Our Story

The story begins in 1998 with a middle school math teacher who truly cared for his students and their well-being. Angel was an incredible student. Smart, kind, and fun-loving. His smile was radiant and his charisma drew many of the girls to him even though he knew and they knew that he was not into them. But outside of class, he was bullied relentlessly by boys who were jealous of his style and envious of the attention he often received from the girls. To make matters worse, Angel's parents were incarcerated and he and his five siblings lived with his grandmother, who was very religious. 

So, Angel would get harassed and assaulted at school and then be called an abomination at home by the matriach of his own family. Fast forward to May 1999 and the worst thing happened. Angel confided in me that he could no longer deal with the hate and wanted to die. I consoled and counseled him and told all the proper authorities about what I knew. They did nothing. The next week when Angel came to school with three numbers carved into his arm. I had another meeting with the school counselor and principal in which I told them to have Angel removed from the home and get him some therapy or something bad will happen. Instead they suspended him. It was Thursday. On Saturday he was gone.

My teaching career was over that day.

Since then I have worked in theatre, taught poetry workshops, and spent many years as a sports referee -- all of which is my way of teaching the youth positive ways to cope with bullying and social media angst. 

Now Worldwide-PRIDE is here to help the members of the LGBTQ community, especially the younger ones to be proud of their identity and every part of themselves. We also hope to make being gay, trans, queer or other to become normalized so that bullying becomes less of a thing.

Lastly, it is easier to get through life if you have a group that can relate to your story. It is scientifically proven that just one good friend makes it harder to fall victim to suicide. So at Worldwide PRIDE we say "Find Your Tribe," it just might save a life.