Joel Burns: The speech heard around the world

Let me be one of the first to admit that I had never heard of Joel Burns prior to October 12, 2010. Then again, I don't often hear about city council meetings making national headlines.

Burns is the councilman in Fort Worth, Texas who gave this heartfelt, poignant and emotional speech about bullying and teenage suicide. If you're the type of person who sheds tears easily, I strongly urge you to keep a box of Kleenex close by.

"One day when I was in the ninth grade I was cornered by some older kids who roughed me up,"  Burns said, sharing his own personal story about the time he was bullied as a teenager in his hometown of Crowley, Texas. "They said that I was a f*****, and that I should die and go to hell where I belonged. That erupted the fear that I had kept pushed down, that what I was beginning to feel on the inside must somehow be showing on the outside. There must be something very wrong with me, I thought. Something I could never let my family or anyone else know."

He then attempted to recall one of his darkest moments following that incident but decided it would be too difficult for him to read aloud out of respect for his parents.

"I think I’m going to have too hard a time with the next couple of sentences that I wrote. And also, I don’t want - I don’t want my mother and father to bear the pain of having to hear me say them…" Burns said as he began to cry.

He paused a while before continuing.


"I have never told this story to anyone before tonight - not my family, not my husband, not anyone," he said through sobs. "But the numerous suicides in recent days have upset me so much and have just torn at my heart. Please stick around to make those happy moments for yourself…Give yourself a chance to see how much better life will get. Yes, high school was difficult, coming out was painful but life got so much better for me. Please, live long enough to be there to see it. To those who are feeling very alone tonight, please know that I understand how you feel, that things will get easier. It may not seem like it tonight, but they will."

If any of you are having problems because of past bullying experiences or are just curious as to what bullying victims like Burns have or had to go through on an almost daily basis, just watch this video in its entirety. You will be touched by it - I know I was. I've learned the hard way that although there may be some difficult points in our lives, it goes to show that it will indeed get better. And it has gotten better for me. We should live our lives the way we want to and never, ever, let any bullies dictate that for us. I sincerely hope that we all take Burns' words of wisdom, hope and encouragement to heart and give ourselves a chance at life.