Im sorry about what happened to your friend. I can easily relate to this; I too had a special Teacher, who awakened a love of writing. I had a special friend, who in looking back now, wish that I could have been his first girl friend. I recall the pain from being relentlessly harassed by other kids, and while sitting in class one day, thought that if I had a gun, I would have pointed it at my head and pulled the trigger. I recall those very early years of discovering who I was. For myself, it was about my gender, though I was often called the same things you and your friend were. And for a while, I even wondered if it was true,. But at that time, 45 years ago, there simply werent any other words to explain who I was.