No Name-Calling Week Draws Homophobic Attacks

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-01-27 17:08:00 UTC
Topics:

Anyone who's ever gone to school should know: bullying is a major problem. It's virtually impossible to make it through school without ever being bullied or called names, usually for something that makes you "different." And since we're not all carbon copies of one another, everybody has something "different" about them.

At its worst, bullying can even lead children to commit suicide.

As Adam writes over on Change.org's Gay Rights blog, this week is GLSEN's No Name-Calling Week, "an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities." All schools should participate in this event, because bullying is a problem they all face; GLSEN also provides a resource kit and educational materials for schools to use to combat bullying among student.

I've posted on the issue of bullying in schools, and the terrible consequences it can have, over on the Women's Rights blog before, where I called attention to a number of suicides in the past couple years by kids as young as a result of slut-shaming or homophobic bullying. In a post about the frenzied media attention blaming sexting for the suicide of two teenage girls, I spelled out, "Sexting: the Problem is Bullying, Not Sex."

But Linda Harvey of Mission:America would say: the problem is homosexuality, not bullying.

I share Adam's surprise that anyone could turn a week against name-calling into a bad thing, but that's what she does. (I guess it's the same way President Obama encouraging kids to stay in school and work hard can be seen as brainwashing and indoctrination.)

Harvey rants: "The truth is, homosexuality itself is hateful. ... It is poison in any human life and it is poison in schools. ... Christians are not the oppressors, nor the creators of division in schools. This horrendous behavior is. And it will not end, even if Christians were to leave. Actually, all that’s restraining total barbarism is the few true Christians left. When they go, all hell, literally, will break loose." Wow. I don't have anything nice to say, so I'm just not going to say anything at all.

No student should be subjected to bullying and name-calling when they go to a place of learning, whether it's based on their sexual identity or anything else.

Photo credit: GLSEN

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Dictionary Definitions: Too Sexy for Schools?
NEXT STORY:
Student loans got you down? Start a petition.

COMMENTS (3)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.