Hundreds Attend Vigil For 15 Year Old Billy Lucas; Bullied Mercilessly By Classmates Who Perceived Him To Be Gay While Indiana School District Did Nothing

Hundreds of students gathered Wednesday in Greensburg, Indiana’s town square in a memorial for 15 year old Billy Lucas, who hung himself last Thursday in a barn at the home of grandmother. According to 6-NEWS, classmates say Billy was mercilessly bullied at Greensburg Community High School, Heide King, one of Lucas’ friends and an organizer of the memorial saying “They picked on him because they heard he was gay. Whether you’re gay, straight, bi – it should not matter. It should not change the person that you are. They thought he was so different that they just had to be mean to him.” One of the parents who attended the vigil, Patty Gossett, wondered why the school district appeared to have done nothing at all to intercede, saying “They basically tell you they can’t do anything about it. It doesn’t stop.” Tuesday, at a board meeting, the issue of bullying was discussed, and officials indicated that they were crafting an anti-bullying policy whose details have yet to be released. What changes implemented are too late to have saved Billy Lucas, Ashley Fields, a friend, saying “I don’t think it’s right at all. Something should have been done a long time ago. They’re just now wanting to do something, now that he’s gone, and it’s just not right.”