Playing Politics with Teens' Lives

An unidentified 15-year-old girl has succumbed to bullying in Livingston County, KY.  Her suicide brought the number of teens in Livingston County who have committed suicide to 3 in the past 5 months.  Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers recently struck down a bill that would've strengthened the anti-bullying laws there and could've saved her life.

Parents in Kentucky are picketing for zero-tolerance for bullying.  I applaud them.  I also think it's time to get very serious with our political machine and let them know that their politics are costing lives.  I can't put it any clearer than that.

Following the suicide of a 13-year-old due to bullying in October 2011, a 14-year-old girl testified before the House in an effort to get the bill passed that would provide greater protection for all students.  Sadly, however, Rep. Sam Waide (R) had this to say about why the bill was struck down:

House Republicans ...blocked passage of the law on grounds it would place "gay rights in our schools,"

I'm of reasonable intelligence, with better-than-average reading comprehension skills.  What they said was that it's more important to uphold their own anti-gay beliefs than it is to pass measures that will save lives!  HOW is that possible?  How is it that we're allowing our political "leaders" to place their beliefs over human lives?  And, this isn't exclusive to Kentucky.

• Stacey Campfield, Tennessee, is still trying to pass legislation in Tennessee essentially disregards the existence of LGBT teens.  Worse, he wants to pass legislation that will sanction the bullying of LGBT teens.
• There's legislation in place right now, awaiting passage, in several other states that will also sanction the bullying of LGBT teens.  To clarify, the language of these bills basically says that it's ok to bully an LGBT teen as long as it's done for "religious, political, or philosophical reasons."
• And, we can never forget the disaster of Anoka-Hennepin.  The culture of hatred and intolerance towards the LGBT community there created by Michele Bachmann and her religious, ultra-conservative followers created what amounted to an outbreak of LGBT teen suicide in her district.

These are just a few of the extreme cases that we know about.  Whereas these three instances are bad enough, (and, make no mistake:  they are atrocious!), you can rest assured that there are more around the country.

Recently, one member of the facebook blog page voiced his concern that I was "bashing" the Republican Party on the page in the blog posts.  I'm all about equality for all members of our society.  One party tends to be for equality for all people; one party tends to want certain groups of people to, well, disappear.  Do your own math.  It really isn't that hard to figure out.  That's not bashing; that's just reality.  And, trying to spin it any other way is as reckless and dangerous as their actions.  Period.

When protecting one's political and/or religious beliefs become more important than protecting the lives of the people they were elected (read: hired) to protect, especially when said people are teens, it's time for them to find new occupations.  Clearly, they don't understand their job description of public servant.

Meanwhile we, the concerned and compassionate citizens, can afford to wait no longer.  Far, far too many lives are being lost, friends and families being destroyed, to continue to sit back and let this continue.  It doesn't matter if "they" agree or disagree with one's sexual orientation.  When "they" are willing to pass legislation that is proven will cause great harm to or, in this case, block legislation that will protect all of their citizens rather than just the ones "they" approve of, it's time for "them" to go.  It's that simple.  A life is a life, gay or straight.  They don't get to play God and choose who gets to live and who doesn't.  And, while on that subject, the argument of "it's against God's will..."?  Yeah, save that.  In that same Bible that "they" use to bash people, it also says that only God can judge.  If a person's sexual orientation is truly against God's will, let them and God deal with it on Judgement Day.