I'm going to rant because I'm angry and I really want to go to bed but I can't until I get this off my chest. Now normally at this point I would call my boyfriend and yell to him for several minutes. But I can't. He's in the middle of a Call of Duty mission talking about the chances of the Illini winning tomorrow.
Tonight was the season premiere of my favorite show, Supernatural. The episode rocked, like they always do, and left me aching for the next episode. Then the news came on. Normally, I try to avoid the news because a lot of the stories are depressing but tonight one story caught my attention.
This group of teenagers created this video to combat cyber bullying and held a press conference to talk about the awful effects after a 14 year old boy committed suicide last week. The boy, from Buffalo, NY, posted a video on Youtube in support of Ellen DeGeneres' 'It Gets Better' campaign against homophobia. He was tormented for four months before he took his life.
What I'm about to say will probably ruffle a lot of feathers but I'm done caring. Hearing about the poor kid taking his life made me sick to my stomach. Enough is enough! I'm ashamed to be apart of any group/organization that teaches our kids that this kind of behavior is acceptable. There are Christians out there who are teaching their kids that just because someone is gay, they are immoral and need to be treated like the immoral heathens they are. And that sickens me.
Immoral or not, no body deserves to be treated like an immoral heathen. No one on this planet deserves to be put down so low they see no end to the darkness except taking their lives. I was taught to treat everyone equally... from my perspective we're all the same. Gay, straight, black, white, one leg, two legs... they're just labels. I spent my entire childhood fighting the disability label hanging over my head. So I think I have a right to think labels are the most idiotic man-made notion ever to cross some stupid person's mind.
But you wanna know where I stand? I'm torn between the whole choice/gene thing. Church is telling me it's a choice but science is telling me it's in the genes. As a teen, I believed it was a choice but now I'm not so sure. One of my best friends is gay and he is one of the best people I know. So do I support him? Yes, I do. Got a problem with that? Tough.
The day everyone was supposed to wear purple to support the fight against homophobia, I didn't because I didn't know about it until after. But I would have. It shouldn't matter whether you think being gay is a sin or not. They are human beings that bleed the same color as me. They have the same body parts, internal organs and oh and guess what? They have feelings that get hurt too.
It hurts me to the core that they see no way out but suicide. All their potential, their future, every good contribution they could have made to the world... is gone. Because someone stood by and let it happen. Some body told their child that gay = wrong and they should be persecuted for it.
Honestly, I don't care where you stand on the issue. I'm tired of turning on the news and listening to another report of some poor kid committing suicide because they were harassed about their sexual orientation. As a Christian, I'm horrified that we may be the root cause of this. Our actions may be causing these kids to die. And I'm done just standing by and letting it happen. This has to change and soon. So let me say in all caps just to get the point across:
WE ARE ALL HUMANS!!!!!!! BEING TERRIBLE TO OTHERS BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS DISCRIMINATION AND ALWAYS WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If this makes you think that I now need to be treated like an immoral heathen, then I'm just going to say what I'm thinking... you're an idiot. I won't hate you or stop talking to you... just know that I think it's stupid. Look, you don't have to agree or even like it but we're all human and we all deserve to be treated fairly, equally and respectfully. That's all I want.
I wouldn't wish my worse enemy to be discriminated against. It's a terrible feeling and no one deserves that.
So if you're gay, questioning or straight, I love you. I don't care what you are or choose to be. You are important. You have a purpose and I promise that it gets better.
I love you Allison! Ive seen far too much homophobia, and thats only at work from other customers. Its incredibly sickening, but no one does anything to stop it. Either because they choose to ignore it and act blindly or because they are just plain hateful! I really wish things were truly different for everyone regardless of sexual orientation but unfortunately not everyone see things the way you, me and others do.
ReplyDeleteThis is very moving to me...I don't think you can understand how moving it is :) I understand how one can be taught one thing, and then to be told another. I am proud, however, that you have found the strength to stand up for what is right and to live Christ's message of love for all men and women. I love you Alison, and as long as you carry love in your heart for all of the people, those who sadly took their life, will rest in peace with God.
ReplyDeleteAt it's extreme, scripture *may* identify gay-ness as sin and the arguments for are very tenuous. So is sex outside marriage, or even, according to the Vatican, sex anytime you are not making babies. Know anyone who has had sex before marriage? Have you picketed outside their apartment building? So is obesity, *far* more definitively than scripture hints at homosexuality. Have you picketed McDonalds?
ReplyDeleteSo is violence. The violence comes from fear - how afraid are you?