I think to start this conversation, we have to go back to 1998. In a quiet rural town in Wyoming, the horrific beating, torture, & subsequent death of Matthew Shepard brought to light the need of Hate Crimes legislation. Matthew was targeted, humiliated, tortured, beaten, and left to die. What was his transgression? He was gay. That's all it took. An enraged nation rallied together, from coast to coast, from urban to rural, to combat this particularly atrocious type of crime. The discussion about the treatment & attitudes toward LGBT people was reignited. The push for local, state, & federal hate crimes legislation began. National Gay Rights organizations began their work in earnest to ensure this wouldn't happen again. Matthew Shepard became the newest unfortunate martyr of the cause.
Now, almost 15 years later, we have made great strides in the fight for equality. Gay Marriage is legal in 6 states, with more to come. The Matthew Shepard Act added protections to the Federal Hate Crimes Act that included actual or perceived gender identity & sexual orientation. Localities have added sexual orientation to the languages of their Human Rights ordinances. The momentum seemed to have finally been on the side of progress. We had made a big dent in homophobic behavior, until we realized an old & most insidious plague had gone forgotten & unmentioned.
Bullying has been in the world since time immemorial. Everyone tasted the bitter sting of a school yard bully, or the ignorant colleague that hadn't grown up. It was long considered that taking a little bullying was part of the 'growing up' process. It helps to grow a thick skin for that hard & unforgiving world that we were being sent into. When it became to much, there was escape at home, or in the simple company of friends. However, the world has gotten smaller with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, & smartphones. Finding a reprieve from the school yard bully wasn't as simple as it used to be. The anonymous nature of the Internet had multiplied the bully population like a gremlin who broke into Wal-Mart at midnight. They can be faceless, nameless entities calling you things that people would have never considered saying in person. They belittle from a distance, without the risk of reproach or culpability. This simple coming-of-age torment has grown into a life & death struggle.
Young people who show the slightest bit of deviation from perceived norms are walking, talking targets for the neo-bully. Those that are bullied, bully others, and down the line it goes until it meets a fateful & tragic end. We are empowered to lead by example. The next generation looks to the one before it for the guidelines of acceptable behavior. Sadly, the next generation has been lead down the primrose path regarding the treatment of their fellow human.
What do they see when they look for guidance in what they are supposed to perceive as acceptable? It's certainly not what I was sold as 'acceptable' when I grew up. Everyone from parents and teachers to our politicians and leaders have let down an entire generation of Americans. The next generation is modeling their behavior on bigotry, hate speech, marginalization of those that are different from them, and indoctrinating intolerance.
Our current political climate has raised the stakes even further. I thought that openly spreading hate & bigotry was a thing of the all too recent past. We find Rick Perry staging gay people as the primary weapon in the destruction of religion. Michelle Bachman and her husband openly run a clinic that attempts to 'cure' homosexuality. Rick Santorum seriously believes that waging war against the homosexuals is more important than the economy!
What has happened in this society, that these people raise to the level of 'Presidential Candidate?' The majority of Republican candidates, and the party as a whole, railed against the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell.' They spouted far and wide, well within our children's influential ears, that gay people would destabilize our national security. The LGBT community is one of the biggest targets of the so-called 'Religious Right' and 'Conservative Ideology.' All to often, I hear parents regurgitating this garbage as if it was handed down to them in a gospel. How are the young people that look to 'respected adults' for guidance supposed to act?
The bullies are taking their queues from us. We give them the ammunition they need to continue this war on each other. We are on the precipice of unraveling 40 years of social progress because we are failing to keep the most ignorant and hate-filled among us in check. I don't propose that they shouldn't be allowed to say whatever indignant, venomous, vicious, & antiquated slop they choose to. I would fight for their right to free speech as much as for my own.
I say, it is our responsibility in this society to raise up our voices to drown out the spewing of acidic hate. It is our responsibility to exercise our right to free speech, and take to task each and every bigoted, racist, homophobic, misogynistic hate monger that stands up. We have an entire generation of children under attack.
It is our responsibility to protect them.
It is our responsibility to teach them.
It is our responsibility to keep them alive.
It is OUR responsibility.
