HRC Tackles Bullying with PSA

Gay Youth and Society…It Gets Better

There is an inherent flaw in our society, one that we must live and battle with no matter who we may be.

We live in a categorical society, one which deems it necessary to assign a label to everything. Black or white, liberal or conservative, gay or straight, and on and on. There is little room for shades of grey, and many get entrenched in one side or the other, preaching the correctness of their side and missing the subtle nuances that are entirely true for both sides of the dividing line.

But what happens as a result of these labels and predefined bins we must all accept as our definition of self within society? Terrible things if our label happens to be one other than the ‘norm’ (the norm that society has chosen and promotes). Let’s just stick with the gay label. If you are gay, you are going against the societal norm and must constantly fight against oppression, misunderstanding, and pressure to question your lifestyle and ability to love. And for what? Am I any less capable of loving? Am I any less of a person? NO! Of course not.

So why do we let society fight against us? Why do we struggle incessantly for acceptance and to be allowed just to be ourselves? Why?

So many promising lives have been cut short due to discrimination, lack of self worth, and HATE. And for what? Because they were different? Is that worth ostracization to the point of compulsion to take one’s own life?

I hope one day we can look back at this civil rights movement and be glad we no longer have to lobby society for our right to be us. I hope one day we can realize the hopes of the It Gets Better Project and we can tell the youth that once upon a time some people thought gays did not deserve full equality.

But until that day, I will continue to call, write, lobby, and advocate. I do it not just for myself, but for all of the young people unfortunate enough to be growing up in an area of the world that homophobia reins. I do it to let them know that it is okay to be gay and it really will get better. There are people out there who love you for who you are and you will find those people. In time, it will get better and the world wants you to be around to see it. We need you around to witness the tides of history shift.

If you ever doubt….if you ever find yourself thinking it would be easier to give up than to fight, reach out to someone and listen when they tell you…It gets better, society will one day shed the labels used to subjugate and hate.

Sorry for the Delay…

As life would have it from time to time, the past couple months were incredibly busy. In fact, I am just now getting caught up on what has been happening in the world, much less in gay news!

That being said, do not worry…I am back! Stay tuned for more content and news from here on out.

Also, Second Class Citizens is always looking for guest bloggers to write guest posts for the blog. If you are interested in writing a post on any LGBT topic, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you all for reading!

In Case You Missed It: Google Chrome “It Gets Better” Commercial”

Google premiered a new commercial for its Chrome browser last night during Glee. The ad features Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” project…and the result is incredibly powerful.

Representative Steve Simon Defends Justice, Fairness, Wholeness, and Compassion

Minnesota House Representative Steve Simon discusses how much of sexuality is nature v. nurtue. He offers that sexuality is a gift from God, and asks how many gays must God create before we accept that He wants them around…

Top NY Executives Lobbying for Same-Sex Marriage

A group of New York business moguls released a letter lobbying state legislators to legalize same-sex marriage. They argue the decision is not only fair, it makes good business sense.

The group includes the CEOs of Goldma Sachs, Thompson Reuters, Con Edison, and 23 other firms.

The letter is titled, “An open letter from business leaders on the importance of marriage equality” and argues that not allowing same-sex couples to marry affects the state’s ability to attract qualified workers.

As New Yorkers and business leaders, we believe that attracting talent is key to our state’s economic future,” the letter reads. “We strongly urge New York State to enact marriage equality legislation to help maintain our competitive advantage in attracting the best and brightest people the world has to offer.

Other notable signers include Jes Staley (CEO of JP Morgan’s Investment Bank), John J. Mack (executive chairman of the board of Morgan Stanley), and Daniel L. Doctoroff (president of Bloomberg).

Children’s Story About a Same-Sex Penguin Couple Tops Library Complaint

“And Tango Makes Three” is a children’s book based on the adorable true story of two chinstrap penguins named Roy and Silo who live in the Central Park Zoo. Roy and Silo are both male penguins, and they adopted and raised a chick named Tango. The story is touching and the book helps parents teach children about same-sex couples.

My personal favorite is the final line of the book:

And like all the other penguins in the penguin house, and all the other animals in the zoo, and all the families in the big city around them, they went to sleep.

Adorable, right? Well, not according to the American Library Association. The book once again topped the list of most frequently challenged books. (It was also number one in 2007, 2008, and 2009.) According to the American Library Association:

A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.

How tragic is it that this book that helps children to understand a topic most parents do not know how to even approach is being attacked and taken off of shelves for being controversial? When are we going to start teaching our kids about inclusion? Why not tell kids about different people? We need to tell our children that is is okay to be gay. Because, if we don’t…we could lose them before they learn that it gets better…

Keep that in mind.