Thursday, October 14, 2010
Voices of reason
This video is yet another in the “It Gets Better” series. This one is by an elected official, Joel Burns of Fort Worth, Texas. His pain is evident, but so is his determination to prevent another suicide by a GLBT youth.
I think it’s good for older folks to see these videos, too, to understand what GLBT youth are up against. The more people who then take a stand against the hatred, intolerance and bigotry of America’s rightwing, the religious extremists in particular, the more GLBT youth we can save.
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5 comments:
yes, heartwrenching. i wonder if the part he left out was his own suicide attempt
Bullying is a big problem in schools these days despite schools having rules and consequences for kids who are found to be the bully.
Companies go to schools and put on skits that deal with this issue. Sometimes they include videos of teen victims telling their stories. Some of the kids in the audience get it. Sadly, others don't. It's not real to them. Maybe they see the presentation as entertainment or a chance to get out of class. I don't know. Empathy in kids is certainly lacking.
Victims don't come forward out of fear that doing so may make things worse. They suffer in silence.
Roger: That's exactly what I thought! I'm thinking yes.
Sis: Very true. And one of the hardest things about dealing with the problem. But the religious extremists are making things worse, and that's a problem we can fix.
I think he probably did mention his suicide attempt, but it was cut out of the video..there's a weird jump there.
I watched this at work last week and just wept (luckily my boss had left by then!). It killed me when he said there must be something wrong with him if other people can see it. Ugh..just heartbreaking.
He also said something about not reading everything in his prepared remarks and about how he didn't want his parents to hear about whatever it was that way.
I feel the exact same way, and it's why I continue to expose the bigots and fight their hate.
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