Saturday, 02 October 2010
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America, Wake Up! We Need To Put An End To Gay Bullying
We need to discuss homophobia in schools. We need to talk about acceptance. Why now more than ever?Four young lives have been lost due to anti-gay bullying over the past month.
I cannot understand the pain that kids these went through that drove them to believe that suicide was their only option. It shouldn't have happened. And it should not happen again.
What are we doing, America? Homophobia has gripped so much of this great nation that it's okay for others to bully others. To harass them about their sexuality to the point that they are putting a gun to their head and pulling the trigger at the age of 13.
I hope the bullies look at what they have done and realize it just wasn't worth it. For what? A few laughs? To make yourself look bigger in front of your friends? Was it worth it? Was it worth it that you are basically a murderer?
It sickens me. What these young lives could have contributed to this society is lost, their futures cut short due to torment.
There is an anger inside me that I just don't know what to do with because of incidents like this. A sadness so heavy for the families involved. Yet I still hold hope that this nation will get things turned around. That we will find a way to just agree to disagree so further lives are not lost.
You may not agree with someones sexuality, but it does NOT give you the right to harass them and drive them towards suicide.
I pray that others who are going through the same harassment find another way to cope. I hope other bullies across the country see these stories and it scares the living shit out of them and makes them stop.
I'm just so sad.
Is anyone else outraged? How can we help gay teens and put a stop to this kind of bullying?
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About the Author
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- From: secretsandliesforever@xanga
- Name: secretsandliesforever
- About Me: I'm just your typical next door gaybor. I work. I eat. I sleep. I'm just like you. Unless you're a serial killer... then we're two different people.
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Comments (47)
I think we need to be more accepting of the people's challenges they are going through with this. Many friends that I know that are gay wish they could change their orientation, they need for people to accept them for who they are - yes. But it doesn't mean you have to accept their choices if they act on being gay. There is a fine line between not accepting someones choice and judgment and we need to be careful about that. Judgement leads to bullying.
We need to also put a stop to every other sort of bullying as well. Kids shouldn't be bullied into something like this regardless of sexuality, race or religion etc;. I think we should learn from this and from every tragedy that happens to them.
Too true. On a side note, does that first picture just automatically get posted with everything gay-related? o.O
@Hinase@xanga -This.
There have been all kinds of anti-bullying presentations and lectures in our school district for years. I think that adults paying more attention to what their kids/students/other kids around them are doing, should play a big part in curbing the bullying behavior.
I deliberately landed myself in detention for 5 months when I was in 6th grade, to avoid having to go to recess because I was being bullied. No one ever noticed, except for my mom who watched me cry every day before school because I was scared to go.
@Hinase@xanga - I agree, ALL bullying should be stopped. I got tormented in school too but I'm glad I atleast had a few loyal friends to get me through it. It's sick that someone feels horrible about themselves that they have to take it out on others or they learn this shit at home & bring it into the world.
Ellen's message is awesome & I like that fact that she addresses teen bullying as a whole & not just gay bullying. It's nothing new but it's becoming a pandemic. It needed to end like years ago. Now that people are killing themselves over it, people take it serious. I'm in my early 20s now but I bring this up to my mom often because she would often tell me to "let it go" or even tell me why sometimes I got teased in school. UGh...
@Shinbi_Belldandy@xanga - I was bullied myself throughout elementary school and junior high. Luckily, I had a very strong cousin (a girl) that kicked my bully's ass for me. I'm grateful for having that kind of support and even now as I'm older..I still get bullied a bit but I do fight back. You're right about that. I don't know why they feel the need to pick on other people if they're feeling bad about themselves.
@SeeBeeWrite@xanga - Actually, I don't remember any anti-bullying propaganda in my school unfortunately which is a shame. I think schools sometimes forget that kind of aspect of growing up or downplay that it happens so much. I knew so many people like myself that got bullied and some didn't take it well. One girl actually went insane because of it, that I knew of. She's better now but still mentally screwed. What a shame.
I think it's very low and pointless for people to bully others for their sexuality. I'm totally against homosexuality, and gay marriage, but I would NEVER treat someone horribly or even differently just because they choose that way. In fact, I had several bisexual and gay friends in high school, all who were great, awesome people to be around. People are just stupid. I also don't care for the term "homophobia" because it's mostly just a label slapped on anyone against homosexuality. Just because i'm against it doesn't mean I'm AFRAID of it. I feel that also those who lean towards a different sexuality should be confident enough in their lifestyle that they can ignore any retalitation against them. It's no different than if someone of another race was being bullied, or the "outcast". Bullying is something that kids just have to toughen up and learn how to deal with...as sad as it is to think of people being so horrible to others that the victims take their own lives, it is just one of those things in life that you gotta learn from.
The country as a whole still has a long way to go. It's sad, it really is. I just can't understand why people are sooo concerned about somebody else's sexual orientation. Really, I'd like to know how it affects them personally. It's just how they are. It'd be the same thing to make fun of someone because of race or gender. They don't choose to be gay, and then kill themselves because of it. It's just like white people don't have a choice in being white, black people don't have a choice in being black, etc.
I am only sad that this STILL goes on. I thought people would have got used to it. I actually do blame some of the parents. Because obviously children are not being taught that bullying is wrong, or they were taught differences are wrong.
Whichever way it goes...I have been bullied for being overweight growing up AND being DEAF. I am STILL being bullied but not as bad as this goes on. UGH.
edit: "people would get used to it" meaning those who bullied the differences. I thought they would be the type of people that have known by now that GAY is no difference than you are.
@Hinase@xanga - Agreed.
@ashley_wth@xanga - Sorry, but I don't agree with the conclusion that bullying is just something that others just need to toughen up and learn to deal with. Especially nowadays where cyberbullying is so common what if bullies use the victim's name online or post humiliating things and a future employer finds that in a background check? That's not exactly flattering and completely unfair to the victim to have their reputation slandered. Cyberbullying can also have an even more detrimental effect on the victim b/c the victim never knows who is behind the bullying. A lenient attitude towards bullying is what allows bullying to escalate from the verbal to the physical and that can be extremely dangerous. Even worse, for the bullies who don't grow out of their behavior (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Megan_Meier - a mother bullied her child's friend through myspace which caused the girl to hang herself) behave that way towards their children who then go on to bully others. Not doing anything about bullying just causes the cycle to perpetuate and for victims to be put in the situations that these people were put in. Bullying can go on for years, years. For instance I was bullied almost throughout my entire 1st-11th school years. I don't think that its in any way reasonable to expect a child to put up with bullying for that long without suffering some kind of consequence whether it be as drastic as contemplating suicide or low self-esteem and confidence. Heck, its not reasonable to expect anyone to put up with any harassment at all. Its time to get of the attitude that bullying is just a part of growing up.
Really glad you posted this. Keep it going.
How about stopping bullying period? Who wasn't bullied at some point in their life? This isn't something that happens to people because they are gay, it's something that happens to people because they are human.
@ashley_wth@xanga - So when did you choose to be straight?
Thank you for posting this. I have a 'memorial' of sorts on my page as well. I am so outraged that I don't really know how to put it into words. Saddened and outraged. Again, thanks for posting.
I'm sorry, while I care about homosexuals and their rights, no one made them kill themselves. Simple fact is that life is hard. People are going to be assholes no matter what you're doing in life and if you can't handle it...then maybe you're better off dead.
I expect a shit storm telling me I hate gays now. >.>
I think many people have already said the right thing, and that is how about people just stop bullying in general? The "gay rights" agenda, of course, wants to make this about homosexuality but it's about people being uncivil to other human beings, period. By making this a "gay" issue, you are saying that homosexuals are different and need to be treated differently. I thought the idea was to be accepted the same as everyone else?
Gays don't have an agenda.
I am a lesbian teen, and to hear this (I heard yesterday) makes me so angry people can do this.
People need to piss off and let them live life. It's not your life so don't try to bring them down for something that does not effect you at all. Sure you can say stuff to your friend or something but do not try to make that person feel horrible for something they cannot change.
The people who make fun of gay people have no life, as well they are horrible human beings. Grow the fuck up idiots.
It's really sad. I've had really close friends, tormented, bullied and treated like they're less than others. All because they fancy same sex and same sex relationships. I was told that I was nothing in god's eyes. That i was going to rot in hell. Is God really going to hate me because i love someone with a vagina? Or love me because i hate Homosexuality? Does he love those who push people to the edge of death because of their orientation? Its sickening. And its none of their damn business. If they really don't like it, than mind their own damn business. If its that terrible to them why waste time, hating and looking for things to destroy these people.
At my school, the anti-harassment policy does not extend to sexual orientation and gender identity. Enrages me. Our GSA has almost got it fixed, though.
God doesn't hate the gay. He just doesn't like their action that they take. It's the people that misinterp. What the Bible teaches you? And I know that bullying is wrong. I been a bully victim my whole life. My dad picks on me whenever I'm home. All my school years I was pick on but I had friend that help me get thru it. But still that pain is still there but I manage to get thru it because those people a bunch of asshole. And they will get what's coming to them later in life.
@Megan@revelife - All bullying needs to stop. Very true. But right now it IS about gays because that's who are killing themselves at an alarming rate the past 30 days. And when I see a 13 year old kid who is gay and decided to shoot himself because he's been bullied and he's been made to see himself as less of a person because of it... something has to be said.
The Gay Agenda is this: we are humans and we want to be treated as such in a society that denies us basic liberties.
@secretsandliesforever@xanga - Well said, dear. I was just about to write something almost identical.
Six. Six young lives. And countless more that haven't even been reported...