9-year-old boy died by suicide after coming out as gay, says mother

The mother of a young boy who died by suicide in the US said that he had recently come out as gay.

Leia Pierce from Denver, Colorado said that her nine-year-old son Jamel Myles had been bullied after coming out to his classmates. He had recently come out to her, she told local station WTMJ.

"And he looked so scared when he told me,” she said. “He was like Mom I'm gay. And I thought he was playing, so I looked back because I was driving, and he was all curled up, so scared. And I said, 'I still love you.' "He went to school and said he was gonna tell people he's gay because he's proud of himself."

Four days after the beginning of the school term, Ms Pierce found her son dead.

"I could just imagine what they said to him," she continued. "My son told my oldest daughter the kids at school told him to kill himself. I'm just sad he didn't come to me."

The Denver Public School District has said that it's providing counselling for students in the wake of the tragedy. Denver Public Schools spokesman Will Jones told The Washington Post that it is "deeply committed to ensuring that all members of the school community are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status."