The topic of this post is one that I have addressed before, but one that really needs to be said over, and over, and over again across the entire spectrum of the media since it's the only way that the driving force behind anti-gay bullying - Christian fundamentalists, the Catholic and Mormon Church hierarchies, and other religious fundamentalists - will ever be ultimately discredited and the death toll subside. Only when this happens will other societal structures (e.g., school yard pecking orders, anti-gay laws) begin to change and stop directly and indirectly reinforcing the message of hatred and intolerance that are the true hallmarks of these religious denominations. Until then, anti-gay bigotry will continue to be given a cloak of respectability by the acceptance of religion as a basis for denigrating others and stripping them of their humanity. Michelangelo Signorile has a great op-ed in The Advocate that looks at this issue. Here are some highlights (take the time to read the whole piece):*
The irony lies in the fact that it’s the children of straight parents who are very much in a full-blown crisis, be they gay and victims of bullying or the perpetrators of bullying themselves. It’s hard to know if gay teen suicides are on the rise or if media reports—and the use of the Internet to get news out—have focused more attention on them. But one thing is certain: They’re happening at an unacceptable rate.
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[D]espite the gains of the gay equality movement and the coming out of celebrities here and there, life is worse today for LGBT teens than it was 20 years ago, particularly for those living far from urban areas. While the gay political movement has made dramatic strides, . . . most of those advances have been for adults in big cities. And, at the same time, the religious right has come full force out of its own closet—condemning homosexuality and pushing “ex-gay” therapy. In suburban and rural areas, preachers attack gays, ugly campaigns have been waged to bar gays from marrying, and politicians rail that gays shouldn’t be teaching in schools.
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It will be many years before marriage equality and antidiscrimination protections come to every state. And the New Hampshire example shows that even after equality is won, it may be many years before antigay forces stop trying to strip away hard-earned rights. We’ll be fighting for a long time. One battlefield will continue to be the schools, where young people will be targeted. And it’s not just the gay kids and those who are perceived to be gay who are under attack, it’s also those whose parents are gay or lesbian who are being singled out as different by bullies.
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The problem is only going to get worse unless there is a concerted effort to dramatically change the culture of schools. Often we’re dealing with the symptoms rather that the larger problem when it comes to bullying and homophobia. “In the research, ‘slut’ and ‘faggot’ are the two words used most by bullies,” says Elizabethe Payne, who founded the Queering Education Research Institute at Syracuse University’s School of Education. . . . “Right now we focus on the individual kids’ problems,” she explains. “Conversations are about bullying prevention, and those things are important. But why has the effeminate male been the primary target of bullying for so many years? The problem with the bullying programs is that we reeducate the bully and then there’s another one right behind that one, because we haven’t really questioned the structure of the school itself.
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When Hollywood and pop culture help to solidify the messages coming from antigay politicians and preachers, it shouldn’t shock anyone that it plays out detrimentally among young people. Not until we address these larger and more challenging aspects of culture, in schools and beyond, will we see the bullying and the suicides diminish. And changing the culture will have a positive effect—not just on LGBT youths but on all kids, including the bullies.
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