17-Year Old Gay Teen Commits Suicide — Father Blames Anti-Gay Bullying
An openly-gay 17-year old boy committed suicide in Rochester, Minnesota on Sunday, and his father is blaming anti-gay bullying as “a big part” of the cause of his son’s death. Jay ‘Corey’ Jones, also known as Corey Jay Jonestrader on his Facebook page, was a student at Century High School, and was bullied for years his father, JayBocka Strader, says.
“He said all of his life they always picked on him. He’d still try to keep his head up at school, but then he’d come home and be really sad about it,” Strader says, in a report at the Post Bulletin:
Jones, a member of Century’s gay-straight alliance, had an image on his Facebook page that said, “Gay & Proud.” He was open about his sexuality and occasionally wore tight, colorful tank tops and short-shorts to school, Strader said.
“He just got really depressed about it because the guys weren’t accepting him,” Strader said.
Jones jumped from a pedestrian bridge near Century High School on Sunday, according to police.
In response to an inquiry from the Post-Bulletin, schools Superintendent Michael Muñoz issued a statement acknowledging there are issues related to bullying in the district. He did not directly address Jones’ situation.
The district is in the planning stages of providing training and support for students, staff and families, Muñoz said, and will continue anti-bullying collaborations with Gov. Mark Dayton’s recently formed anti-bullying task force, Rochester police and others in the community.
…
“I want everyone to have on pink shirts and remember the Corey that tried to get the rights,” Strader said. Pink was one of Jones’ favorite colors, his dad said.
“When I saw him in pink, I really liked him in pink, and he was really happy,” Strader said. “I just told him that pink looked good on him.”
A report on Minnesota Public Radio yesterday added:
Last year, Jones told his dad, Jay Strader, he was gay. Strader immediately noticed a change.
“I just saw a difference in him I saw a smile, I saw a little more energy than actually being down and out and depressed-looking,” Strader said. “To me he felt a sign of relief, like, ‘Yeah I got over the hard part, right,’ you know.”
But coming out exposed Jones to other pressures, Strader said, primarily from bullies at school. Jones moved to Minnesota from Chicago two years ago. He lived in Minneapolis for a year before moving down to Rochester.
Strader said his son was comfortable with his sexual orientation. But the teasing Jones encountered at school turned into a constant struggle for him and he was diagnosed with depression.
“I wanted him to let me know what was going on with him. I didn’t get a chance to get that,” Strader. “I didn’t get a chance to find out what was going on inside his head.”
Strader said his son’s death Sunday has not sunk in yet. It’s been an emotional week for his family and him, as well as for many high school students in southeastern Minnesota.
Minnesota is currently the stage for a contentious battle for an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The funeral for Jay ‘Corey’ Jones will be held in Chicago on Saturday.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Image: Facebook
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President Donald Trump declared April 2, “Liberation Day” and launched a series of erratic, wildly fluctuating, country-specific tariffs, citing a “national emergency” over the U.S. trade deficit—a trend that has persisted since 1975.
He has also vowed to make 90 deals in 90 days, something experts say is an impossibility, given that trade negotiations often take months if not years to complete. The deadline is fast approaching: July 9, he has said.
The President has yet, as far as we know, to have any country sign an actual trade deal—despite having claimed to already have struck 200—and the clock is ticking. He has claimed to have closed two deals, one with the UK, and one with China. The UK deal has been described as an “outline.”
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“Who goes first, if anyone, as of today?” Fox News host Bill Hemmer asked (video below) top Trump economic advisor, and tariff and bitcoin advocate, Stephen Miran.
“You mean, who goes first in terms of countries?” Miran asked. “Yeah, so there’s—look, there’s a number of deals in the works, with a number of our trading partners, particularly in Asia and in Europe as well.”
Miran, Trump’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. said he expected a “flurry” of deals to come “as we get close to the deadline because of the process in which these deals are proceeding, where there’s steps that everyone is taking to move the deal forward.”
“And those steps are designed to yield success around the time of the deadline,” he continued before Hemmer interrupted.
The Fox host appeared less than satisfied.
“Every time we do these segments, I’m just trying to find the name of a country—who will be first in line? Can we say today which country that will be?” Hemmer asked.
“I cannot,” Miran replied.
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Back in April Trump had claimed, “I’ve made 200 deals.”
“Pressed on which countries he had made deals with,” Politico reported, “Trump refused to say, nor did he clarify the terms of the agreements. He added that he would announce them ‘over the next three to four weeks,’ once the negotiations are ‘finished.'”
Also in April, Miran told CNN, “We’ve received written offers from almost 20 countries.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump economic advisor: There are a lot of deals in the works. I expect a flurry around the deadline
Fox Host: I’m sorry to interrupt but every time we do these segments, I’m just looking for the name of a country. Can you give me a name?
Trump economic advisor: I cannot pic.twitter.com/8RKwHM8frI
— FactPost (@factpostnews) June 6, 2025
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Republican U.S. Congresswoman Mary Miller of Illinois is facing backlash after denouncing the decision to allow a man—whom she first misidentified as a Muslim and later acknowledged was Sikh—to deliver the House morning prayer.
“It’s deeply troubling that a Muslim was allowed to lead prayer in the House of Representatives this morning. This should have never been allowed to happen. America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further…” she wrote, according to screenshots of the post captured by Politico’s Nicholas Wu, before she edited, then deleted it.
The second version, now fully deleted, substituted the word “Sikh” for “Muslim.”
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According to Axios, “Giani Singh, a Sikh Granthi from Southern New Jersey, delivered the House’s morning prayer on Friday.”
Politico described her post as “xenophobic.”
Wu also reported that U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) had “welcomed” Singh.
Miller, who was endorsed for re-election by President Donald Trump, has a history of controversial statements that have been denounced.
“This is the battle. Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future,'” she said at a rally on January 5, 2021, CBS News reported.
In 2023, Miller alleged (video below) that “activists on the left” are working “to abolish the natural family.”
Critics, including Democratic lawmakers, blasted Congresswoman Miller.
“It’s deeply troubling that someone with such contempt for religious freedom is allowed to serve in this body,” wrote U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ). “This should have never been allowed to happen. America was founded as free nation, and I believe the conduct of its legislators should reflect that truth, not drift further from it.”
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“She is one of the biggest bigots in Congress. An absolute disgrace,” wrote journalist Yashar Ali.
“I am appalled by the gross Islamophobic and anti-Sikh rhetoric used by Rep. Miller. Hate often stems from ignorance. That was on full display here. Rep. Miller should apologize,” urged U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
“A Sikh man, Balbir Singh Sodhi, was murdered in my district after 9/11 because he was mistaken for an Arab Muslim,” wrote U.S, Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ). “Arizona’s Sikh community transformed that senseless act of hate into a powerful call for peace and understanding. It’s a lesson I hope my colleague from Illinois can come to learn. The House has welcomed faith leaders of all backgrounds—priests, rabbis, imams, and more. We’re blessed to live in a nation founded upon religious liberty.”
“Textbook xenophobia,” observed The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone. “Is completely ignorant of what she’s even looking at, is terrified nonetheless.”
Watch a video of Miller’s comments on left wing activists and the natural family below or at this link.
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On a day dominated by an all-out clash between the billionaire President and the world’s richest federal contractor—marked by personal insults, threats of contract cancellations, and even a call for impeachment—Vice President JD Vance was conspicuously absent. Until the very end.
Musk answered “Yes” when a right-wing influencer wrote, “Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.”
Trump threatened he would cancel the federal government’s billions of dollars in contracts with the man who spent much of the year literally by his side, Elon Musk:
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”
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Musk charged that Trump was in the Epstein files:
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
Trump alleged that “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”
And so it went.
The Vice President was all but silent throughout.
Until 10:28 PM, when—as the battle had wound down and something of a “truce” was in the works, reportedly after an Oval Office meeting—Vance finally broke his silence.
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“President Trump has done more than any person in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I’m proud to stand beside him.”
Political observers blasted and mocked the Vice President.
“Nothing says courage like tweeting support for your boss at 10pm after watching him get his a– handed to him by a weirdo billionaire all day,” wrote Democratic strategist and former Harris advisor Mike Nellis.
“Ooh, I can just feel the power of love here. It’s just overwhelming,” snarked attorney George Conway.
“You know the s— is hitting the fan when a Vice President has to send out something like this. It’s like we are watching an episode of Veep, just not as funny,” said Washburn University School of Law Professor Joe Mastrosimone.
“LOL,” mocked conservative Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch. “Congrats to the team for coming up with this. Technically true if you define ‘the movement that he leads’ as the coterie of sycophants and cultists who trust Trump to be Trump. Otherwise this is a—covering gibberish.”
But expert Latino GOP political consultant Mike Madrid had a different take on the Vance statement: “They’re scared,” he wrote.
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Image via Reuters
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