Rennae Stubbs, the former coach of Serena Williams, recently expressed her heartache for a devastating incident involving a kid. Ethan Henderson, a teenager who reportedly took his own life after suffering from bullying, has left many in mourning. And Stubbs, who has never shied away from stepping up for justice, has shared a poignant message on X with a special request for all the parents of young kids.
The tragedy in question involves a fifteen-year-old boy from Arkansas who became the victim of bullying in school. He reportedly suffered from consistent online harassment for weeks, mocked by his peers for his sexual orientation. Henderson’s mother told the Los Angeles Blade that they isolated him for fear of spreading AIDS. “He began to withdraw and late at night he started to hurt himself even to the point [of going] to the E.R,” Ethan’s mom said. Per the LA LGBT Center, although the school authorities took action to put an end to it, nothing changed for the teenager. And soon after that, he took his own life.
Referring to this tragic incident, Serena Williams’ former coach took to her X and posted, “Please! Take a minute and read this. If you’re a parent of a young kid, try and make them understand, words matter & as parents understand what u say out loud influencers your child to act like this. RIP beautiful Ethan .”
Rennae Stubbs came out as a lesbian during one of her 2006 newspaper interviews. Since then, she has always been vocal about the importance of covering LGBTQI issues in the news media space with sensitivity. Stubbs once shared how there is no shame in a person being “who you are”. Therefore, when it came to sharing her candid thoughts on the recent tragedy, Rennae Stubbs once again showed her support for the young kid. However, a few years ago, she also showed her support for another athlete and opened up about her opinion on the matter.
When India’s Olympic sprinter Dutee Chand declared her sexuality in 2019, Stubbs made sure that she came in support of the young athlete. Especially after she received backlash from her own family, Rennae Stubbs opened up about the possible reason behind it and shared her opinion.
“It’s scary for any athlete, man or woman, to come out. It is, however, important to teach younger generations about the spectrum of sexuality, of understating themselves. Whether or not people are directly homophobic, there are so many other things for the person to deal with,” Stubbs said. Then she acknowledged Chand’s courage for coming out and urged everyone to put effort into making it normal. As Rennae Stubbs continues to take a stand for athletes and young kids who are facing the same struggles, it is voices like this that will make a difference in society.
