Bullied at School for Being Gay? The U.S. Justice Department 'Won't Stand for It,' High School Students Told

[Pepper]

CNSNews.com:

Bullied at School for Being Gay? The U.S. Justice Department 'Won't Stand for It,' High School Students Told

Wednesday, January 05, 2011
By Susan Jones

(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Justice Department went into a public high school on Tuesday with a message for students: If you’re “different,” if you’re gay, and if you’re being bullied – don’t feel alone, don’t be ashamed, and don’t hesitate to call on the federal government for help if your school doesn’t stop the bullying.

“If you have been targeted for harassment or bullying because of your sexual orientation, because of your gender identity or expression, or simply because your classmates see you as different, I am here to tell you that the Civil Rights Division will not stand for it,” Tom Perez, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told students at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Md.


Perez played a videotape in which mostly gay and lesbian Civil Rights Division employees (and one who identified herself as intersex) shared their stories of being bullied at school.

They also offered supportive messages to those who are being bullied now:

“You do have allies -- we are here for you,” one Civil Rights Division employee says in the video.


“Being different is cool,” another employee says.

“When I was in grade school and high school, I was bullied. But now I prosecute bullies,” says yet another employee.

“Don’t be ashamed of who you are, just keep on being yourself.”

The video was produced by the Civil Rights Division staff.

[Pepper]

I am glad that the Justice Department has handled all domestic and foreign security issues and can now concentrate on the real problem in our nation:

 

adolescents behaving as adolescents.

[SrWoodchuck]

On the planet Tralfamador, there are 28 sexes; and at least 17 are required to get together, in order to reproduce; but they are a dying race because litigation, by some of the discriminated sexes, has replaced sexual encounters.

 

A frustrated....dying....race.

[Pepper]

SrWoodchuck

 

If I had just been born a Tralfamadorian I could see the other genders. Woe is me.

 

 

 

Will Perez protect Tralfamadorians as well?

[SrWoodchuck]

SrWoodchuck

 

If I had just been born a Tralfamadorian I could see the other genders. Woe is me.

 

 

 

Will Perez protect Tralfamadorians as well?

Pepper!

 

There's a saying on that planet, "When one Tralfamadorian closes......another Tralfamadorian opens up!"

 

I expect Perez considers himself a stellar Justice official....why not Interstellar?

 

He's kind of the TralfamaDorian Gray, of Interstellar Civil Rights Gender Discrimination Litigation.

[NCTexan]

Will Perez protect Tralfamadorians as well?

 

[Pepper]

NCT.

[SrWoodchuck]

Will Perez protect Tralfamadorians as well?

 

Should be kept on the "down-low."

[Sabre86]

They won't care about "normal" bullying; only if the kid is part of the "special" class who is more concerned about how to paint their nails pink and the newest Justin Bieber song if they're male, or how to look and act like a guy if they're female.

 

When the kid is beat up because he is the smallest in the class, or because he has a speech problem, or some other problem outside of his control, they won't do a thing about it. In fact, the school will probably suspend him instead of the bullies.

[Pepper]

Sabre86. Good point, or how about a kid who belongs to an after school group associated with evil right wing activity such as Boy Scouts or Christian fellowship?

[pollyannaish]

Bullying is everywhere. It makes me angry when I see the world's biggest bully...Kathy Griffin...picking on the Palin children. The thing is, the people who are so against it in this situation, tend to be bullies themselves.

 

I honestly believe the best way to keep people from bullying is to teach kids to stand up to it. IF you are not doing something you are personally ashamed of in the first place, it's a lot harder to be bullied.

 

I think the worst kind of bullying in the country goes on in the workplace. Although I was never really bullied at school when I was a kid, I have experienced bullying in the workplace. It is horrific and the worst part is that you feel very helpless to change it because your livelihood depends on your job...and it usually is a top down phenomenon. Entire systems of alliances build up quietly within an organization to cope with it and it is not discussed outside of the company, which increase the stress on the individuals involved. It can ruin a good company and cause good people to come undone.

 

In any case, the whole gay bullying thing is just a tiny piece of the human bullying problem.