Chris Colfer’s win and speech gives hope to kids everywhere.

The 2011 Golden Globe winners have been announced. You might have been wondering if the awards show was the type of program that you could watch while the kids were still awake. It’s a little more difficult to put the kids down and get a quiet night of TV tonight since Monday is a holiday, so quite a few parents I know (myself included) watched as the kids were involved in a quiet activity nearby. Most kids wouldn’t have wanted to watch it anyway, because they have no interest in the nominees and don’t even know who many of them are. But seeing Chris Colfer win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on Glee is something that kids need to see.

He thanked his fans: “Most importantly to all the amazing kids that watch our show, and the kids that our show celebrate who are constantly told no by the people in their environments, by the bullies at school, that they can’t be who they are or have what they want because of who they are”

In an age where children are killing themselves because they are gay and where kids are harassing other kids to the point of suicide just because they don’t fit into stereotypical gender roles, the more successful people that say enough already, and prove to be positive role models of successful, gay youths, the better.

No parent should ever have to lose their child and suffer what the parents of Asher Brown, Ty Smalley, and  Tyler Clementi have endured. No child should ever feel so distraught over being gay or just different that they take their own life—ever.

Like Ellen DeGeneres’ anti-bullying campaign and her positive outlook stresses, “It gets better”, every time someone reaches out to kids who are living with being bullied and belittled on a daily basis, the more optimism it gives them that they might get through this terrible time and become exactly who they want to be. Maybe it will help them hold onto that belief a little longer and see other brave kids who are not only unapologetic, but confident and proud.

Celebrities say these things to the TV cameras and consequently the world, but all I can think about is the child who is secretly watching in their room alone, or the kid watching with her parents, still afraid to come out, or the child who feels different and thinks there’s something wrong with him, and how these few words might change their life. Maybe it will even reach the bully and force him to think twice about what he says in school this week. You can never underestimate the power of words, good and bad, and when a celebrity stands out against hatred (especially a young celebrity from a show like Glee that is watched by millions of teens), we can only hope that the message hits home with both the bullied and the bullies.

By the time our kids are grown, how wonderful would it be to be able to say to our grandkids “Back in the day being gay was a stigma, can you believe it?”

Image: GoldenGlobes.org

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