Suicide of Jadin Bell

{{Short description|Suicide of a bullied gay teenager}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Jadin Bell | image = Jadin Bell.jpg | image_size = | caption = Bell c. 2012 | birth_name = Jadin Robert Joseph Bell | birth_date = {{Birth date |1997|06|04}} | birth_place = La Grande, Oregon, U.S.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jadin Bell Obituary|url=http://www.lovelandfuneralchapel.com/obituary/Jadin-Robert-Joseph-Bell/La-Grande-OR/1172192|publisher=Loveland Funeral Chapel|access-date=26 January 2016|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201211604/http://www.lovelandfuneralchapel.com/obituary/Jadin-Robert-Joseph-Bell/La-Grande-OR/1172192|url-status=live}}</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|2013|02|03|1997|06|04}} | death_place = OHSU Hospital<br>Portland, Oregon, U.S. | death_cause = Suicide by hanging | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | monuments = | other_names = | education = | parents = Joe Bell<br>Lola Lathrop | website =  }}

'''Jadin Robert Joseph Bell''' (June 4, 1997 – February 3, 2013) was an American teenager known for his suicide, which raised the national profile of youth bullying and the targeted harassment of gay individuals.

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 School cheerleading team in La Grande, Oregon, where he was a sophomore. On January 19, 2013, Bell went to Central Elementary, a local elementary school and hanged himself from the play structure.<ref name=Toutonghi1 /> He did not immediately die from the strangulation and was rushed to the emergency department, where he was kept on life support.<ref name=Huff1>{{cite news|title=Jadin Bell, Gay Oregon Teen, Taken Off Life Support After Hanging Himself|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/jadin-bell-gay-oregon-teen-hanging-suicide-life-support-_n_2576404.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=29 January 2014|archive-date=13 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813122952/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/jadin-bell-gay-oregon-teen-hanging-suicide-life-support-_n_2576404.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Huff2>{{cite news|last=Associated Press|title=Jadin Bell Dead: Gay Oregon Teen Who Hanged Himself Dies After Being Taken Off Life Support|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/jadin-bell-dead-gay-oregon-teen-hanging_n_2617909.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=4 February 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315201550/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/jadin-bell-dead-gay-oregon-teen-hanging_n_2617909.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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'',<ref name=Huff3>{{cite news|title=Joe Bell, Father Of Gay Teen Jadin, Discusses Cross-Country Anti-Bullying Walk|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/03/joe-bell-cross-country-walk-_n_3209300.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=3 May 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315201123/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/03/joe-bell-cross-country-walk-_n_3209300.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Salon'',<ref name=Toutonghi1>{{cite web|last=Toutonghi|first=Pauls|title="They ripped him apart": Searching for answers in the suicide of bullied teen Jadin Bell|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/09/08/%E2%80%9Cthey_ripped_him_apart%E2%80%9D_searching_for_answers_in_the_suicide_of_bullied_teen_jadin_bell/|work=Salon|date=8 September 2013 |access-date=15 March 2014|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315185237/http://www.salon.com/2013/09/08/%E2%80%9Cthey_ripped_him_apart%E2%80%9D_searching_for_answers_in_the_suicide_of_bullied_teen_jadin_bell/|url-status=live}}</ref> Oregon Public Broadcasting,<ref name=opb1>{{cite web|title=La Grande Grapples With Bullying After Gay Teen's Death|url=http://www.opb.org/news/article/la-grande-grapples-with-bullying-after-gay-teens-death/|publisher=OPB|access-date=15 March 2014|archive-date=28 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228111430/https://www.opb.org/news/article/la-grande-grapples-with-bullying-after-gay-teens-death/|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The Raw Story'',<ref name=Ferguson1>{{cite web|last=Ferguson|first=David|title=Bullied gay teen taken off life support after hanging self in schoolyard|url=https://www.rawstory.com/2013/01/bullied-gay-teen-taken-off-life-support-after-hanging-self-in-schoolyard/|publisher=Raw Story|access-date=15 March 2014|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315185344/http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/30/bullied-gay-teen-taken-off-life-support-after-hanging-self-in-schoolyard/|url-status=live}}</ref> GLAAD,<ref name=GLAAD1>{{cite web|last=Hefferman|first=Dani|title=Jadin Bell|work=GLAAD |url=https://www.glaad.org/tags/jadin-bell|access-date=15 March 2014|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315201228/https://www.glaad.org/tags/jadin-bell|url-status=live}}</ref> ''PQ Monthly'',<ref name=Rook1>{{cite news|last=Rook|first=Erin|title=Project Believe in Me Founder Speaks Out on Bullying and Suicide|url=http://www.pqmonthly.com/project-believe-in-me-founder-speaks-out-on-bullying-and-suicide/11820|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=PQ Monthly|date=29 January 2013|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035802/http://www.pqmonthly.com/project-believe-in-me-founder-speaks-out-on-bullying-and-suicide/11820|url-status=usurped}}</ref> ''PinkNews''<ref name=McCormick1>{{cite news|last=McCormick|first=Joseph Patrick|title=US: Gay teen taken off life support after hanging himself because of homophobic bullying|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/30/us-gay-teen-taken-off-life-support-after-hanging-himself-because-of-homophobic-bullying/|access-date=19 March 2014|newspaper=PinkNews|date=30 January 2013|archive-date=19 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319221230/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/30/us-gay-teen-taken-off-life-support-after-hanging-himself-because-of-homophobic-bullying/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref name=KATU1>{{cite news|last=Tierney|first=John|title=Father killed on walk to honor bullied son who committed suicide|url=http://www.katu.com/news/local/Joe-Bell-killed-on-walk-to-honor-Jadin-Bell-227255411.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=KATU|date=10 October 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315184612/http://www.katu.com/news/local/Joe-Bell-killed-on-walk-to-honor-Jadin-Bell-227255411.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legacy== [[File:2014 06 28-13 08 34-IMG 003358 (14575879582).jpg|thumb|right|A marcher with ''Marching for Those Who Can't'' holding up a sign in memory of Jadin Bell in the 2014 Helsinki Pride]] After Bell's death, his father, Joe Bell, planned a cross-country tribute to honor 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. [Those who watch and do nothing] are just as guilty. They are saying that it is acceptable."<ref name=Huff4>{{cite news|title=Joe Bell, Father Of Gay Teen Jadin, To Walk Cross-Country With Anti-Bullying Message|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/joe-bell-gay-teen-cross-country-walk-_n_3132550.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=22 April 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315201126/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/joe-bell-gay-teen-cross-country-walk-_n_3132550.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Joe Bell began the walk on April 20, 2013, and was killed halfway through his journey after a semi-truck hit him in Colorado on October 9, 2013. He was pronounced dead at the scene on the shoulder of US 40 when authorities arrived.<ref name=Sandell1>{{cite news|last=Sandell|first=Clayton|title=Man Killed on Walk to Highlight Dead Son's Struggle With Bullying|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/man-killed-on-walk-to-highlight-dead-sons-struggle-with-bullying/|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=ABC News|date=10 October 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315050807/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/man-killed-on-walk-to-highlight-dead-sons-struggle-with-bullying/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Nicholson1>{{cite news|last=Nicholson|first=Kieran|title=Oregon man walking to honor his son hit, killed by truck in Colorado|url=http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24282181/joe-bell-man-walking-son-fatally-hit-colorado|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=Denver Post|date=10 October 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315201252/http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24282181/joe-bell-man-walking-son-fatally-hit-colorado|url-status=live}}</ref> The driver of the truck, Kenneth Raven, was charged with reckless driving and may have fallen asleep at the wheel.<ref name=Huff5>{{cite news|last=Nichols|first=James|title=Jadin Bell's Father, Joe Bell, Killed While Walking Cross Country For Tribute To Dead Gay Teen|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/joe-bell-dead_n_4079989.html|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=10 October 2013|archive-date=26 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226113103/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/joe-bell-dead_n_4079989.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The story was adapted for the 2020 film ''Joe Bell''.<ref>Kevin Slane, [https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2019/11/22/mark-wahlberg-weight-loss-good-joe-bell/ "Mark Wahlberg got ‘as thin as possible’ for new movie"] . ''Boston.com'', November 22, 2019.</ref> Jadin was portrayed by Texan actor Reid Miller.<ref name="actor">{{cite news |last1=Bahr |first1=Lindsey |title=Young actor calls it an 'honor' to play Oregon teen and bullying victim Jadin Bell in new film |url=https://www.opb.org/article/2021/07/26/reid-miller-plays-oregon-teen-bullying-victim-jadin-bell-in-new-film-joe-bell/ |access-date=April 26, 2022 |publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting |date=July 26, 2021}}</ref>

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."<ref name=FFC1>{{cite web|title=Scholarship Program|url=http://www.facesforchange.com/jrjb-fund|publisher=Faces For Change|access-date=15 March 2014|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315201047/http://www.facesforchange.com/jrjb-fund|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Nation1>{{cite news|title=Family announces foundation to combat bullying in wake of Jadin Bell's death|url=http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/02/family-announces-foundation-to-combat-bullying-in-wake-of-jadin-bells-death/|access-date=15 Mar 2014|newspaper=LGBTQ Nation|date=7 Feb 2013|archive-date=15 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315185214/http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/02/family-announces-foundation-to-combat-bullying-in-wake-of-jadin-bells-death/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Jadin}} Category:2013 in LGBTQ history Category:2013 in Oregon Category:Bullying and suicide Category:Suicides by hanging in Oregon Category:Deaths by person in Oregon Category:Bullying in the United States Category:February 2013 in the United States Category:Discrimination against LGBTQ people in the United States Category:2013 suicides Category:2013 deaths Category:Male suicides Category:Victims of cyberbullying Category:Youth suicides in the United States Category:History of gay men in the United States Category:LGBTQ youth in the United States Category:LGBTQ people who died by suicide