(this is where I use a lot of potty talk)
The Gay is not contagious.
Neither is The Nerd, The Geek, The Disabled or The Poor.
Bullies are jerks.
Parents who allow there kids to bully are assholes.
I grew up in a rural town that had it’s share of assholes and their spawn. More than once I was a victim of bullying on the schoolbus. In high school. The bus driver did not intervene. That bus driver is an asshole.
I have a long list of family members who are more than willing to use awful language to view their opinions on The Gay. I grew up in the right-wing. I used to believe all those things they say. Now I know it’s fear and ignorance.
I’m the mom who gets in the playground bullies face. Pick on my handicapped kid and I’ll run you off the playground. I do not condone violence. As much as I may want to shove down any little puke whose picking on my child and kick the stuffing out of him or her, I won’t.
You should have heard the talkin’ to my niece and nephew got about the “R word.”
I fully understand the sociological importance of playground hierarchy. Some one has to be at the end of the pecking order. That does not mean that the person at the low end of the totem pole deserves to be treated as trash.
There is a website to teach children about how to deal with bully situations.
Visit Stop Bullying Now!
Ellen Degeneres talks abut this in a much more civilized tone. She is awesome.
Read more abot The Gay and/or The Bullying
- A Whole Lot of Nothing
- Morningside Mom
- redwritinghood
- Down to Earth Mama
For more information about what is going on with our younger generation:
- HRC: Human Rights Campaign
- PFLAG: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
- Soulforce – for Christians questioning the teachings of homosexuality in the Bible
- Education.com – 10 ways parents can help stop bullying
- Watch For the Bible Tells Me SO
- Bullied by Gays – Not really informational, but eye-opening
- It Gets Better Project
Fell free to use my link to this badge is you want it for your site or Facebook page. It is linked to the Human Rights Campaign.
Thanks to Angie at A Whole Lot of Nothing for the Gay is OK badge and for inspiring me to write this.
I was bullied as a child and have had my child accused of being a bully and has been bullied. It's an intense reaction as a mother, especially if you had been bullied as a child. I have really tried to instill the importance of empathy in my kids, which is hard to balance out with the right proportions of standing up for yourself. I'm glad that my son knows that most bullies would not behave that way if they hadn't been treated that way in the first place.
As for The Gay, I don't differentiate that from any other "thing" that someone could choose to be picked on for. I've experienced bullying behaviour in the workplace because I'm a Christian. Really it can be anything that a bully doesn't like. Hey, you don't like The Gay, fine, it's an opinion (I disagree, but whatevs) … but it's never, ever fine to treat someone poorly because of your opinion about them.
*I meant, a bully could choose to pick on someone for… gah. poor sentence structure.