Cody's Gay Problem

Lets veer off the beaten path and step into the Gay World. It's a colorful and well decorated world, but it's filled with pain and sadness as well, just like the Straight World.

The collective gay communities are diverse and combined they are the total sum of the Gay World. For reasons beyond my control or even theirs, the worlds have been divided and are currently separated from the straight one. There is currently an uneasy truce between the two worlds and both sides are a bit anxious. This is silly.

Gay human beings have been reduced to various letters to describe them. GLBTQ is gay, lesbian,bisexual, transgendered and questioning. This is usually tagged onto the kids and teens. I have read loads of literature and endless websites dedicated to these wonderful kids and teens and not once have I seen them constantly referred to as "humans beings" by their own so called champions and defenders.

The left wing comes charging up to the rescue and defense of these kids and teens. I've witnessed this many times over. Once they arrive on the scene they begin protesting, marching, screaming, and arguing for the sexuality of these kids and teens. This is stupid. Why? Because there is so much more to these beautiful and wonderful human beings other than their "sexuality." They are "kids and teens". Lost in all the political correctness of the moment is the fact that these kids have hopes and dreams and feelings that go beyond sexual desires.

Example: There is a kid named Cody. He was at the time 15 years old, a sophomore. This kid was amazingly intelligent and was an honor student. He had such a peaceful and compassionate personality and would make any parent proud to have him as a son. I would have been thrilled if he were mine. He has so much promise and ability that I'm quite certain he will improve the world we all currently occupy if given the respect and the chance he deserves.

Cody was being bullied at school by other kids and teens who think of Cody only as a sexual creature. Cody was called fag, homo, and a host of other hurtful and demeaning labels. This hurt Cody as a human being very deeply. He complained to the school faculty and to his family. Everyone responded like this was some sort of political movement or rally. Cody was referred to the school counselor who in turn had him join the Gay Straight Student Alliance. This was like having Cody join a mutual admiration society but did not fix the problem. As Cody's off campus counselor I took a great interest in this case. You see, I know this kid and spent a great deal of time listening to the expressions of his soul.
I decided to sit in on one of the Gay-Straight Alliance Meetings and kept my big mouth shut. I was there only to observe and learn and that I did. The majority of the time the kids and teens were focused on their sexuality and their clothes and creative abilities. They were all encouraged to feel free to be themselves, to be gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgendered or questioning or straight. So, with the focus being on their sexuality or lack thereof I couldn't see how these kids and teens were going to actually get anywhere. How is this going to solve their problems and give them a fair shot at life? This was only going to further instill stereotypes and reduce them back down to mere sexual creatures instead of human beings. This is what we get from the left wing. More indoctrination with all the fluff and puff of psychological marshmallow and no real answers.

When the political grand standing was over and the dust settled there were still bullies and Cody was still nothing more than a gay kid. Nothing had changed other than some misguided adults got to feel better about themselves for coming to the defense of this kid and others like him. They made matters worse. Cody was still being harassed and eventually was beaten up at school. Again, the left wing comes charging in screaming "hate crime!"

I watched this madness unfold before me in utter disgust. Cody was lifted up as the poster boy for gay teens and was damn near martyred for the cause while well meaning adults ran around demanding his rights and protesting. The adults demanded and got "gay sensitivity" teaching for the school and then quietly stepped back to watch the miracle of peace and harmony gently rest upon the school. Uh, this didn't happen. You cannot teach that which one does not desire to learn. You cannot make people practice those things you demand they practice, you will have conflict.

In steps the right wing parents demanding that "faggotry" NOT be taught to their kids and vowed to sue the school system into bankruptcy. The battle lines were drawn and the war was on. The left and right fighting back and forth complete with name calling and screams. From the left "homophobes and bigot" from the right "sinner, sodomite and you are all going to burn in hell." Still Cody was not helped nor did it solve any of his problems. He was now the problem as some put it. The victim from the point of view of others. They all forgot Cody is a human being and a kid. Cody was under attack but the adults made homosexuality the victim or the enemy depending on your point of view.

Cody was a quiet and smiling boy with such amazing abilities that it was and still is a joy to know him. He had a smile that would light up the room and when he sang he did so with such passion as it could make angels weep if you believe in angels.

Cody sat in my study about a week after being beaten up at school and very humbly looked up at me through those big dark eyes and at almost a whisper said. "Help me, please help me." He then broke down and wept. This kid was breaking down. His whole world had been turned upside down. He was hurting so much inside that words escaped him. His body became almost totally limp as he sat in the chair slumped over weeping. I felt such pain coming from him that it physically effected me.
Cody didn't have the answers and everyone in their rush to defend him had forgotten he was merely a human being not a gay teen. Yes Cody is gay, but more than that he is human and it was way past time that I stuck my neutral nose into the fray and that I did. Cody is a kid who is gay but Cody is not a "gay teen." He is a human teen and should be approached as such. Not labeled, not different, not less than human, and certainly not alone.

I went to meet with the principal who was besieged and was grasping for straws trying to keep the school functioning among all the BS that had flooded into the class rooms and hallways. I sat down with the principal and began to assist her in formulating a workable plan that would end the current war. It was decided that treating GLBTQ kids and teens as different was stupid. It was also agreed that in order for them to be truly equal that those responsible for the mistreatment of others would be punished quickly and effectively without the issue of ones sexuality. If you proclaim punishment and involve sexuality you separate people and create a difference. This is the old "separate but equal" mindset. Cody, if anything was "better" than those who were cruel to him. But yet Cody only wanted to be equal. I was not doing these things or saying these things because they were my ideas, they were Cody's wishes and I cheered his ideas. His own wisdom which was never solicited was now becoming more than mere words. They were now being put into action and becoming reality.

The principal enacted a policy approved by the school board that any behavior which prevented a students access to education or interfered with his or her education would be instantly addressed and dealt with. Any student who causes harm to, or harasses another for any reason would be immediately removed from the school and placed in alternative school where their behavior could be modified by education and not political dogma. They would remain in alternative school for one full school year or more if the counselor deemed their behavior had not changed. The school settled down and the student body began a gradual change for the better and Cody returned to his beloved school with his various friends and had no more problems other than those that are common to kids and teens. The GLBTQ kids and teens still have their support group but the focus of it all has changed. No longer is the focus on being GLBTQ but on being the best human beings they can be.

Reality teaches us that we cannot always agree and we are all unique in our own ways. The way we deal with others is often more important than simply dealing with problems. If we deal with people and do so fairly with our focus on humanity instead of labels and sexuality the problems will dissolve on their own. Children are children, approach them as though they are and treat them well. It is our responsibility to nurture, protect, and guide these young ones until they can take the reigns themselves.