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President Obama speaks out against bullying
President Obama has joined the chorus of voices participating in Dan Savage’s It Gets Better project. His video, posted today, encourages gay teens and other victims of bullying to hang in there through hard times.
His words genuinely inspired me, listening to him. It’s easy to forget just how smart that Obama guy really is.
Even more inspiring than Obama’s words were the fact that he said them. I never thought, growing up as a queer kid in America, that I’d see the day the president of the United States speaks out against homophobia and bullying.
I grew up in a liberal town and had a pretty easy time of things as an out teen, but it’s hard to imagine how different my teen years would have been with this kind of cultural support from those in power.
Even more, I never thought I’d see the day Dan Savage got the president’s attention and cooperation for a media project.
The times, they are a’changing.
Check out the full video after the jump.
Asher Brown
Bullying is an omnipresent and seemingly ever-growing problem in schools these days, so much so that CNN has an upcoming special about it beginning Monday. Bullying at any level is uncalled for and unacceptable, but is horrifying when a child is literally “bullied to death,” as in the case of Phoebe Prince and now 13-year-old Asher Brown, who was ridiculed by his classmates for “for being small. For his religious beliefs. For the way he dressed. And for being gay.”
Asher Brown was an eighth grader at Hamilton Middle School in Harris, TX – outside of Houston. His step-father, David Truong, told MyFox Houston, ”For some reason, he stood out and people were just cruel. Kids were cruel to my kid. He was very different. He’s not the type of kid that would try to wear the newest clothes or try to do the coolest thing. He was an individual.” An individual who came out to his parents over the summer, and possibly went on to be openly gay at school.
His mother Amy Truong says Asher’s classmates “called him different names for being homosexual,” and that “he just had enough.” According to Queerty, “Asher took his own life with his stepfather’s 9 mm Beretta.” Continue reading »
Fred Phelps is planning to bring his hate show on the road to Mississippi to picket Constance McMillen’s high school graduation.
The students of Itawamba Regional High School and their parents sent Constance and her girlfriend to a fake prom last month while they partied at a secret prom thrown by parents.
After that stunt, someone might have thought those parents were the most immature bigots in the country. Phelps doesn’t want to let his rep slide, so he’s heading down to show them how pathetic adults can really be when they’re wrapped up in hate and attacking the vulnerable.
Lesbian teen Constance McMillen won her day in court last month, but was still robbed of her chance to dance with her girlfriend at her high school prom.
The girls were misdirected by parents, other teens and school administrators to a fake prom at a local country club while her classmates partied at a secret prom organized by parents.
Remember Constance McMillen? She’s the student that was banned from escorting her girlfriend to the senior prom in Mississippi. The local branch of the A.C.L.U jumped to her defense and petitioned the school on her behalf. School officials responded that same-sex dates (not to mention tuxedo-wearing females) were against school policy. The civil rights organization shot back that said policy was unconstitutional. End result: the prom was canceled for everyone. Luckily for Constance (and all non-heterosexual kids), the A.C.L.U. wants to continue to fight the fight.
17-year-old O’Rhonde Chapman likes to wear jumbo gold hoop earrings, long flowing wigs and stiletto heels. So what’s the big deal? To the school administrators of Nimitz High School in Texas, it’s the fact that O’Rhonde was born a “he”. Unhappy with his attire, the school principal recently sent him home.
A survey company dedicated to market research recently found that most teens are quite supportive of gay rights. Continue reading »
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