BULLY THIS, BIG GUY
Sadly of late, it has been in the news that several gay teenagers have committed suicide as a result of excessive bullying from their peers. One case involved an eighteen year-old Rutgers student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate and another, streamed footage of the student being intimate with another man across the internet. Stories like this get my blood boiling into such a rage it seems only fitting for a Monday morning rant.
The fact that there is still so much shame around one’s sexual orientation makes me feel like we’re living in the stone ages. Sadly, if this student had been heterosexual, I’m sure his sexual prowess would be celebrated all over campus, not ridiculed. But unfortunately, we are still living in a time where homosexuals are branded with a stigma that is heavier than some are capable of carrying.
Being a teenager is hard enough, having to navigate hormones amongst trying to figure out who the hell we are, let alone withstand the abuse of those who make it their mission to intimidate those weaker than they are (weaker only in size, never in character). Of course all of this sets my primal mother bear senses on high alert. I fear when the King starts going to school, cause my partner will have to nail my feet to the floor if anyone bullies him. I’m not proud to say that I will be the mad woman in the sandbox telling some tyrannical little monster where he can shove his harassment. Okay, not the message a model parent should be sending; I have a few years to work on that. What breaks my heart the most is that there are children and teenagers out there who think believe what these bullies are telling them and that instead of being proud of their differences and individual choices, they try to hide or even worse, stifle them completely.
I wish I could tell them that although they feel alone and alienated now, they will most likely turn out to be just fine. In fact, more than fine, considering that most people that suffer alienation and persecution have to cultivate other skills and interests, often resulting in amazingly honed talents and gifts for things (okay, fine, some end up shooting up their high school, but that is a very small percentage). I’m sure Bill Gates was not always the first to be asked to dance at the junior prom and yet look at him now, the man could buy every high school in the state of California. And those bullies in school, where do they end up? Well it’s pretty to sure to say that they’re either a day trader, a criminal, or an overstuffed beer-guzzling derelict that never left his town. As we all know their bullying personality is overcompensation for things that they were seriously lacking in; or sometimes the bully themselves are the ones hiding the very deepest of secrets, like a screaming desire to wear high heeled shoes. And that's perfectly alright too.
So King, rest assured, if you turn out to be a glasses wearing, bug collecting, bookworm, Momma’s got your back if anyone has a problem with that.