"They were hollering derogatory terms, then it escalated to physical harassment.
"The harassment started right away," said Leah, now 15. Peter, Minn., first came out as a lesbian at the age of 12 in the seventh grade where she says gay issues were talked about in "hushed tones." The taunts began after she pioneered the first GSA.
Indeed, it is the students themselves who are emboldened to make their schools more comfortable for all those with differences. Josh "took control" of the situation, his mom says. As his mother sought support, so did Josh, now 16 and in high school, forming a GSA at his school. The Riveros lobbied unsuccessfully for a Florida law to outlaw sexual orientation bullying. "A lot of them stepped up and intervened, but there were other teachers who looked up at him and said, 'What do you want me to do?'" "It starts with teachers in the classroom," she said. Rivero said students need support, but teachers also need training. What we had the most difficulty with was accepting our fear that we knew our son would be a target." "He had a right to go to school and get an education without being bullied," she said. The threats soon became physical and Josh's mother, at the suggestion of the school's principal, reluctantly filed a temporary restraining order against her son's tormentor. After King's 2008 murder, 1,046 middle schools participated in a vigil. In 2007, students from 520 middle schools participated in a Day of Silence to raise awareness about sexual orientation. The 15-year-old was shot twice in the head by a classmate in California. Much of it has been a reaction to the February killing of openly gay student Lawrence King. In the last year, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has seen a "huge surge of interest" in addressing anti-LGBT bullying in middle schools. "That makes it even harder for them," he said. Most children are aware of their sexuality between the ages of 8 and 11, according to Jennings, but are told they are "too young" to know their orientation. "Moving from small to larger schools, cliques and social pecking order are a bigger deal." "There seems to be something about the onset of puberty that makes those years different," said Kevin Jennings, founder and executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.