16-year-old Columbian Sergio Urrego killed himself last month after persecution by his Catholic school after seeing a photo of him kissing his boyfriend. His mother only recently spoke to the media about her son's suicide.
She said the ordeal started in May when a teacher at Gimnasio Castillo Campestre school in Bogotá saw a photo of her son kissing his boyfriend on his phone. He confiscated it and the boys were sent to the school psychologist. His boyfriend of a month and a half was forced to tell his parents about his sexuality and was withdrawn from the school.
The school refused to give Urrego his academic results and blocked his transfer to another school. After repeated visits to the psychologist, suspension from classes and accusations of sexual harassment, Urrego jumped from a shopping center on the morning of August 4. He died three hours later in hospital.
'My sexuality is not my sin, it's my own paradise,' Urrego wrote on Facebook before he took his life. His father said his suicide was a cry of protest against the school. After his death, Urrego's classmates were called into a meeting in which the principal described him as an 'anarchist', 'atheist, and 'homosexual,' and the school psychologist told them to be 'discreet' about the suicide.
His mother said she will not rest until her son's name is cleared and is filing a complaint against the school with legal support from LGBTI group Colombia Diversa.
Urrego had planned to study English in Australia and then environmental engineering. His vigil will be held in front of the school and at the shopping center on Friday and later in Medellín, where his family is from.
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