High School Gays Get A Harsh Lesson

[ruggerson]

Another legacy the fundies are leaving us: blind, raging hatred spewing from their children.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20050313/ts_chicagotrib/highschoolgaysgetaharshlesson

Sun Mar 13, 9:40 AM ET Top Stories - Chicago Tribune

<snip>

By Dahleen Glanton Tribune national correspondent

Kerry Pacer was used to the whispering behind her back, the name-calling and the snickering when she walked down the hall. But when almost the entire student body at White County High School booed as she accepted a rose from a female friend during a Valentine's Day (news - web sites) program last month, she knew it was time to do something.

Pacer, who said she has never tried to hide the fact that she is a lesbian, did what other gay students in schools across the country have been doing for more than a decade. The 16-year-old junior began trying to organize a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance, which promotes tolerance and acceptance of homosexuals.

But in White County, a hub of Christian conservatism in the north Georgia mountains, the idea of a school-based group backing homosexuality caused an uproar and thrust this quiet haven, where Cabbage Patch dolls originated, into the national gay-rights debate.

"There has always been a lot of bullying at school, and there was never anyone to stand up for me," said Pacer, explaining that she and other gay students felt a Gay-Straight Alliance club would promote understanding. "I knew there would be people who disagreed with it, but I had no idea it would grow this big."

<snip>

[2diagnosis]

1. What the hell do Cabbage Patch dolls

have to do with this story?

[Flammable Materials]

2. Uh, other than xenophobic hatred ...

... the only other thing this town has ever exported?

[NYdemocrat089]

3. In the morning at high school we all stand up and say a pledge...

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God,indivisible,with Liberty and Justice for all.

[Pushed To The Left]

6. Excellent point!

The right wing doesn't seem to care about that part of the Pledge!

[Dickie Flatt]

4. oh no, not hand holding

"I just don't think it's right to have a club like this. It ain't in the Bible," said Gary Colwell, 18, a brick mason who grew up in the area. "We see them walking around holding hands, and it makes everybody feel uncomfortable."

Hey Gary: grow the fuck up. Just because something makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean it's wrong.

[Toucano]

9. People sacrificed a lot so Gary can be free

to be uncomfortable.

It's the price of freedom, baby.

[Pushed To The Left]

5. Another reason to destroy the religious right

The way that gays and lesbians are treated in America is appalling. What we need to do is to simplify things: There are prejudiced people and non-prejudiced people. Period. If someone is opposed to racism and sexism, yet is anti-LGBT, that person is still prejudiced! If somebody supports gay rights and women's rights, but despises Arab-Americans, that person is still prejudiced!

www.aclu.org
www.pfaw.org

[2diagnosis]

7. ummm... how about if they despise

repuglican christians?

[Pushed To The Left]

8. Hating somebody for their religion

is wrong too! There are registered Republicans and Christians who agree that the religious right needs to be destroyed! Hating an ideology is not the same as hating people.

[ruggerson]

10. The religious right

employs a tactic which accuses gays and lesbians of not being tolerant of "christian beliefs".

Two things wrong with this little duplicitous, circuitous piece of logic:

A) Not all christians are homophobes. Not all christians think that there is something "sinful" or "wrong" with gays or homosexuality.


B) When you demonize a group en masse, like rightwing christians do with gays and lesbians, it is not bigoted to try to fight back against those that are doing the demonizing. Blacks weren't bigoted against the Klu Klux Klan. Jews weren't bigoted against Nazis. They were fighting for their lives.

Gays aren't bigoted against rightwing christian fundamentalists. They are the RECIPIENT of the bigotry and are fighting against them with every tool available. They are fighting for their lives.