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All God's Children from Garrett Lenoir on Vimeo.
“Mayhem and hilarity ensue as Kevin desperately attempts to let Veronica down easy and her flirtations only become increasingly persistent.”(That's according to an Archie Comics Statement)
“Teenagers have a lot of pressure, so it’s important for Archie and the rest of the gang to be accepting.”
- Jon Goldwater, co-CEO of Archie Comics
We were tired - tired of hearing about tragedies because of bullying, tired of seeing bullies on television, in schools, in the grocery stores. So often people who are bullied feel like they are worthless, alone, couldn’t possibly make it through. Even when bullying doesn’t involve an emotional element, the bully’s words echo, and worm their way into people’s hearts, eroding their self worth.
As an author who writes for kids, I wanted to find a way to use words for good, to make a tiny dent in all that bad by creating a place where people who were bullied can read about others who made it through.
Authors seemed like the perfect people to do that. And since Megan Kelley Hall and I started the group we’ve read tons of stories that are so poignant and heart-wrenching of adult authors and teens who have dealt with this.
For a lot of them, telling their stories has been incredibly hard, but also powerful because they know that they are showing others that they aren’t alone. One person said that they were ashamed that they had been bullied, that they had hidden it, but seeing how many other people out there had been bullied as well made them stronger.
Dear Superintendent McNeece,
I was saddened to read today that Constance McMillen was duped into attending a ‘fake’ prom, and was not told about or invited to a private prom attended by her classmates; a decision supported by school officials and parents.
As an educator, I just don’t understand how school officials could allow this to happen. You and I became educators because we care about children and because we have taken on a selfless act of providing a service for the benefit of students. We do this because we truly care about the health and well-being of our students.
When I read stories about bullying, harassment and discrimination I never expect it to come from the adults in the environment. What’s worse, it’s coming from adults who are supposed to be the most qualified, educated, knowledgeable and ‘open minded’ about the students they serve. Is it really an issue to you that a student is gay or lesbian? Is it really an issue to you that a gay or lesbian student wants to bring a same sex date to a prom? Is it really an issue to you that your students don’t all represent your core values? Isn’t education supposed to be the ‘great equalizer’ in our society? Regardless of your protected class status, which includes one’s sexual orientation, we are often told that if you work hard in school you will be judged on your merits and not the color of your skin or religion. Shouldn’t we also include the person that you choose to love?
I’m trying really hard to understand your decision making and why you as the Superintendent, the person who ranks the highest in your educational community; why you would allow this to happen. Where is your heart? Where is the little voice inside of you that tells you right from wrong? Where is that deepest part of you called a soul that has the capacity to show compassion for another human being, because that is what this is really about; not who Constance brings to a prom but your ability to look beyond your own personal biases and prejudices and say to yourself, ‘this young person is just as deserving and entitled as all other students and deserves the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of her own happiness.'
Had you allowed her to attend the prom with her female date and in a tuxedo, the duration of that event would have lasted about 3 hours, yet you chose to deny this student a basic human right, and now this drama has dragged out for several weeks and it makes you, the Superintendent, look bigoted, silly and completely foolish.
So the question is this: Are you an educator who cares about students…ALL your students, or are you there to pander to the biases and prejudices of your community?
In my opinion, you should step down from your job. You are not deserving of calling yourself an educator or a leader. An educator embraces and cares for all students and a leader, a TRUE leader, does what is right by students and teaches a bigoted community of parents that schools in their community are open to all students, regardless of their protected class status, and embraces all ideas, regardless of how controversial they may appear to be. All you have done is toed the line and reinforced a status quo in your community that is both negative and cruel.
In the end, you have deeply hurt a student that did not deserve this manner of cruelty. Forever, she will remember her last year of high school as a horrible reminder of the bigotry that exists at her school and in her community. And you, what did you learn from all this?
Sincerely,
Stephen B. Jimenez
Chris Hampton, Public Education Associate
c/o Constance McMillen
ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and AIDS Project
125 Broad St., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004
I'm writing to let you know that I strongly support the Student Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 4530) that has been introduced in the House and is expected to be introduced in the Senate soon.
Public school students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are subject to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence.
These students, like all other students, deserve an educational environment free of discrimination and harassment.
But while federal statutory protections expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex and disability, LGBT students are not expressly protected by federal civil rights laws.
That is unacceptable.
This law would prohibit any school program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating against any public school student on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity contributes to high rates of absenteeism, dropout, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement among LGBT youth. When left unchecked, such discrimination can lead, and has led to, life-threatening violence and suicide.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important issue.
“The Los Angeles Public Library provides free and easy access to information, ideas, books and technology that enrich, educate and empower every individual in our city's diverse communities.”
6 T H D A T E
We sat on his couch, facing each other,
backs against armrests,
feet intertwined.
He told me he wanted to teach me Spanish pronunciations,
asked me to repeat after him.
I attempted to mimic his words like a parrot to its owner,
struggled with the rolling “R’s”.
The foreign words spilled clumsily from my mouth.
He suggested he name off animals
and I was to guess which one.
He changed the lesson plan.
My feathers ruffled as I assumed
it was because I wasn’t good.
He gave words for
cows,
penguins,
dogs, and
doves.
I was surprisingly good at assessing
and assuming translations.
But those weren’t the words
I wanted to know from him.
I wanted to ask about
trust,
attraction,
the meaning of our feet touching,
and most of all, I wanted
to know our future.
"What other people think of me is none of my business."
- RuPaul
“I am a wind-swayed bridge, a crossroads inhabited by whirlwinds … You say my name is ambivalence? Think of me as Shiva, a many-armed and legged body with one foot on brown soil, one on white, one in straight society, one in the gay world, the man’s world, the women’s, one limb in the literary world, another in the working class, the socialist, and the occult worlds. A sort of spider woman hanging by one thin strand of web.
Who, me confused? Ambivalent? Not so. Only your labels split me.”
Who me, confused? Ambivalent? Only your labels split me.
First Love
Lying in your arms,
I feel safe,
Loved, adored.
I snuggle closer.
You talk
Of your future.
Husband, kids.
White picket fence.
I’m so confused.
Do I have to be a man
To be with the woman I love?
HOW BARE MY SOUL
How bare my soul,
Like trees in winter.
Stripped of outer feeling
By the cold of her passing.
Left barren and defenseless,
I draw into myself
And hibernate.
A breath of spring
Touches me gently.
New emotions, like leaves,
Sprout and take hold of my heart.
Guiding it gently outward,
To find this source of warmth,
My eyes see you.
I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.
- Langston Hughes*
Langston Hughes
