[ You were bullied for being straight? Yeah, that's totally the same thing. >: Just like LGBT teens that are bullied and ostracized, you had no one to turn to in this society that is so against heterosexuals. You must have felt so isolated in an overwhelming homosexual culture that routinely teaches the younger generations to hate straight people for being born the way they are.

Okay seriously no, LGBT teen suicide is a /very serious/ problem that is steadily getting worse. Even if it focused on one group that is being bullied (and is being bullied /hard/), you don't support an end to the bullying of that group? Do you also get pissy when Black History month rolls around? Do you not support it? I mean, IT DOESN'T INCLUDE LATINOS. They're persecuted too. If we're going to follow your logic that EVERY awareness program must include EVERYONE, we should just make it 'Non white history month'. Boycott black history month, it's totes biased. >:< ]

I
was making a point in stating that. It irritates the crap out of me that this day was made for one group of people about a problem that affects EVERYONE. Everyone is bullied at some point in there life for some reason, it doesn't just affect LGBT. No, I don't get mad when Black History month comes around; why? Because it's about something that affected that specific group of people--the abolishment of slavery and the celebration of the accomplishments of people of that ethnicity.

[ I think it has a lot more to do with your general dislike of homosexuality than any good reasonI. :shrug: Would you be opposed to a 'Spirit Day' dedicated to kids committing suicide over racial bullying? What about 'Adopt a Shelter Dog' day? That doesn't include cats, so are you still pissed when all those sweet dogs get adopted? What about Breast Cancer awareness month? There's more than one type of cancer that affects patients. How about anxiety awareness week? There's more than one mental illness.

No one ever said it *just* effects LGBT. But the day was made in response to a string of suicides by LGBT teenagers- it's to honor them and prevent it from happening again. LGBT bullying is a /big fucking deal/ because the children affected by it live in a homophobic society and often, homophobic households. Unlike a straight kid or even a child of a minority race, they usually don't have a support system to turn to because of that; they can't open up to their families because they have to hide who they are. Having a voice- a day- raises a lot of awareness. That is a /good thing/. And there are plenty of anti-bullying programs that cover EVERY aspect of bullying; is it really so bad to have one dedicated to a specific type that happens to be very bad at the moment?

Basically, it's childish to be angry over what is essentially a good thing. Everyone knows bullying is bad, but there are plenty of people that don't realize how much more devastating it can be for LGBT teens due to the inherit isolation that typically comes with their status. This event /helps/ these kids. And it's ridiculously /heartless/ ]

You're willing to listen and are only looking for an argument (as made obvious by your comments on my other deviations). You won't find one here and responding would simply be a waste of my time, have a nice day.

[ Seriously, nice cop out. It seems to me that YOU are the one unwilling to listen and only interested in further entrenching yourself in your narrow-minded views. Are you so against an honest discourse? *Queerly was being nothing but polite and very articulate in outlining her thoughtful, well-reasoned responses.

Spirit week DOES bring awareness to all types of bullying- how could a week dedicated to bringing awareness not? It is simply targeted at awareness for LGBT youthes, a group which uniquely has less support than most others and thus is greatly in need of awareness. I'm sorry, but being bullied/made to feel guilty about being a heterosexual is nowhere NEAR the same thing, unless said heterosexual is immersed in a largely hostile HOMOsexual community. Were you? Did you have no hetero friends or family members to turn to? Were you afraid of even admitting it? Unless I'm horribly mistaken, of course not. ]

Considering you don't know the situation I can forgive you for calling it a "cop-out". On the contrary, she was anything but nice in her comments on my journal and stamps and was only aiming to make me angry and start an argument.

Furthermore, as I have stated numerous times, I don't think any one group should have a day for themselves when it affects everyone. And did you do any research on this subject? For one thing; it's not a week, it's a day. For another, until this year (and on deviantART only this year for that matter) I didn't see any awareness whatsoever on the day for anyone else who was bullied or any other type of bullying--hardly anyone at all acknowledged that (except for those of us who were irritated about it). And being bullied for another reason than being homosexual isn't the same thing? Since when? It hurts just the same and people are scared to turn to other people for help just the same. There's no difference other than the reason behind it. And to keep people from killing themselves? That's what TWLOHA is for (link provided in case you don't know what that is), which I wholeheartedly support because it focuses on how to solve the problem. It's not about one group saying "oh poor us, we're dealing with a problem everyone else deals with but we're more important!" which is pretty much exactly what Spirit Day is.

[ Well, I suppose you're correct that I haven't seen everything she has written to you, so I'll concede that, but I still think that it is a major cop-out to not respond to her last paragraph up there- I'd be very interested in your response to the points she raised which, as far as I'm concerned, are spot on and I couldn't have put it better.

Oh yes it's a day not a week, that does invalidate my stance. Was I also wrong on what it's about? Oh, no. So never mind it invalidates nothing. I'll admit I was reading quickly as I was a bit upset upon finding an individual who opposes something that I view as being very good and beneficial.

Plenty of groups have days/weeks/whatever devoted just to them- so, as *Queerly asked, do you oppose all of them as well? Or do you just oppose this because you also oppose what you see as a sinful "choice"? And I support your religious choices, it's perfectly fine for you to believe what you do, I'm certainly not attacking that, even if I disagree with it. But it shouldn't be affecting your opinion on how to treat LGBTs, on supporting a movement that is benefical for them, gives them help and awareness that they desperately need. Like I said, everyone knows bullying is bad. IT HAS AWARENESS. Not everyone knows however what is happening to LGBT youthes, and worse, in some of the more hostile areas, it is IGNORED.

Bullying of LGBT is different. How man times do I have to say this? It doesn't "hurt the same"- perhaps it might appear that way to you, if you are lucky enough to live in an area where LGBTs aren't living in constant fear- but let me tell you, that is not the norm. What makes bullying of LGBTS so different is that they are being bullied in a society where they cannot just turn to the adults for help- a society at large that is hostile and often teaches others to hate them. Which is what makes it different from, say, racial bullying, where those children at least have family to turn to and no one says 'you shouldn't have chosen to be black, put some on dye your skin!'

You know what I did when I was bullied? I talked to my mom, my friends, once even the teacher and guidance counseler.

Do you know what *Queerly did when she was bullied? Withdraw in to herself, far too afraid for her safety in her conservative southern community to go to the teacher, and too sick at heart to be able to admit her true issues to her parents out of fear of rejection/hurting them/making them question their beliefs.

To sum it up, I would like to ask what *Queerly asked before she was blocked:
Would you be opposed to a 'Spirit Day' dedicated to kids committing suicide over racial bullying? What about 'Adopt a Shelter Dog' day? That doesn't include cats, so are you still pissed when all those sweet dogs get adopted? What about Breast Cancer awareness month? There's more than one type of cancer that affects patients. How about anxiety awareness week? There's more than one mental illness.

Like I said, groups getting needed awareness isn't a new thing.

I'm not trying to upset you or argue with you for no reason, and you are certainly entitled to your beliefs. However, I am as well and I will try and implore you to stop fighting something that is a good thing. While I myself have seen plenty of LGBT awareness movements, if you yourself have not, then that proves that they need the day, or week, or whatever it is that they're given in whatever way, more than ever.

There are lots of issues in the world. No day or week or movement could cover them all. In this case, this day covers LGBT bullying. I ask again, what the heck is so bad with that?? ]

And this is why I don't think you or Queerly were even listening, I have stated my reasons very clearly NUMEROUS times, including in my responses to both you and her and you continue to ignore them. Since you won't listen to me when I straight out reply with my answers maybe you should try reading some of the other comments, the artist's comments, etcetera which all state what I have said a thousand times. I'm getting pretty sick of being asked the same questions over and over and then not even being listened to when I answer. And before replying I would like to ask you to please do your research--there is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING that sets LGBT bullying apart from other types of bullying other than media coverage and extensive whining. They all have different degrees of severity, the only difference is--like with most minorities--when they are targeted they have the media freaking out and jumping to conclusions.

Here are some interesting statistics: 1 in every 4 kids from elementary to high school is bullied; only 30% of those are bullied because of their sexual orientation. Over 50% of students who were bullied were bullied because of their physical appearance. Only 4% of bullying cases end with adult intervention, 11% of bullying cases end with peer intervention, and 85% of bullying cases have absolutely no intervention--regardless of the reasons behind the bullying.

And, as I stated before, the degree of severity varies with each case, there is nothing to show that an LGBT kid suffers more or less than any other kid who is bullied (unless, of course, you look at one of the extremely biased websites that completely ignores the statistics of a child who isn't LGBT being bullied--unfortunately there are many out there, the majority of which can't seem to even keep a standardized statistic). If you still insist that this day is needed might I recommend you also create a day for every other child who is bullied for whatever reason; go on, make a day for those who are bullied because they are overweight, skinny, tall, short, heterosexual, smart, stupid, non-athletic, mentally-disabled, physically-disabled, "nerdy", poor, rich, black, hispanic, white, asian, unpopular, has a speech impediment, has frizzy hair, has stick-straight hair, doesn't have a boyfriend/girlfriend, stands up for another child who is bullied...need I say more?

[ You truly don't believe that growing up in a society that is hostile towards you and in which you generally are too afraid to speak out doesn't differentiate LGBT bullying from, to use your list, "overweight, skinny, tall, short, heterosexual, smart, stupid, non-athletic, mentally-disabled, physically-disabled, "nerdy", poor, rich, black, hispanic, white, asian, unpopular, has a speech impediment, has frizzy hair, has stick-straight hair, doesn't have a boyfriend/girlfriend, stands up for another child who is bullied"?

If your answer is yes, then I suppose our conversation is at an end because you are correct, we are simply talking in circles. But if you believe that LGBT kids are just whining about their issues as exacerbated by the media... I'm sorry, but I would say that people like you are the reason awareness movements are needed.

Also if you're going to use statistics, please include source links. ]

If you haven't noticed, most people are the exact opposite of hostile towards them nowadays (kids don't necessarily count, children can be very cruel about everything). Such people are actually pretty much glorified (see LGBT celebrities and politicians) now. I've noticed more people being hostile towards me and several of my non-LGBT friends for having a different opinion on homosexuality than I have seen or heard of any sort of hostility towards my LGBT friends (not simply in the area I live in, I have many friends from other countries, states, and cities).

You misunderstand what I'm trying to say. I'm not saying that horrible stuff doesn't happen to LGBT kids and that they're only whining (although they [not all of them] tend to do a heck of a lot of it; as do most minorities), I'm simply pointing out that it doesn't ONLY happen to them so it doesn't make sense and is unfair to create a day just for them, regardless of how much awareness it raises.

There were mountains of sources most of which have been long since lost I'm afraid but a quick Google search of "LGBT bullying statistics" and just "bullying statistics" should bring up the vast majority of them.