Memorial: Spirit Day

[amilyn]

I am deeply saddened by the recent suicides of so many young people who have been pushed to choosing death over life because others made it so clear that living while being gay was a worse option. The below is something I think is tremendously valuable, perhaps necessary, reading, along with a link to the news article about the death of one of the

Comments

[melissasdavid]

Re-posted. This broke my heart. So very very many of my friends are gay or bi or whatever and the absolute SHIT they have to deal with makes me so sad and so so very angry.

It makes me cry. I'm a mom, I'm raising my kid to not accept but just KNOW that love is love and it comes in many forms. I refuse to allow her friends to say "thats so gay" and I explain in an age appropriate way WHY thats not an ok thing to say.

There will be a day that the phrase "gay rights" will NOT be a phrase anymore, and any kind of love will just be THAT. LOVE. Gender not even an issue at all, not even given a second thought.

Thank you for posting this. This is something that hits the dead center of my heart. I don't even know what to say, really besides thanks.

[amilyn]

Same for me and my students re: "That's so gay." And, if they ask why not, I explain. I've used the example (in my very diverse school with a STRONG GSA that has gotten awards) of, "If you came to school and every day heard folks in the halls casually saying 'that's so black' or 'that's so Mexican' to mean 'pathetic and stupid,' would YOU feel safe here?" They readily admit that, no, they wouldn't.

When we played Life at home with the kids, and they got to the "married" square, I would ask them, "Do you want to marry a girl or a boy this time?" It was fun to use that as a quiet, simple way to reinforce that it is an OPTION for them.

And, yeah. It's so important and I want to see it move from "gay rights" and "women's rights" to HUMAN RIGHTS. Period. Love IS love, and no one should be punished for it.

[scifithinker]

We'll never know what the world has lost with the death of these young people. They deserved so much more from life.