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Loading ...Boy harassed at 4-H summer camp for being gay
07.21.2009 9:00am EDT
(W. Va.) A mother from Jackson County, West Virginia, filed a police report after her 15-year-old son was harassed for an hour and a half at a summer 4-H camp because he is gay.
“He was unconscionable, he was, he could barely speak,” said Valera White, the boy’s mother.The case will be difficult for police, as West Virginia does not include sexual orientation in their hate crimes law.
This is not the first time that the family has had to endure harassment because of the boy’s sexual orientation. According to White, simple tasks such as going to the grocery store are difficult because of taunting, and going to the movies is no longer an option.
During the harassment at camp, the victim said that counselors were sitting out on the cabin’s porch. It is not known why the counselors did not check on the campers during the time period in which the attack occurred.
Though a spokeswoman for 4-H said the two boys were sent home, White and her son claim there were three people involved. Other campers were also present during the attack but kept quiet for fear of being targeted as well.
Read the full WSAZ story here.
If we don’t get a federal hate crimes bill in place now, we never will. We elected this administration to change this country and we should hold them accountable. No more excuses and no more money or votes if the Dems don’t rally and do the right thing.
It’s AWFUL the prejudiced in the comments over at that site.
You are right, Thomas. I am a life-long Democrat but they need to get their butts in gear and get this done now!
What does harassment include? So far, all we can determined that he’s received is taunts, which is under free speech. You can’t charge that as a hate crime, correct?
The correct word is “unconscious”, not “unconscionable”.
The boy was almost unconscious and the act against him was unconscionable. That is the correct word usage in the English language in this of “mangled English”.
People in West Virginia are really backward.
It is clear that the adults operating the 4H club failed to fulfill their responsibilities to protect the dignity and safety of all youth attending their camp. In schools, youth camps, and clubs for youth, it is the responsibility of adults in charge to prevent bullying and harassment and intervene at the beginning when these things happen. Harrassment and bullying are not free speech.
4-h
horrendously,homophobic,
harassing,haters
the offspring of hillbilly, holier than thou,hate hemoraging, parents
“During the harassment at camp, the victim said that counselors were sitting out on the cabin’s porch during the event.”
What is sad, is that the counselors probably knew the boy. I work for 4-H and we just had out summer camp. 2,700 youth come from across the state, and there is no way 4-H can supervise that many kids with just the staff on payroll. Every county is asked to bring adult supervisors, and those are the adults that work closely with the students/live with the students. We do background checks to make sure they’re not child abusers of pedophiles, but you can’t check for bigotry.
It’s pathetic what some gay people have to put up with in states without legal protections around sexual orientation. Those of us in “good” states can and should show our support by boycotting “bad” states that deny our rights.
States without GLBT nondiscrimination policies and that have even passed broad laws against any same sex recognition include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, FLORIDA, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, TEXAS, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Support civil rights by refusing to vacation in or travel to these hate states.
I know people in West Virginia who are NOT backward. There are a lot of people in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia who are from elsewhere and they are not backward. One of them is a gay male couple who are good friends of mine, John and Vic. Vic is a great cook and home remodeler and John teaches science class in nearby Virginia.
Vic makes a great Irish coffee and can cook just about anything. Not all people in West Virginia are backward hicks and my friends are proof of that. They are well-educated, up to date, intelligent and cultured people.
There are a lot of people in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia who are from elsewhere and they are not backward. One of them is a gay male couple who are good friends of mine, John and Vic. Vic is a great cook and home remodeler and John teaches science class in nearby Virginia.
Vic makes a great Irish coffee and can cook just about anything. Not all people in West Virginia are backward hicks and my friends are proof of that. They are well-educated, up to date, intelligent and cultured people.
well he is in state full of rednecks just being there is a challenge and to come out well he will stick out like a sore thumb.
Sorry for the duplication of comment here. I was led astray by a faulty duplicated comment detector that is part of the system Jennifer Vanasco uses and I was misled into thinking my comment was not being posted and advertently hitting the submit button another time after rewording the same comment before hitting the submit button again.
“People in West Virginia are really backward”–Jay
Yes, Jay. Unlike California. But of course, people from small towns, or from onetime-Confederate states, or with a twang in their speech–they’re all “backward” aren’t they? By extension of your logic, there are no fag-bashings in any of New York’s boroughs, because of course New Yorkers are too sophisticated to be “backward.” Californians would never be so troglodytic as voting away somebody’s marriage rights, because California is progressive–not “backward.”