A high school teen from Circle Pines,
Minnesota has received death threats after coming out gay in a video
posted on his Facebook page.
After coming out six weeks ago, Ryan
Eichenauer received two threatening anonymous letters.
The letters were placed on his desk in
two separate classrooms within weeks of each other.
“I'm really proud to be out and be
myself,” Eichenauer, a senior at Centennial High School, told
Fox 9. “I get to do what I want without having to hide
anymore.
The second letter reads in part: “Ryan,
I see there are many others who also want you dead. Good. And it's
not just the two of us who have decided to speak up. It's everyone …
like you don't deserve to live in this world. Innocent people die
every day, but the scum of the earth like you gets to live? … That
is about to change. No one likes the fact that you are alive. No
one likes the way you show your sexuality. You are a … sinner.
Someone should do something about it … I will. I am not a coward.
I protect the house of god from … like you.”
Police have opened a full
investigation, the outlet reported.
“The first threat I cried a lot,”
Eichenauer said. “A lot of tears and emotions. Even though that
was less threatening. Then this one came along. Is this what I am
going to get forever, from now on?”
(Eichenauer's coming out video, titled
A Message To All, is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)