An upcoming documentary from director
Elliot London explores the lives of a gay and a transgender teen
living in Tennessee.
London said he felt the need to tell a
story which would be important to troubled teens after hearing about
the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old college freshman
who took his own life after being outed as gay on Twitter by his
roommate.
“I did a lot of soul searching and
wrote my darkest moments of being bullied before setting out on a
road trip across the United States to really understand what our LGBT
youth is facing in 2012,” London said. “I met some incredible
people while on this journey. It was two of them that stood out most
to me in helping write a treatment for FRIEND. I honor their
struggles and courage in the two characters that will make this
film.”
London, who is looking to raise $81,000
through a campaign at indiegogo.com in the next 34 days to help
finance his project, released a video profile of one of the teens on
Monday.
In the six minute clip, we learn that
16-year-old Joseph considered suicide to escape his tormentors. He
also says his role model is rocker Adam Lambert.
“My dream is to become a dad and a
husband one of these days,” Joseph says in the clip. “I do feel
like we are on like the verge of acceptance from everybody.” (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Source: FRIEND
film campaign at indiegogo.com.)