The Narrative Is Wrong: LGBTQ Kids Not Safe at School
This 14 year-old gay cheerleader was bullied and threatened
A common narrative holds that in the United States, public acceptance of gender and sexual minorities is strong and getting stronger. Despite data showing anti-LGBTQ violence is rising sharply across identity spectra, this narrative is holding and influencing public discourse. If data isn’t enough to convince people that the narrative is off kilter, perhaps story telling will do the trick.
Can you guess where this tale of homophobic bullying happened?
The boy held his head high and marched into his high school gym last Friday, surrounded by the rest of the cheerleading squad, all girls. He was a freshman, only 14 years old, and intimidated by the pep rally. But he loved cheerleading, inspired by his big sister who’d been captain of the squad the year before.
He was nervous because a lot of kids at school knew he was gay, and they’d been harassing him and threatening him physically for about a month. He gritted his teeth and dove into his tumbling routine. The crowd started to roar in approval. “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Then something changed.
The boy looked up to where the football team was sitting. He heard a bunch of…
