"Juvenile" Cruelty, Real Consequences

[ravan]

I'm glad I never lived in the dorms. Some days my fellow humans make me cry...

Rutgers, Friends and Family of Tyler Clementi Mourn Suicide

just because I didn't kill myself, doesn't mean I didn't feel like I was dying

This type of shit is unusual in its absence, not in its presence. It's the bullying that all gay, bi and trans kids go through, even now. More if they're fat and/or geek - it's additive, not either/or.

Most turn it inward. Many die by their own hand. Some turn it outward.

Comments

[dubhain]

It is changing, slowly; which doesn't excuse the bullying and harassment that still exists, at all.

I very, very nearly became one of the kids that killed themselves, before anyone started keeping statistics on this. I was beaten, bullied, harassed, socially ostracized, and managed to survive two attempts to kill me. All because someone started a rumor I was gay. And everyone believed it. At the time, I didn't identify as straight, gay or bi. I just identified as me. That didn't matter. I was different, so I was a 'faggot' and faggots deserved to die. Anything done to a faggot was justified. That was the long and the short of it. Teachers overlooked it. Some encouraged it. Everyone denied it was actually happening, because the other kids that were beating, bullying, and trying to kill me (and yes, they really did. Twice.) were Good Kids™ and surely wouldn't do such things. And, if they were doing it, well...after all I probably was a little queerboy if they all thought I was, so I probably deserved the beating and bullying. All right, the attempts at killing me were a little over the top, but they probably just got carried away and didn't really mean me any harm. They were just probably trying to teach me a lesson or something.

So, yes. From what I've seen and heard from this generation of kids, it's slowly getting better. Nonetheless, it still has a long, long way to go before kids who are gay, bi, transgendered or just plain 'different' will be safe in our society.

[mdehners]

My 1st roomate at the dorms was a bigot so I got to switch with a Rocky Horror/D&D freak....a much safer alternative!One of the reasons I never "bought" the whole 2-spirit thing was that the bigot was a full-blooded Piute. When Smurfs go all "Dances With Credit Cards" on me I point out that there were once more very different cultures in just where the USA is today than all of Europe counted from Stone to Info-Age.Some treated their non-Het citizens well...others were worse than Christians.
Truth,
Pat