our son Bill
Looking Toward Tomorrow and the Future of America
Rising for me today: On January 18, 1997, one year, eight months, and ten days after our younger son Bill committed suicide after a bashing based on his sexual orientation, I published an essay “Too Many Kids Like My Bill” which is in part included here: There is so much grief with the death of …
An Old Article About Our Son Bill, Recovered
In October 2001 an article titled “Bill Clayton” by Olivier Björksäter-Bleylock was published in DNA, a national gay magazine in Australia. An interview with me was done through email, and was the best one I had ever experienced — and the most intense. Olivier asked about some things that were not in Bill’s story on …
Twenty-five years, and my Mount Saint Helens Letter
May 8, 2020 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day our son Bill committed suicide after and in response to being assaulted in a bashing based on his sexual orientation. I knew it was coming but when I woke up that morning it hadn’t struck me yet when our son Noel sent me a text …
Mother’s Day 2011. Bittersweet.
Today is a bittersweet Mothers’ Day.Bitter because THIS is the year I found out some of how much my Mother lied before her death in 1990. They were big lies. Giant lies. Its complicated and I am still learning and sorting it out and probably will be for a long time. Complicated too because as …
Bullying: Breaking The Cycle – a documentary Alec and I were in – is now online
Alec and I were in a KIRO 7 (Seattle) Family Connection Special Presentation documentary, Bullying: Breaking The Cycle, which aired on March 17 and March 26, 2011. It can now be watched online in four segments: Segment 1, Segment 2, Segment 3, and Segment 4. Those segments are all linked from this page: http://www.kirotv.com/bullying/if you …
How would you reply?
I woke up this morning to this email: Subject: about BillDate: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 09:28:47 +0000From: alex smith (email address deleted by Gabi)To: gabi@gabiclayton.com I hope you now see that you’re rebellion against God’s laws led to your son’s death. If you really loved your son, you would not have led him on a …
An anniversary and a thank you
The beginning of Bill’s Story was a single page with photo of Bill and a simple statement about him committing suicide after a gay bashing. I had a request to people to help end the hate, and I mentioned being a member of PFLAG. A man in Los Angeles was searching for information about that …
Video: How I Got To Play John Lennon’s IMAGINE Piano.
Steve Schalchlin describes “how a simple Internet posting of a friend’s son’s death (Bill Clayton) turned into the opportunity of a lifetime, thanks to pop star George Michael and Kenny Goss, a chance to play the piano upon which John Lennon wrote the song “Imagine.” The interview is by our friend Tracey Thornton.