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I'm baffled.
Study: 75% of US bullied LGBT gym class students feel unable to tell a teacher
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This is a phenomenon I don't quite understand; I do understand bullying; I don't understand the bullying in gym class.
All my life, certainly all through middle-, high- and parochial-school, (this being the 1960's) my being ACTIVELY gay was well understood and although not often overtly acknowledged, certainly accepted as a given. Whilst I was singled out often for my being a nerd, for my being somewhat effeminate (not because of my perceived or acknowledged sexuality) but, rather because of the many fashion industry events I participated which exempted me from school attendance far too frequently for the tastes of my contemporaries, and likely arose more out of jealousy than anything else; the abundance of monies generated by these were also a worrying point.
Yes, I witnessed bullying behaviours for one's being obese, being unkempt, for where one lived and what not; but, I can't ever recall significant bullying because of one's sexuality. I'm supposing I must have been more fortunate than today's youth.
Oh I do fondly remember Glenn, a then recent Glasgow emigrant, and the equally foul-mouthed, and recently emigrated, Londonderry Geoff and Birmingham Mick, all soccer buddies taunting me with "Get on the bar" or something equally silly when I had done something they didn't like; but, they, each and everyone of them, learned only to do that once, or risk being shamed into hauling it out right then and there and my actually going down on them in front of the collected audience.
That I would in subsequent years at one time or another share a bed with a greater majority of them, without the others being the wiser, I came to understand had became a fringe benefit. The same held true for many of the players on the hockey and football teams. I was a busy, busy, and very active, lad until I met Jon.
I can say this though I never had any fear during gym, not that I was any good at most of the drills and such; nor, had I any fear using the change-rooms and the showers afterwards; nor, did I ever hear a disparaging word about one fellah or another's genitalia or immaturity or whatnot; or their circumcision status, or not. This just was not done. It was an unspoken rule. The change-rooms and showers were off-limits. We were all equals, regardless.
When did such behaviours as discussed in the aforementioned article become the norm?
Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada
[Updated on: Mon, 25 February 2013 22:37] |
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