Gay bashing

[Jeff Wrangler]

Hope you're pleased with yourselves, Tony Perkins and all the other "Christians" out there who oppose anti-bullying programs (and give actual Christians a bad name).

I am seriously glad that Dan Savage recognizes that there is a difference. I have run into an awful lot of people (especially on the Internet) who do not, cannot, or will not.

But gay adults aren't allowed to talk to these kids. Schools and churches don't bring us in to talk to teenagers who are being bullied. Many of these kids have homophobic parents who believe that they can prevent their gay children from growing up to be gay—or from ever coming out—by depriving them of information, resources, and positive role models.

Sure. And in addition to the reasons Savage lists, how many of these same homophobic parents remain convinced that "we" are all predators and pedophiles, so that they don't want us anywhere near their kids? 

[Nikki]

Not sure where to post this, but it seems to fit the theme.  

By now, everyone in the USA must have read or become aware of the tragic suicide of the Clementi boy who jumped off the GW bridge.  He found out his college roomate was taping his (Clementi's) encounter with a male, and streamed the resulting video encounter on Facebook.  I was furious when I read the story in my paper.  Thursday night Anderson Cooper discussed the story on CNN. Cooper's remark  loosely paraphrased: "What must the 24 hours before he died have been for him" brought me almost to tears. Cooper also reviewed the recent suicide of an 11 year old boy who shot himself because he had been bullied for being gay by saying, "[the boy's father] found his little body..."

Whether it's cyber bullying because a person is gay or straight, or bullying in school, something has to be done before more  young people take their lives.  What must it be like to be driven to such desperation that a person chooses death rather than life under circumstances that they perceive leaves them no choice?  It's too easy to say that victims can seek help from receptive organizations like GLBT or school counselors.  In some cases,  the person being bullied is too ashamed to seek help, especially if their parents are unaware of their sexuality in such situations, or because they haven't come to terms with it themselves.

Perhaps it's time to strengthen laws against bullying rather than just a slap on the wrist for so called 'pranks' which may be part of the Clementi roomates' defense.

[tfferg]

It's long past time the issue was taken seriously.

[Jer009]

Focus On The Family: Homosexuals Are The Real Bullies In The Schools

The spiteful, morally bankrupt monsters at Focus On The Family have turned reality upside down...FOUR incidents of anti-gay bullying THIS WEEK ALONE, and they come up with this!

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/10/focus-on-family-homosexuals-are-real.html

ETA: Was it all in one week or one month? In any case, it's too many!

[Nikki]

Focus On The Family: Homosexuals Are The Real Bullies In The Schools

The spiteful, morally bankrupt monsters at Focus On The Family have turned reality upside down...FOUR incidents of anti-gay bullying THIS WEEK ALONE, and they come up with this!

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/10/focus-on-family-homosexuals-are-real.html

ETA: Was it all in one week or one month? In any case, it's too many!

Who is Focus on the Family, who created it, when, why?  Are they really taken seriously?  By whom?

[tonydude]

 The "It gets better" YouTube campaign seems to be picking up steam.  Chuck, of course, did a very brave, and also, reassuring, video.  Tonight, On Dancing with the Stars, the issue of the bullying came up, again, when Margaret Cho dedicated her splashy dance to the gay community and said it was also her way to show support against bullying.  The audience probably numbered about 25 million people, so, there's some increased traction there.  NBC news also did a story, a few days ago.  
  This may be a good chance for some progress.

 Oh, yeah.....what goes around comes around.  You can vote for Margaret on ABC.com, and she needs those votes as she is at the bottom of the rankings.

[BayCityJohn]

Who is Focus on the Family, who created it, when, why?  Are they really taken seriously?  By whom?

Founder: Dr. James C. Dobson
President/Chief Executive Officer: James D. Daly
Established: 1977

Finances: $137,848,520 (2004 Focus on the Family revenue); $24,988,036 (2004 Focus on the Family Action revenue)
Board of Directors: Ted Engstrom, Bobb Beihl, Lee Eaton, Shirley Dobson, Don Hodel, Stephen W. Reed, Robert Hamby, Anthony Wauterlek, Daniel Villanueva; Lt. Gen. Patrick P Caruana, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, Steve Largent, Dr. Albert Mohler, Jr., Dr. Kathleen Nielson (2004)

Staff: approximately 1,300 employees

Publications: 2.3 million subscribers to ten monthly magazines. Magazine titles include: Focus on the Family, Citizen Magazine, Parental Guidance, Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr. Focus on the Family also publishes a wide variety of books, tapes, films and videos.

Media: Dr. Dobson is heard daily on more than 3,400 radio facilities in North America, in 15 languages, on approximately 6,300 facilities in 164 countries. Dobson's estimated listening audience is over 220 million people every day, including a program translation carried on all state-owned radio stations in the Republic of China. In the United States, Dobson appears on 80 television stations daily.



more...

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/focus-family

[chapeaugris]

The "It gets better" YouTube campaign seems to be picking up steam.  Chuck, of course, did a very brave, and also, reassuring, video.

I know most of Chuck's story, but it was very moving to see and hear him speaking publicly. I've watched a few of those videos almost every day since the project was started.

The Tyler Clementi suicide affected me most of all because my daughter has just started college. What if she was publicly humiliated in the very first month there after working so hard, for so long, to get to college and thought life was no longer worth living? What if she thoughtlessly humiliated another student to the point of driving him to suicide? I assume I've raised her not to behave that way, but I bet the parents of those two guilty students thought they'd done the same.

[Dave Cullen]

Focus On The Family: Homosexuals Are The Real Bullies In The Schools

They are maddening. I have to keep a separate compartment in my brain for them. All outrageous things they say go into the FOTF Whacko Compartment, where I have to shrug them off. Otherwise, I'd eat a hole in my esophagus.

[Nikki]

I had no idea they were so influential.  It's still hard for me to believe anyone would talke them seriously.

[BayCityJohn]

Anne Hathaway, Ian Somerhalder And More Film 'It Gets Better' PSA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InhSGQPuP4o

[Jer009]

Publications: 2.3 million subscribers to ten monthly magazines. Magazine titles include: Focus on the Family, Citizen Magazine, Parental Guidance, Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr. Focus on the Family also publishes a wide variety of books, tapes, films and videos.

Parental Guidance? Who would take parental guidance from a frothing at the mouth lunatic like Dobson? Only Bible-thumping religious extremists and slack-jawed knuckle draggers.

And not one or two magazines, but ten? Methinks the lady doth protest too much. 

[chuckyv]

Awful to admit, but FOTF also have established themselves in Europe, & in Africa. The bigotry has a worldwide audience.

[CellarDweller115]

Somber reminder of the day.............

[graylockV]

This is mandatory viewing, IMO:

Joel Burns tells gay teens "it gets better"

Joel Burns is an openly gay city councilman in Fort Worth, Texas.  Here is the video of his statement to the council on October 12, 2010.  If this doesn't touch your heart - you don't have one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax96cghOnY4&feature=player_embedded