Given that Fox News is known for being :::insert air quotes here:::: 'Fair and Balanced' I was interested to see their slant.
The piece begins:
Kids can surely be mean to each other. And for those who identify as gay or lesbian, life can be particularly tough. A new study shows these adolescents get bullied two to three times more than their heterosexual peers.
While the researchers aren't sure why this sexual minority gets bullied more than others or the type of bullying, which can include various verbal insults and physical assaults, they suggest in general those who are different from the social norm are often bully targets. Whatever the cause, the researchers say, the results have implications for parents and schools alike.
Whatever the cause?
Really? Is it a mystery?
In the US, we are all taught that heterosexual is the best and only way to be (known as "heterosexism"). We learn this message from our families, places of worship, schools, the media, on the playground and more. These messages, then are reinforced by laws and policies that openly and actively discriminate against LGBT people. These laws and policies teach bullies that, indeed, society agrees with you - that a gay teen is less than you. Discrimatory laws and policies are tacit permission to bully marginalized people.
The article concludes:
Though the study didn't get at the content of bullying, some research has shown that regardless of the target's sexual orientation, bullies tend to spout disparaging homosexual content, according to Berlan.
Exactly. Walk through the halls of a middle or high school and count the number of times you hear, "fag" or "that's so gay" - a common statement from students which means, "That's stupid."
I didn't come out until I was 24 years old. In hindsight, I see how my process was very much delayed by the conservative community I grew up in, which espoused openly that homosexuality is a sin, an abomination. When I began my coming out process, I was a middle school teacher. I know that studies often focus on school safety of LGBT people from a student's perspective.
As I cut my hair and began to externally express a more honest version of myself, I began to the target of bullying and harassment from students. A particular group of boys would walk into my classroom and pretend to the clearing their throats. They would mutter "dyke" as they did it. I was terrified I would be fired. I ended up quitting teaching as a result of an unsafe school environment and laws and policies that didn't protect me. These boys were simply enacting behavior society's laws and policies taught them.
A final thought. Many years ago Frontline, a series on PBS, did an episode called "Assault on Gay America: The Roots of Homophobia."
The series researched people who commit acts of violence against LGBT people, about how unconscious conflicts about one's own sexuality or gender identity might be attributed to LGBT people through a process of projection. What they found is that essentially, the more homophobic someone is and acts on it (ie bullying), the more likely they are to be struggling with their own internal issues around sexual orientation and gender identity.
It is imperative that the spotlight be on the bullies and the culture that creates them, not on the targets of their abuse. If we want to end bullying, our institutions must have laws and policies that treat LGBT as equals (think Episcopal church split; 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell;' Amendment 2; employment protection for teachers; legal relationship recognition).
As long as our institutions have laws and policies that bully LGBT people, students will feel justified in their actions to harm those students they perceive to be LGBT.
The roots of bullying are no mystery.
1 comment:
this part is not visible above. it should read:
"The article concludes:
'Though the study didn't get at the content of bullying, some research has shown that regardless of the target's sexual orientation, bullies tend to spout disparaging homosexual content, according to Berlan.' "
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