“Family” Groups: Suicide Helplines Promote Homosexuality

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Jacob Flores

The Trevor Project is a national organization providing crisis intervention for gay youth. At a time when more and more young Americans are ending their lives in part due to their sexuality, such an organization should be finding supporters from every corner of the country. After all, no child should contemplate ending his or her life even before it has a chance to truly begin. No parent wants that, whether they are pro- or anti-gay supporters.

Apparently, two family groups–The American Family Association and the Florida Family Association–disagree. As reported by ThinkProgress, the AFA and the FFA believe “that the Trevor Project is ‘recruiting teens and children to become gay’ through its suicide prevention hotline.”

Can you believe this?

The Trevor Project’s sole purpose is to provide a lifeline for the youth who are contemplating killing themselves. This organization and its volunteers have no hidden agenda other than preventing needless deaths. They offer a sympathetic ear for troubled teens. They aren’t looking to fulfill some recruitment quota like armed forces recruiters.

Still, the FFA is incensed that an advertisement for The Trevor Project is aired during a Teen Nick program called “Degrassi,” which features a transgendered teen, and they are angry at Target for sponsoring the ad.

Since the show’s focus group are teens, it makes sense for the ad to appear during this slot. The ad doesn’t advocate homosexuality; it offers hope to a struggling teen who might be watching the show and who might be contemplating suicide. And Target shouldn’t be boycotted for this, as the FFA is calling for in its form letter.

Target should be on the receiving end of praise not criticism.

Trying to prevent a child from ending his or her life should be the primary focus here, but once again, hate and ignorance reign supreme.

Students in TN Allowed to Wear GSA Shirts

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Jacob Flores

You may remember I posted about Sequoyah HS in Tennessee, where a student was assaulted by his principal for wearing a GSA shirt. (Click here to see the post).

According to Towleroad, students at Sequoyah HS will now be allowed to wear shirts in support of a Gay Straight Alliance.

The ACLU released the following statement: “The Monroe County Board of Education agreed yesterday to allow students to wear T-shirts in support of the formation of a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at the school. The board will also review its dress code to ensure that students’ rights to free speech are protected.”

Chris Sigler, the student who was assaulted, had this to say about the school board’s decision:

“A lot of kids get harassed at our school because they’re gay or they have gay friends, and we just want a space where we can all support each other and do something creative. We still want the GSA to be recognized as a club, but at least now the school won’t punish us for peacefully expressing our opinions.”

I’m glad to see that some progress is being made here. Still, even though the school administration can’t officially do anything to these students, I worry how the students will be treated overall. The vitriol the principal expressed at the GSA didn’t just go away; he simply lost his fight against the shirts. No word yet has been received whether or not a GSA will be formed at Sequoyah HS, but in light of recent events, I’d say one is definitely needed.

In Texas: Male Cheerleader Kicked Off Squad for Kissing A Boy

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Jacob Flores

By now, some of you most likely heard about the 17-year-old high school student in Alice, Texas, who was kicked off the cheerleading squad for kissing a boy. Apparently, peeping Tom security guards caught the kiss on surveillance cameras and notified school administration about the elicit lip lock.

In response, the student was suspended and removed from the squad–permanently.

On Friday, Alice High School principal Lucy Munoz made the following claim in a letter about the incident: “the district does not suspend students for kissing other students at school, regardless of the gender of the student.” What was missing from her comment was any verifiable reason other than the kiss that prompted the student’s suspension from school and removal from the cheerleading squad.

Principal Munoz, however, did state that the “Cheer Program Handbook requires students to adhere to a higher standard of conduct than that which applies to the general student population.”

Yeah, right.

I was in high school too. And I seem to remember cheerleaders making out in the hallways or parking lots. Some even (gasp!) had sex. I doubt that has changed since I graduated in 1990.

To claim that this student was kicked off the squad and suspended solely based on a public display of affection is ridiculous, especially when you consider how much kissing goes on at high school campuses! Does she really think people are that stupid?

Luckily, we are not. Students and parents aren’t buying it either. There has been an uproar in Alice over what the principal has done to this student.

While I hate what this poor young man is having to endure, I applaud the students and parents for coming to the boy’s defense. That’s what I call school spirit!

The school district is investigating, and it’s my hope that not only is the boy quickly re-instated back into the school and the squad but that Lucy Munoz finds herself out of a job.

Kick her out, kick her out! Waaaaay out!

Bullying at the Pulpit Equals Child Molestation?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Jacob Flores

According to Mitchell Gold, founder of the non-profit organization Faith in America, religious leaders, who stand before their congregation and condemn homosexuality, are guilty of mental child molestation.

Here is why Gold believes this (as reported by ThinkProgress): “clergy people who stand at their pulpit and . . . speak about gay people as sinners and an abomination, that is bullying a young kid. That is really — and I know this may sound exaggerated — but that is nothing less than child molestation of a child’s mind. . . . It is devastating to a 14-year-old-kid to hear their rabbi or their imam or their priest or clergy person say that they are a sinner or an abomination…and I’m here to tell them, they are full and whole and wonderful and they will learn as life goes on that there are many, many people who feel that way.”

Watch the full interview below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s73Ut9_pI6M

At a time when homosexuals are attacked by many religious conservatives, it is nice to see a religious man not only publicly support homosexuality but, more importantly, tell the gay youth of America that there is nothing wrong with them.

For these young people, their religious leaders are often next to God. Their words matter, and when the head of their church tells them they are going to hell, it hurts. I know this from personal experience as do many, many, many others.

I wish more religious leaders would keep the children in mind as they are preaching hate and intolerance. Gay children attend church too, and just as you wouldn’t want someone off the street attacking your child and saying he is worthless or she is going to hell, a trusted religious leader should not be allowed to do the same thing in a place for families or in a place about love.

Top 5 Reasons People Choose to be Gay by FCKH8.com

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Jacob Flores

I ran across this video from an activist organization aptly named FCKH8. (Visit their website by clicking here.)

The video’s message is strongly worded and if you are easily offended by vulgarity, then you shouldn’t watch it, and, well, if you are, you probably won’t be reading this post anyway, so my warning is probably moot.

What I find promising about this video is what it tells me about our future. The video stars many younger people (and by that I mean younger than someone of my almost forty years). These youth are angry, and they are taking a stand against the people who continue to spread hate and intolerance in our country. By taking this campaign under their wings, they have assembled merchandise to be sold in support of FCKingH8 and raised awareness about how hateful many conservative politicians and religious sects are being, in other words the individuals and organizations that have grown stagnant and resistant to change.

And their audience isn’t me or you or those in charge. They are speaking to the youth of the nation, the twenty something and younger crowd. They are speaking to the future leaders, and they use language and images that appeal to the younger generation’s mindset.

Their voices are crude, and their demeanor is flippant, but their message is clear. For them, the time for hate is long over, and since they will be taking over the country and the world when the ultra conservatives retire and/or die off, they are letting the nation know that when it’s there turn to be in power, our nation will be what our forefathers wanted it to be–a place where the downtrodden and the outcast are welcome and embraced with arms wide open.

If you like this video on Facebook and tweet it on Twitter, their campaign will donate up to $10,000 for organizations that help GLBT youth, a worthwhile endeavor indeed. So view the video, like it, tweet it, and share it.

Before you click, be advised one more time: many F-bombs ahead!