Bully For You

Because it's never like this in real life

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, today the student body at my Texas high school shared a common experience, the trauma of which bonded us more closely. Class relationships were strengthened through the laughter, anger, shame, and confusion that this experience evoked in us. Together we suffered, and together we prevailed. Yes, my friends, today the administrators of my high school showed the school their anti-bullying presentation through the morning announcements. Of course, this being Texas and they being school administrators, I have my critiques about this undertaking. You already know the big one. There was absolutely no mention of LGBT bullying.

That it was a necessary category is obvious. Many are quick to point out that there is no special task force for race-based bullying at most schools. But at least during this presentation, the use of racial slurs was pointed out as an example of verbal bullying, even though racial tensions are very low in my area (being a very white town). Nationwide, 84.6% of LGBT students have been the victims of verbal abuse and 40% have been subject to assault based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. I'm willing to bet my college fund that there isn't a single group in America that is more likely to suffer from bullying in school. If there was any one ethnic minority that reported 85% of its members suffering from bullying on high school campuses, you bet your ass there would be huge, official, school-sponsored anti-bullying campaigns specifically targeted towards ending that racial discrimination. So where's the school's outrage on the part of LGBT kids?

Pictured: Texas school administrators taking a stand against LGBT bullying

Some people raise the objection that LGBT students would feel singled out by increased administrative efforts to prevent queerbashing. I'd like to point out that my experience as an LGBT high school student in a hostile environment might equip me to better understand the needs of other LGBT high school students. The above objection would make sense if LGBT students weren't already being excluded. But as stated above, about 85% of LGBT students are being bullied in school. How's that for singled out? Furthermore, when you grow up on the fringes of acceptability, you begin to feel as though the normal rules of petitioning for redress don't apply to you. To take an extreme example, in the early 1970s a gang of gay men and women patrolled San Francisco dishing out violent street justice to gaybashers because the police wouldn't do anything to protect the gays of San Francisco (numerous as they were). To take an even more extreme example, a Minnesota transwoman is serving a four-year sentence for using deadly force to defend herself in a fight. (By the way, one in 12 American transpeople's lives end in murder. How dare she refuse to become another sad statistic.)  Her attacker has been charged with a Class C and a Class D felony but has not yet stood trial. When the law forgets you, you operate outside of the law. And when LGBT kids in a hostile environment like most of Texas hear that the school will protect students against bullying, they assume, sometimes validly, that "all students" mean "straight students". We are often not supported by our own families, so why would any school offer any protection to a queer? 

The point is that because we are so often left out of other protected categories, if LGBT students are not explicitly mentioned as protected under anti-bullying rules, LGBT students will automatically assume that they will not be helped should they dare to come forward.

Which brings me to my larger, more widely applicable point. Many times, students of all sexual orientations across the gender spectrum feel contempt at perceived administrative ineptitude on the subject of bullying. Ask any student after one of these presentations, and they can give you clear, non-hysterical examples of times where they have directly witnessed or even been a victim of school authorities' callousness/mishandling of bullying. Also, every presentation of bullying I've ever seen at school attempts to offer a profile of the different types of bullies. Since bullying behaviors can be practiced by anyone (including, a lifetime ago, yours truly) this profile only serves to assure people engaging in bullying that they aren't doing anything wrong. "Low-self esteem"? "Aggressive"? Surely that's not me! I volunteer on weekends and go to church every Sunday! Come to think of it, some of the most devoted tormentors of LGBT kids belong to that sanctimonious group.

Those are the problems. If you're like me, you want to know what to do about it. My school just this year added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of groups protected against harassment  Although they've incorporated this into teacher training, they've done a shit job of publicizing this change to the student body, which includes LGBT kids who may not think they have a means of redress against bullying. Even if your school does not have a policy specifically protecting LGBT students, many LGBT slurs are gender-based, and harassment under that category IS protected under Title IX. Like, federally. Fucking with Title IX, therefore, is (and this is advanced legal jargon) "srs bsns" and will be treated as such.

This link provides more information about preventative measures. If there's a Gay-Straight Alliance at your school (and if you have ANY extra-curricular clubs, they legally cannot prevent you from starting one), try launching your own anti-bullying initiative. It may be worthwhile to pair with other groups interested in community service or minority rights in this initiative. It's definitely a good idea to become well versed in school, state, and federal guidelines on bullying. Knowledge is power.

In fact, that's what I'm in the middle of right now. I'll keep you posted on the progress of my GSA's initiative. For now, readers, stay safe.