"They called him gay and a snitch," his stepfather said. "All the time they’d call him this."
Kate Harding wrote about the impact of homophobic bullying last week, on what would have been the 12th birthday of Carl Walker-Hoover, who committed suicide in April after months of being tormented with anti-gay slurs. It was also the 13th National Day of Silence, organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network "to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment and effective responses."
In a 2005 survey, GLSEN found that more than 64 percent of LGBT students reported verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school, and 29 percent reported missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence, they say, is a chance for students of all sexual orientations to support their peers and call attention to bullying.
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This is a tragedy that is overtaking our school systems in America by epidemic proportions. That a child should be moved to suicide by harrassment and bullying is such a tragic waste of a young life. And for what? This boy, and last week's similar suicide (Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover) DID NOT IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS GAY.
Yet they were judged "Gay" by their peers and tormented relentlessly.
This sort of activity has got to be stopped. It is criminal in intent. Our children must be able to learn in a safe environment and we must work together to povide that for them.
This is not a "Gay" issue - this is a SAFE SCHOOLS issue that affects ALL our children and youth.
For more about this, go to www.msqueer.com. -
That's horrible. To be honest though, he's only 11, and the kids were probably calling him gay not because he really was gay, but because that's a common taunt among pre-teens (especially boys).
Not that this changes much, but I doubt it was homophobia. Just plain, old-fashioned cruelty. -
The silence of that LGBTI continues...
But, if what ashcatash said is true, then it's children being cruel.
Situations like these I believe Freud is somewhat correct.
Children and sociopaths do not have superegos.Basically, children are sometimes the cruelest towards others.
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Yes, it was just basically children being cruel. But name calling often crosses over into physical intimidation as well as physical violence.
Here's the point. "That's so gay" is a common insult in society. But why? Why do we allow for "socially acceptable" prejudices?
Forty years ago school kids - as well as adults - were using the "n" word to be cruel. So why would that be acceptable? People were beaten and killed because of their race. Today it happens over religious, socio-cultural and sexual preference issues.
There are some great resources at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network at www.glsen.com. Also check out some great PSA's commenting on "that's so gay"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS0GVOQPs0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C277qAKpUaQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpBYKOs3ys
Deb Adler, author of www.MsQueer.com
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Children are cruel, but in the case of bullying in schools, particularly when it involves children harassed for being perceived as gay or being too good of a student, adults in the educational system allow and encourage it.
To show how pervasive this problem can, here's a piece in "The Daily Mail" that shows that even a famous child can become a victim and that a school won't necessarily protect even him.
http://current.com/items/89994459_school-bully-threatens-to-break-legs-of-britis...
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Let me see when I was small there was name calling etc. not that i enjoyed it but one often learns to get a "thicker skin" after a while. Male coaches often refer to their male players as "ladies" -- partly endearing and partly derogatory, and partly to inspire.
So why is it that the current focus is only on being called "gay" vs being called "retard", "nerd", "brainiac", "spic" " wasp" or any of a thousand other ethnic, racial, or religious slurs ---- I don't really see how its any different.
There's always going to be name calling so ... maybe we should teach people how to cope when they are called names and stand up to it if its the truth.
For example some one calls another "<insert slur here>" who actually is a member of that group then owning it often disarms the aggressor. phrases like "That's right I'm <whatever it is here> and that makes me <positive characteristic of group>"...
