I think it's obvious that there needs to be early education about alternative gender choices and sexual orientations. Most of those "bullies" probably didn't even know what it means to be gay and were just using the word as an insult. An 11 year old is in 6th grade, that is old enough to be educated in learning tolerance. These instances of suicide should be used to educate kids. There is no excuse for school officials letting bullying happen in any case, especially over such a sensitive topic among young students. The only answer is education. It should be no different than racial tolerance education.