title:  LA Father Kills Son For Being Gay (VIDEO)
text: Less than two weeks before his father used a shotgun to end his life, Amir Issa posted a heartbreaking cry for help to his Facebook wall.On March 19, 2016, the 29-year-old resident of Los Angeles wrote that he felt as if his mother, father and other family members were controlling his every waking moment.He also wrote:I was earning over $100k by age 26 and this has negatively impacted my life, made me live in pain and become unemployed. If there is a devil or evil spirit, I truly believe it manifests itself in my family.Later in the same post, he wrote:They have literally robbed my bank account, lied to courts and doctor, to try and label me as mentally ill, and failed in their attempts to have me falsely imprisoned and evicted. If there are any good people on this earth, please help free me from this inhumane slavery.Just ten days later, on March 29, his father murdered him and his mother. Issa s body was found outside the family home. According to police, he was gunned down with a shotgun.His mother s body was found in the bathroom. She died of multiple stab wounds.The L.A. County District Attorney s office called the shooting a hate crime. According to New York Daily News Issa s father had previously threatened to kill him for being gay.A video posted to his Facebook wall shows his father calling him a pervert and saying that he should be castrated.Shehada Khalil Issa is being held in the Los Angeles County jail on a $2,000,000 bond.This tragedy should have never happened.The death of Amir Issa is a heartbreaking reminder of the silent suffering of LGBT men, women and youth.Posts on his Facebook page indicate the family were members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.On its website, the church states its official position regarding LGBT citizens, saying: The Bible makes no accommodation for homosexual activity or relationships.  Sexual acts outside the circle of a heterosexual marriage are forbidden For these reasons Seventh-day Adventists are opposed to homosexual practices and relationships. Amir Issa wrote on Facebook,  I want to open my eyes lord. I want to see Jesus.  He went on to say he  would like to have a family that attends church regularly,  but one that  doesn t punish my thoughts or actions if I am a good person which I know I am. From his posts, it appears that Amir Issa was murdered by his own father at least in part because of  these fanatical religious beliefs.Although he sent out a cry for help just ten days before he died, like those of so many other members of the LGBT community, his call for help went unanswered.Too often members of the LGBT community are isolated and alone. The isolation makes them more vulnerable to violence and exploitation, often perpetrated by physically, emotionally and mentally abusive family members.Things might have turned out much differently for Amir Issa if only someone had reached out to him ten days before, when he wrote the words: If there are any good people on this earth, please help free me from this inhumane slavery. It s too late now, for good people to reach out to Amir Issa.But it s not too late to reach out to someone else in the LGBT community.It s definitely not too late for our society to demand inclusion, knowing that exclusion leaves people isolated and vulnerable, making them easy targets for violence and abuse.As republicans across the country attempt to pass laws excluding LGBT people from society, it is up to the  good people on this earth  to stand up and say no.Here s more on this story from the New York Daily News. Featured image via video screen capture via New York Daily News