“Well gays just shouldn’t be gay.”
“I’m having nothing to with this.”
“Gays are unnatural and impure.”
Those are three examples of things I’ve heard people say regarding homosexuals and the gay students who committed suicide in the last month in the U.S. There have been four students just these past few weeks who took their own lives because they were bullied and discriminated so badly.
Tyler Clementi was an 18-year-old university student. He jumped from the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 23 after his sexual encounter was filmed and posted online.
On the same day, 13-year-old Asher Brown from Cypress, Texas shot himself to death after being bullied relentlessly for two years for being gay. News reports conflict as to whether or not his parents filed complaints with his school or if the complaints about bullying were even received.
Raymond Chase, a 19-year-old from Johnson and Wales University in New York, hung himself in his dormitory Sept. 29. Details are vague as to what led up to his suicide.
A second gay 13-year-old, Seth Walsh from Calif., spent nine days on life support after hanging himself from a tree in his yard. He died on Sept. 28 and was reportedly bullied by classmates for being gay.
When someone comes up to me and says gays just shouldn’t be gay, does that mean they figure it’s acceptable that those gays killed themselves because they were bullied to the point they thought the world was better off without them?
Imagine the uproar that would happen if a group of gays discriminated and bullied straight people. Chances are it does happen. It doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it right for straight people to bully gays either.
This isn’t about what anyone believes about sexual orientation. It’s about humanity. It’s about the ability to live and let live because we all have the right to every breath we breathe and we have the right to be who we are.
These are tragic stories emerging from what discrimination has done. These were faces that could have just as easily been students at this college.
Think about these faces the next time you open your mouth to say something crude against homosexuals. Think before you speak or act. Being a bully is one stain to have on your hands. Someone’s young life is something no one can ever take back.