GAY: And tired of being bullied

“I am a human too.”

Bullying the people who are different from you is wrong, including sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT bullying destroys a child from the inside out. Because I identify as “gay” I get bullied. Because I like the same-sex it somehow makes me unhuman.

Stop making people feel bad for being who they are no matter who they like. No one should be bullied especially if you identify as LGBT. About 282,000 students are reportedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month, most of them being LGBT. Teens reported that one of the main reasons they are being bullied is because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression. This kind of bullying doesn’t help when teachers and parents don’t care; no wonder the teen suicide rate is high among LGBT students.

Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? LGBT students get bullied all the time but go unnoticed because school administrations refuse to accept that it happens. Eighty-one percent of LGBT students were verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation in 2014, and 38.3 percent were physically harassed because of sexual orientation. Nine out of 10 LGBT students have experienced harassment at school. LGBT students are five times more likely to be bullied compared to straight students. More than 1/3 of LGBT students have attempted suicide.

Let’s stop bullying. Stand up for me and others like me; humans.

ALEXANDER KNOX

Hayden