A Good as Gay reader and friend I have met online sent me an e mail asking me to add some comments that she could add to her high school English paper! I was more than thrilled to answer. Though I am not an expert I felt really good about answering the following questions in regards to bullying! Please contact me if you would like to use me as a primary source for a paper of yours. I am by no means an expert. Just a gay blogger studying psychology. I have no degree yet!!! But going for it. Before reading my responses to the questions posed, please answer the questions in the comment section and than read my view points. Do they match? Are they different? Did I leave something out? What do you think the answers to these questions are?

I'm writing a paper in my AP English class specifically about the Matthew Shepard ordeal. I'm sure you've heard of it, if not you can read about it/check it out here or here. My paper is more so directed toward hate crimes/LGBT victims of hate crimes, violence, bullying, etc. This project requires an opinion/point of view about the subject from an outside source other than the internet, so I thought to myself, "Hey! I can ask Jacob!" So, here I am (hypothetically). If it's alright with you, I'd like to ask your opinion to use in my paper. If you're up for it, go ahead and read on:

-Why do you think that people have the mindset to do these things to people just because of who they are?
-Do you think there is anything we as a society can do about it (hate crimes, violence, bullying)?
-Any other things you'd like to add about the subject?

My responses:

Hate crimes and bullying is wrong in all cases. This is what the public likes to hear. I look at hate crimes and bullying as a hot topic issue. It doesn't surprise me to see it. I am glad that it is a hot topic issue in some respects but upset in others because there are a multitude of serious issues that need attending out there. Like the education system and the re-boot of the economy. That and an obesity epidemic as well. These are all issues that need attending. Why not approach solving it through creating a stronger more comprehensive education system that allows the lgbt community as well as other minority groups like the Latinos, African Americans, Hmong, Native American, Chinese, and etc thrive and support the American economy. By suppressing the minority through bullying and hate crimes one is destroying the American opportunity as well as the American dream. 

I have been taunted in public while with my boyfriend. But fortunately not in high school. I have seen others bullied in high school for being girly and heard them called gay. As far as crimes and violence I have been fortunate not to witness such crimes first hand. But when I hear of tragedy I am greatly moved by the various events. Stories like Tyler Clementi shock us all. In that way I feel victimized as a part of a larger community. I wish we could all feel this way when we hear the death of someone else.

As a psychology major I am still hard pressed for answers as to why people do what they do. The psychology club on campus bought shirts that say on the front Psychology: on the back they say It Depends. Each person has their own motives. Sometimes bullying happens without knowing it. "That's so gay, athletic nigger, beaner, nerdy chinese kid." People were raised on stereotypes. They pick it up and pass it down. Many times the bullies or even the average person who means no harm are positively reinforced by their friends and peers when such taunting occurs. Positive reinforcement results in the likely hood that they will do the behavior again no matter how bad it makes the other person feel. The victim often times tries to defend themselves. But in some cases even teachers and administration become a part of the problem. The victims fall into Ed Seligman's discovery of learned helplessness. In essence victims learn to be completely helpless in their situations.

Oh my gosh! Yes! There is so much people can do. It is so simple! It is the little things that matter. Not the things that go down on resumes. When a teacher goes out of their way to get a students hand on lgbt literature because they are curious, or when a librarian goes out of their way to give them a reference to a gay poet, or a director chooses a play that targets bullying and hate crimes, or when a student writes a paper about bullying, or when . . . Get imaginative and creative. The side conversations are the best. Sure high school can be dramatic but drama just gets worse and more complex when you grow up. Drama doesn't dissipate in college. It just becomes a larger part of life. So those little conversations you have in defense or in offense or that debate in ethics or AP government on what is right or wrong really makes a huge difference. The main thing is to talk about it. Like I told the classes I was privileged to speak to on campus, "If we can't talk about it we are both going to be in big trouble." By both I meant the left wing and right wing on the political spectrum.