And now it's time for another post in which I irritate my socially conservative readers...
Watch all the way to the end please, and listen... unless rather serious vulgarity and profanity offend you in which case don't watch the video, or just skip to the end spoken word bit:
I'm not gay, and I wasn't bullied in high school even though I am the worlds biggest geek... But it wasn't out of the inherent kindness of teenagers. I wasn't bullied, because I was the biggest and strongest, and sometimes the meanest kid out there. I was the one who taught bullies a lesson... and believe me, I taught a LOT of lessons.
I'm not big on the "anti-bullying" bandwagon currently gathering steam in America. AS it is, it seems to be a politically correct hysterical reaction, combined with an unhealthy dose of overprotective parents, liability obsessed administrators, and fame seeking psychobabblers.
But, I still think forcing someone to pay a price for non-conformity, is wrong.
I don't care whether you disapprove of homosexuality or not; this isn't really about being gay, it's about being different. About not conforming to the social conventions and constructs enforced by the institutions we laughingly call educational in this country.
I wont say there isn't some value to those social conventions and constructs; society operates smoother with them, and when they are generally followed. A society without a commonly agreed upon set of social conventions is a society that quickly collapses in on itself.
The problem becomes when those who choose not to follow those conventions, in essentially harmless ways, are FORCED into doing so; or are actively persecuted, or actively hurt, physically, financially, spiritually, and emotionally, for not doing so.
That, is the very definition of coercive restraint of human liberty; and it is flatly wrong.
You don't have to support someones choices; but you have no right to enforce your choices upon them.
As people who love liberty, we would not tolerate such behavior from the state; but what is the state but a collection of individuals acting in concert... We should not accept this behavior from individuals, any more than we would from the government.
The message of this video is, if you choose another way, and you are being hurt because of it, it get's better. And unfortunately, until we can destroy those so called educational institutions and rebuild them into something that supports liberty and freedom and individual rights, giving kids that message is the best we can do.
Remember folks, in our fine institutions, it's those who love liberty who are the minority. The ones who don't fit in. We are the threat to the social order.
I don't see how anyone who says they're for freedom, liberty, and individual rights can not support this; because supporting freedom, liberty, and individual rights, means doing so for everyone, even if their choices are completely abhorrent to you (so long as their choice is not infringing on your rights).
It's not about gay or straight, it's about free or not.
