonates with Aarons' own transformation as an open journalist and gay activist. After Bobby's death, his mother became an iconic activist for the PFLAG national association, urging parents to understand and accept the homosexuality of their children. "This incredible conversion touches me as deep as Bobby's tragic death story," wrote Aarons. "What enabled him to go beyond his background and do what can only be described as an act of courage."
After leaving daily journalism in 1991, Aarons began exploring Griffith's stories in depth. Prayer for Bobby: A Mother Comes to Term with Suicide of Her Gay Son - Aarons' first book - published by HarperCollins in 1995.
See also
- LGBT-related suicide list
- Suicide among LGBT adolescents
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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