Dear fellow BlogSpot users and online anonymouses,
Hello! Sorry for not
posting anything in the last few days I haven’t had a chance nor a topic to
write about (which is why I repeat please post opinions and ideas about what I
should write! <3) but I have finally come up with a topic to write about. In
my High School we have quite a few clubs and teams, and I mean quite a few,
improv team (which Klaus is on) ECO Tribe, Me-to-We, Christian fellowship, and
the GSA which I am a part of. The first time I ever heard the word “Gay” was
probably in grade 2 or 3 and at that time it was the boys using it as a slang
word to call something stupid i.e. “that’s so gay!” Being the age that I was it
really didn’t mean anything to me I had no idea what it really meant. So I went
about my business and ignored what the boys were saying. When I was in Gr 4 I
finally found out what to be gay meant that you liked someone of the same
gender. And I thought “well if you can like girls and be a boy why can’t you
like boys and be a boy? What’s the difference?” and again I went about my
business accepting it as a fact of life. In grade five was when it really
started being used in a derogatory sense where people who were un-cool or have
done something stupid were being called “Gay” as an insult. But I still being
only in Gr 5 didn’t really think anything of it, nor did I know of the struggle
that older kids and adults were going through at the time with being gay (lesbian
bisexual transgender etc.) and the hardships and turmoil being thrown at them
because of their gender orientation. It didn’t
finally click until I was in grade 7 what was going on in our world and it was
because I met a friend. My nick-name for him is Mo-mo and he came to my school
in Gr 7. He ended up following me and my other friend around the playground
until we finally talked to him and became friends. He is now one of my closest friends and I
don’t know what I would do without him. The thing is though he’s not gay. See
what I did there? No he was not and as of what I know right now, is not
gay. But he did get his chops busted A
LOT because a bunch of jockey guys thought that due to his unusually high voice
flamboyant nature and good taste in attire that he was (which is gay
stereotyping, and here are some videos created by some people I know about gay stereotypes, they also do different videos every week!). And that they were going to make life hell because of it. They
constantly tortured him and caused him to have many mental break downs. Finally
things started to die down and he wasn’t bothered anymore and he actually made
friends with a few of the boys that had previously made fun of him. Seeing one of my close friends go through
that and not be gay made something click for me. What is happening out there to
people that ARE L, G, B, T? I was horrified and shocked and still am about how
we treat people who are slightly different, whether its skin color, religion or
sexual orientation. Was I not taught as
a Christian to love everyone? I knew that I had to do something to make
a difference. I had heard about (through MTV) how some High Schools were
starting up GSA’s (Gay-Straight alliance) and you can find the website here. Once I got to high school I was
pleasantly surprised to find out that it was starting up a GSA that year and I
was one of the first to join. Over the year we have had a lot of people coming
in and out of it but were are still trying to make a difference even though our
numbers have been in constant flux. We tried applying for a grant called the
Speak up! grant which is supposed to go toward making the school a more
positive place and we were going to use the money to try and have a conference
with all the other GSA’s in the area but we didn’t end up getting it sadly, but
other schools in our board did so they are going to have one. I just hope that
in the end we are able to make a difference to gay youths everywhere. Do you
have a GSA in your school? Do you have any ideas I can suggest or any story’s
you would like to tell? Feel free!!!
~Lady Danika
