One Town's War On Gay Teens

[moriah]

One Town's War On Gay Teens
By Sabrina Rubin Erdely

In Michele Bachmann's home district, evangelicals have created an extreme anti-gay climate. After a rash of suicides, the kids are fighting back.

Every morning, Brittany Geldert stepped off the bus and bolted through the double doors of Fred Moore Middle School, her nerves already on high alert, bracing for the inevitable.

"Dyke."

Pretending not to hear, Brittany would walk briskly to her locker, past the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders who loitered in menacing packs.

"Whore."

Like many 13-year-olds, Brittany knew seventh grade was a living hell. But what she didn't know was that she was caught in the crossfire of a culture war being waged by local evangelicals inspired by their high-profile congressional representative Michele Bachmann, who graduated from Anoka High School and, until recently, was a member of one of the most conservative churches in the area. When Christian activists who considered gays an abomination forced a measure through the school board forbidding the discussion of homosexuality in the district's public schools, kids like Brittany were unknowingly thrust into the heart of a clash that was about to become intertwined with tragedy.

[Drale]

1. Well in my high school

being openly anti-gay was frowned upon fully. A couple of the loudest bigots got the shit kicked out of them a couple of times.

[moriah]

10. The high school I attended was much the same.

But it was an Arts and Science magnet. It was a really cool school.

I wish everyone had the opportunity to attend such an openly accepting school. And teachers actively ignoring bullying in that fashion is sickening.

[gopiscrap]

2. It makes me puke everytime I hear that

piece of shit Bachman call herself a Christian.

[Brickbat]

3. The Anoka-Hennepin school district is poisoned. It's a nightmare. This story is disturbing and so

important to read.

[sarcasmo]

4. reilgion is a sickness

[truebrit71]

6. Amen!

[redqueen]

9. +1

At *best* I can try to see it as a social club... but I don't know why all the stone-age BS is necessary. Is it not patently obvious by now how this **** gets used? Over and over and over again, all over the world?

[hifiguy]

13. Yep. Any claim to THE ONE

TRUE ANSWER leads inevitably to authoritarian, if not totalitarian mindsets.

[Angry Dragon]

5. You should cross-post this in Minnesota

Thank you

[redqueen]

7. So ******* sickening.

Teaching children to hate is child abuse... and doing so in the name of some 'god'...

[bullwinkle428]

8. Disgraceful. Some of these churches need to be classified as hate groups.

They really are no better than the Phelps clan.

[sarcasmo]

18. +1

[get the red out]

11. Evangelical murderers

Evangelical Christians, like Michelle Bachman, are simply wicked. I hope I live long enough to live in a country that isn't scared to death to upset them. But I doubt I will.

[lapislzi]

12. This story made me cry, and I'm not a crier.

Where was the moral compass of the teachers and other school officials when those precious children were being tormented to the brink of suicide?

How many futures must we sacrifice to these monsters of intolerance?

Shame, shame, shame.

[moriah]

15. Me, too.

[d_r]

14. I was so sad

to be reminded of how mean people can be.

[The Genealogist]

16. WWJD? Would Jesus encourage students to gather into "menacing packs,"

yelling "dyke" and "whore" at a 13 year old?

[moriah]

17. And he certainly wouldn't encourage teachers to stand idly by and watch it happen.

[The Philosopher]

19. This is disgusting

When will it be considered child abuse to tell a child they're going to be tortured forever if they don't straighten up?

When will parents realize if they allow religious rules in their child's school, then someone else's rules will be pushed on the child, too?

And when will the Federal Government realize that just because a religious group believes everyone should abide by their religious laws, it doesn't mean it's discrimination to protect other's religious liberty? And that allowing for legislation of a group's religious laws fails to protect other's religious liberty?

Every time I hear someone disparage unions, especially teacher unions, this sort of thing comes to mind. It creates a space that people with a bigger paycheck get to have a "business" full of yes-men. It sucks that a person thinks of their job rather than doing the right thing, but imagine seeing you're the ONLY person person doing so. That's a frightening concept no one should go through. You end up imagining your life bouncing around from teacher job to teacher job, until the schools just know who you are and won't hire you outright. A union, a strong union I might add, would destroy that type of life for the teacher and protect them like they should be protected. When a teacher has adequate protection, students will have protection, too.

[Initech]

20. Today's bullies = tomorrow's Christian conservatives

Ugh these are just fucking ugly people, and the more I hear about crap like this happening, the more I hate them - that kid should not have to experience this.

[arely staircase]

21. i live in the middle of a very conservative fundamentalist area - and such bullying

wouldn't be tolerated here. i guarantee such sermons are preached from pulpits around here but the school district takes a hard line on any kind of bullying, including the homophobis variety.

this is just disgusting.