Brokeback Mountain Writers to tell New Tearjerker

joe bell oregon father gay son

IN 2013 Openly gay teen Jadin Bell from Oregon hung himself two weeks ago after being pushed to do so by bullies at his school and on the Internet. Bell was just 15 years old.

His father Joe Bell began a trek across the country to educate young people about the effects of bullying and homophobia.

As he made his way across the country, Joe Bell walked through rain squalls, slept in ditches and talked to anyone who would listen about how his gay son had killed himself after being taunted and bullied at school.

Mr. Bell’s artificial knees ached and his feet were mapped with blisters, but he told friends and strangers that he was determined to make it on foot from his home in eastern Oregon to New York City, where his son, Jadin, 15, had dreamed of one day working in fashion or photography. “I miss my son Jadin with all my heart and soul,” he wrote on Facebook in late May. “I know you’re with me on this walk.”

Within  a few months Joe was tragically struck and killed by a semi truck while on his nation-wide walk in October of 2013. Heart wrenching story.   Mr. Bell’s American journey — one that drew attention from local newspapers and attracted thousands of followers on social media — ended in an instant on a two-lane road in rural eastern Colorado. He was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer whose driver had apparently fallen asleep, the state police said.

This amazing story  is currently being penned by Brokeback Mountain screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, Deadline reports.

A24 is producing with Fukunaga’s Parliament of Owls production company, Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Riva Marker of Red Crown Productions, and Eva Maria Daniels of VisionChaos Productions. Red Crown’s Daniel Crown will executive produce.

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