Bullying

Tyler Clementi was bullied to death and the Judge heard guilty 288 times, yet sentenced his convicted antagonist to 30 days, 300 hours of community service and a $10,000 donation. While I do not doubt that Ravi was put through a measure of hell, knowing that he could be sentenced to a maximum of ten years and be the subject of deportation, I ask why this Judge even bothered to sentence him, at all. [ Read more → ]

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A New Jersey Superior Court judge has sentenced former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi to 30 days in prison and three years probation for spying on his gay roommate who later committed suicide. [ Read more → ]

BUHLER, Kan. -- A Kansas middle school teacher has ignited a firestorm in the small rural Kansas community of Behler after posting an anti-gay rant on Facebook in which said same-sex marriage is akin to "murder, lying, stealing, or cheating." [ Read more → ]

When the dawn breaks this Mother's Day, there will be sons, and daughters who will have made plans to treat their Mums to special dinners, maybe breakfast in bed, or just take them someplace special. Countless flowers, candies, and yes, even jewelry will be bestowed in gratitude by children in a showing of deep love and gratitude for all that their Mums mean in their lives. Yet, for some mother's, the day will not hold a special meaning at all. Their will be no gifts, no special remembrances or displays of affection and love. There will be an empty place at the dinner table and even larger emptiness in the hearts of those mothers who have lost their children to suicide or bullying... [ Read more → ]

HANOVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Jared Swank had a great time at his senior prom last weekend, but the happiness turned into disgust when a teacher he trusted showed a video of him dancing with his transgender date to students in her classroom on Monday. [ Read more → ]

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- An openly gay teen in Rochester, Minn., took his own life on Sunday, and according to the boy's father, anti-gay bullying played a “a big part” in his son's suicide. [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON — GOP front runner and presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney engaged in several incidents of pranks during his high school years, at least one incident in particular that LGBTQ activists are calling anti-gay bullying, according to a report by The Washington Post. [ Read more → ]

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- An independent arbitrator ruled Monday that an Indiana gay teen will remain expelled from Arsenal Tech High School in Indianapolis until January 7, 2013 for discharging a stun gun on school property to discourage an attack by bullies. [ Read more → ]

The religious right wing clearly have no clue what bullying is really all about. A speaker, known for his “straight”, sometimes “salty”, talk, at a public forum, is not bullying you when he says your religious beliefs are bullshit. He doesn’t have you cornered against a locker, trapped behind the auto shop building, or head down in the commode in the bathroom stall. He isn’t threatening you with physical harm, not even the promised threat of “getting you later” after school. The right wing thinks all these kind of interactions are not bullying, especially if religiously motivated, but a speaker at high school assembly, who points out logical and factual inconsistencies in the way you behave is the bully and a hypocrite? Bullshit. [ Read more → ]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has released a new video in which she calls for "stamping out bullying wherever it happens." [ Read more → ]

Many have heard and seen Pastor Sean Harris' shouted exhortations about "squashing like a cockroach," the first signs of gender-variant behavior in children. Fewer have seen his searing denunciation of transgendered persons as "an affront to God." ... and I have counseled at least three GLBT young adults who have attended this church. They all said they heard similarly hateful messages there, which not only drove them away, but also pushed them into depression and self-harm, even suicide attempts ... [ Read more → ]

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- An Indiana gay teen on Wednesday faced a private school district review board, an effort to expel him after he discharged a stun gun on school property to discourage an attack by school bullies. [ Read more → ]

The D.C. City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an anti-bullying bill on first reading, with Council members expected to approve the measure in a final vote at their next session later this month. [ Read more → ]

People get bullied because of who they are: how they look and act, what they say and do. ... The people who walked out during Dan’s talk were not separated from their peers by anyone. They were content to do that themselves. They were not frightened or cowed. They were offended. ... And they were pleased to show their intolerance of Dan’s words by protesting against them in the manner they did. Theirs was not an act born of suffering. [ Read more → ]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Tennessee state representative on Tuesday told fellow lawmakers that failure to instill proper values by parents in the victims of bullying is what leads young people to commit suicide. [caption id="attachment_51957" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Jeremy Faison"][/caption] State Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) made... [ Read more → ]

The Sioux City Journal on Sunday devoted its front page to the topic of bullying, a response to the recent suicide of Kenneth Weishuhn, a 14-year-old gay teen who had been bullied at school after coming out to his friends. [ Read more → ]

As students around the country participated Friday’s “Day of Silence” to show solidarity with bullied LGBT children and teens, anti-gay activists continued to step up their efforts to prevent schools from protecting bullied students. [ Read more → ]

Taking down the bullies has to start with taking down those who empower the bullying. That’s not the onlookers, who are victims of their conditioning too, nor only the schools. Indeed, bullying is empowered by every institution that seeks to limit an individual’s ability to say, “No, I won’t be limited, I want the freedom to be me. I do not want to be what you want, but whoever it is that I can be, with all the good I might achieve. Now, teach me, provide me with the means to let me become all that I can be, or get out of my way.” [ Read more → ]

A candidate for the U.S. Senate has come under fire for criticizing the Student Non-Discrimination Act, legislation meant to protect children, becuase she said it “criminalizes” teasing. [ Read more → ]

Hundreds of thousands of students across the United States, and in nearly 60 countries around the world, on Friday participated in the 17th annual “Day of Silence” — an event designed to illustrate the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. [ Read more → ]