So there's this thing on YouTube right now called "It Gets Better", where gay adults share their stories about being gay adults in the hope that gay teenagers will stop killing themselves in massive numbers. I considered making my own video for this cause, which would itself cover the same material to be discussed in this essay, but I decided not to expend the effort as I'm not quite an adult yet and don't really count, and also because what I have to say on the subject probably isn't what a lot of people want to hear. So here's the essay equivalent.
The issue of gay people ranting about how gays are perceived in society is a massive source of frustration for me. I myself faced abuse regarding my sexual orientation long before I actually came to terms with it, from the standard middle school idiots who thought that calling a girl who dressed plainly and who wasn't ready for boys yet a lesbian was some kind of insult. Quite frankly, it was just the latest thing in a string of "YOU ARE NOT LIKE US, THEREFORE WE MUST SAY MEAN THINGS TO YOU", which only really came about because homosexuality was just appearing on the collective radar of my age group at the time. Being made fun of for supposedly having sex with the best friend who was very dear to me was no different from being made fun of for not going to church, not saying the pledge of allegiance, not having a boyfriend, not listening to popular music or wearing popular clothes, or any of the other things I was regularly berated about by my peers. It was just another stupid thing that people said, and I spent many happy hours with my mom and dad eagerly brainstorming witty retorts I could use (my favorite in response to the lesbian question ended up being "Why, you got a sister?")
And actually I'm bisexual, so nyah.
Anyway, given that peer abuse was kind of a standard thing with me from third grade on, I was one of those kids the guidance counselors would always 'check in' on from time to time, and I never really got why. Kids said nasty things to me on the playground. So what? When I happened to mention that I was being called a lesbian with some regularity (in conjunction with having rocks thrown at me, which I found the more serious offense), the school staff got all gaspy and told me that I should have reported it immediately as 'sexual harrassment'. Yeah. Still people saying stupid things to me on the playground trying to be mean but ultimately coming off as idiots. It's annoying, but again, why do I care?
Why do ANY of you care? All of you teenagers who face harrassment because you're gay, WHY DO YOU LET THIS SHIT BOTHER YOU? Who cares who you want to go to bed with? Why do you need society's approval to be who you are? "It gets better", my ass -- 'it' can be as awesome as you want it to be the minute you stop giving a shit about what anyone else thinks of you. If you're happy with who you are and who you love, great. You don't need anyone else to be happy about it for you. Go about your life, live it to the fullest, and if anyone tries to bring you down, stand your ground and laugh at them. But no more of this bullshit that harassment over sexual orientation is just something that needs to be toughed out. It only hurts if you let it hurt you -- don't let these assholes run your lives.
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