By David Lewis for Background Briefing.
In November 2016, Tyrone Unsworth killed himself after years of homophobic bullying. He was 13. His school claims it knew nothing about the bullying, but the warning signs were there.
At a massive, tree-lined park in Chermside, north Brisbane, Tanisha Blair shows me where she and her closest friend used to hang out.
It’s mid-December, only a couple of weeks after Tyrone Unsworth’s tragic suicide, but the high school student manages to crack a smile as she reflects on happier times.
The pair would come here every second weekend, she tells me, “to tell our secrets, talk about boys and girls, and share food”.
They had forged a friendship at primary school.
“He wasn’t like the other boys,” Tanisha explains. “The other boys played in the dirt and made fun of the girls whereas Tyrone played with the girls.”
From a young age, Tyrone dressed up in girls’ clothing, experimented with makeup, and idolised female pop singers.
“He liked Lady Gaga and Beyonce,” recalls Tanisha. “He liked Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Rihanna: all those pop stars.”
But the same traits that endeared him to his friends also made him an easy target for bullies.
Pushed around
At book week in 2014, all the students at Tyrone’s primary school arrived wearing costumes inspired by their favourite stories. Tyrone had dressed as a fairy.
“He went to the garden at the school, he put flowers all in his hair, and I took a photo of him,” says Tanisha Blair’s mother, Renee McDonald, who noticed Tyrone’s outfit was beginning to attract unwanted attention.