Kyle City Limits
by BRENDA STEWART
I guess it was his jowly grin, stretched ear to ear that drew me into the photograph. The big round moon-pie face and laughing eyes of a kid who looked like he could be mischievous trouble and the life of the party. Brown hair, cut close, they say he was small for his age, an A student who favored shorts and flip-flops to Abercrombie and Hollister. For these traits and because his tormentors had decided that he was gay, he was teased unmercifully at school, day after day. Year after year.
Administrators and counselors deny that they were aware of the harassment, and the torment continued. It was said that he was tripped down a flight of stairs and then, at the landing as he scrambled for his books, he was kicked down another. But no witness came forward so it was classified as unsubstantiated.
In PE class, a group of guys performed “mock sex acts” on him in a final act of humiliation, terrorizing him once again as he was captive in our public school system. Eight hours a day, five days a week, legally tethered to an environment that should have, at the very least, protected him from brutality.
And then just six months ago, a couple of weeks after he began eighth grade, the terror resumed. So, one sunny day in September, after he had endured yet another day of the hell on earth that had become his life, he walked into his home after school and put a single bullet in his head.
His name was Asher Brown. And he was from Texas, from a town a couple of hours east of here, called Cypress. A native son, with promise and intelligence and energy. He was 13 years old.
In response to this epidemic of intolerance, the 15th annual National Day of Silence, a student-led program created to peacefully call attention to the silencing effect of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered bullying and harassment will be observed this Friday. It is also an attempt to raise educator awareness of the unhealthy atmosphere created by this harassment.
As you might imagine, religious groups such as Focus on the Family are boycotting the Day of Silence and are instituting a Day of Dialogue which encourages students to “openly and gently talk about the Truth of Scripture and what it says about homosexuality” and to confront those who are “messed up sexually”. Focus on the Family states that it strongly opposes any effort to address or prevent anti-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered bullying. Period.
Bullying, harassment and name-calling continue to thrive in our schools today despite campaigns to promote tolerance and acceptance. Students deemed different by their peers – be it because of a disability, skin color, religion or sexual orientation, become targets. Gay students in public schools have been bullied to the point of suicide and some parents of non-gay (they assume) students are trying to put a religious spin on it to justify the harassment. And these are the same guys who call themselves prolife? Ironic.
At the very least, gay students just want to be left in peace to lead their lives. Optimally, they would be not only accepted by their peers, but celebrated for their individual talents and unique contribution to the planet. It doesn’t seem too much to ask that we unite in the universal goal of assuring that every child is valued and respected.
When I was growing up Baptist, we sang a song with the lyric “and they will know we are Christians by our love” and it became a sort of mantra. Unfortunately, the Christians behind these arch conservative groups seems to have adopted a Country Dick Montana classic, “Jesus loves me but he can’t stand you.”
