As San Diego LGBT Weekly reported Thursday, in an echoing of the rant by comedian Rick Mercer, the bullying and terror against LGBT youth must come to a halt. The ‘It Gets Better’ campaign, while admirable, does not help to solve the crimes against gay teens today. In another episode of gay violence, an Ohio teen has been captured on video in a brutal attack which is said to be another hate crime against LGBT youth.
While San Diego LGBT Weekly will not publicize the video due to its violent and vicious nature, many angry activists and allies have taken to the internet to voice their disappointment in the potential eminent failure of school legislation that is aimed to protect all students, regardless of sexual orientation.
The boy is filmed in the video asking his attacker, “Why are you doing this?” yet the attack continues.
The teen’s bullying began online using the popular social tool Facebook where anti-gay slurs were slung toward the gay student. Even though the school gave the attacker a 3-day school suspension for the online harassment, the mother of the attacked boy says it was not enough to reprimand or stop continued violence, and she will file charges.
Recently, headlines have been surging with violence against gays, and with the recent death of teens Jamey Rodemeyer and Jamie Hubley, both public school officials, parents, and allies are now more concerned than ever for the safety of gay children and teens.
In an email to the publication Towerload, the organization Equality Ohio has issued the following statement:
“An anti-bullying bill is pending in Ohio’s legislature. Ohio House Bill 208 would add sexual orientation, gender identity, and other enumerated protections to Ohio’s anti-bullying law without changing the general prohibition against any bullying or harassment. Proponents of the bill are seeking testimony in the House Education Committee, according to Equality Ohio, but the bill has not been a priority of the committee.”
