PSA/Show stuff all rolled into one
Alright people. I'm not sure how many of you had heard about this. However, I feel this is something that I should be put out there.
Now how many of you had heard about the recent rash of teen suicides here in the states? Several kids ranging from thirteen to eighteen, had committed suicide due to bullying over their sexuality. To be frank, this sickens me to the core on two levels. The first being my advocate side because this should not happen at all. Being gay, straight, bi, transgender, asexual, whatever have you is okay. There is nothing wrong with that but still the bigoted and prejudice mindset continues, passing onto the children. We really need to stop the cycle now in order for their to be any sort of change. But people seem persistent to stick their heels in the mud and refuse to move.
The second level is that of a personal experience as a survivor of being bullied and as a bisexual woman. From the third grade until eighth grade, I went to an all girls private school. There, I was pretty much tortured every single day. I was called names from "slut" to "cow" to "four eyes". My hair was made fun of. The fact that I read a lot was made fun of. When the girls gathered together during recess, I was pushed to the wayside. And after awhile, you start thinking they're right. From third grade to fifth grade, I wanted to die. I was depress and withdrawn and I believed them all. I was stupid. I was weird. I was fat. I was all these horrible things they were saying about me. Then, in the span of a two years, my grandfather and my mother both died from cancer. Suddenly, I was living for them and for my dad and grandma. The taunts continued, don't get me wrong, and they still stung. But I just learned to put my headphones in and ignore them. At the time, I was also discovering my sexuality. It was scary and confusing. Until one of those girls in the high school, that was pretty much the only one nice to me, had kissed me. Of course for the last couple months of school, I was called various names that I won't post here. I had to pull myself out of my own head. I still have confidence issues, trust issues, and I'm still painfully shy. But I remember what it's like.
And really, guys, this can't go on. It can't. No one should feel like their the gum on someone else's shoe. No one should feel like their sexuality, gender, color, creed, whatever is wrong. And all I want to do is shake these kids. No one should be that cruel. No one should get away with treating someone like that at all. And I'm sorry that these kids had to go through these feelings. I'm sorry that they felt like they had to take their own lives. I hope the ones that placed them in that state of mind are punished whether by the law or whatever happens when we die.
How can you get involved? Well there's the It Gets Better project on YouTube where, if LGBT, you record and leave a message for kids letting them know that it does get better even if it doesn't seem like it. There's also The Trevor Project, a hotline/organization that helps kids come to term with their sexuality. Or you can just let people know how angry/upset/sad you are that his had happened.
Chris Colfer had filmed something for It Gets Better. And I know that MTV is also doing something. Matthew and Cory have also gave an interview discussing how they feel about this as well. Matthew has expressed a wish that the show would tackle this issue in an upcoming episode, to use the show's popularity to help kids know they're not alone.
I'm totally for that.
Sorry guys. I'm getting off my soapbox now. You can comment or whatever. I just felt like this was something to put out there.