Bullying and The Tyler Clemente Foundation

Although bullying isn’t exclusive to the LGBTQIA community, this is always my focus and I stick to one thing. The straights can handle their own issues because it’s usually a straight kid bullying a gay kid. 

In any event, here is a link to the Tyler Clemente foundation with a few statistics to look over. In some cases it’s staggering. But even if only one LGBTQIA kid gets bullied, that’s one too many for me. 

Bullying is an intricate issue and I’m no expert, and I don’t claim to be. In fact, nothing bothers me more than those who think they are experts and they know nothing. It only diminishes the real bully issues.

Understanding bullying data is just one part of preventing and interrupting bullying. The information available from research depends on terms, definitions, and measures. When students are surveyed about their experiences with bullying, their answers may vary depending on how or when a question is asked. The information below will look closer at the “what, how, why, and who” of bullying so that you can start conversations about how to prevent it in your community. 

Here’s more. Do you see what I mean about how intricate it is? If you leave it up to amateurs you could make it worse. The article goes on to explain all kinds of bullying, even cyberbullying. As I said, it’s not a simple issue. And you need some seriously trained professionals to handle it. 

“Don’t Say Gay” Bill Is Nothing New To Conservatives, Especially Ronald Reagan

While millions of people are marching for equality in Florida against the “don’t say gay” bill and the way Disney reacted to this bill that will basically silence all LGBTQ kids, I saw this article trending on Google and it’s really spot on with regard to what I remember as homophobia from politicians such as Ronald Reagan. The Reagan years were terrible times for gay people. During the height of the AIDS crisis, with millions dying, Reagan pretended we didn’t even exist. He’s not the only one. 

During a similar episode of anti-gay moral panic none other than Ronald Reagan — whose record on L.G.B.T. issues is most often defined by his shameful inaction around H.I.V. and AIDS during his presidency — turned to his libertarian roots to thwart such bigotry, rather than promote it.

Here’s more. The entire article is worth the read.  I think Reagan, and his Moral Majority, were probably the worst offenders. This is also how Reagan will go down in history in some regards.

Disney Employees Walk Out Because of the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

This all reminds me of when former “Family Friendly” Hallmark CEO, Bill Abbott, decided to pull the Lesbian Wedding commercial and the world went berserk. Abbott eventually left Hallmark over the debacle. Sadly, Bill Abbott is now running a family-friendly cable channel that’s so far off the radar I can’t even get it. But he’s still around, and so is the CEO of Disney who really botched up this time. 

With that said, here is why LGBTQIA people are walking out.  

Organizers of the walkout wrote in an open letter posted on its website that statements by Disney’s leadership regarding the bill “have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation.”

You can read more here. From what I gather, Disney has been trying to do better. At least on the surface. But is it all too late? If you read the article you’ll see what I mean. I think the problem is the way Disney responded in the first place. CEO Bob Chapek tried to remain neutral. It’s all in the article. This bill is too dangerous to remain neutral. You either take a stand on one side or the other. As a gay author, I can’t just sit back and support a bill like that. I would be an idiot.  

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