Comments on: New reports shows most of Illinois LGBT youth are harassed

By: DeAnimator

DeAnimator — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:46:06 +0000

People forget that this is the Midwest. Chicago or not, Illinois is a hick state. This place is a pit and needs some serious social revamping.

By: DC

DC — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:01:09 +0000

So long as we allow religion and conservative views and beliefs to run our schools, Gay children will be in danger.

By: dazzert

dazzert — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:15:41 +0000

What the gender percentage difference in harassment? I can guess it’s mostly males getting the buff of this.

By: Lin

Lin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:51:22 +0000

Subt my guess is you are a bigot as well. I attended a top highschool in Chicago from 1998-2001. I had the choice of any school because I was the 8th grade Val. When I told my family that I chose this particular school they laughed and said “don’t turn gay”.I had no idea that I was attending a so called gay school. There were a lot of GLB but I never witnessed one person getting teased by the certain minority group that I’m sure Subt was referring to in fact they were embraced. A few people laughed because the guys were over the top and the most girls came in “straight” and were recruited by the second semester of 9th grade but they were NEVER bullied. Needless to say I transferred to a school where my uncle was a principle and there was a transgendered girl named “Thomasina” who I had formerly known as Thomas. Again another predominantly minority school and she was embraced as well. The teachers respected her and never called her sir, he, or Thomas. She was even allowed to use the girls bathroom with us. While I am sure that gay rights are far from where they should be Illinois is making a huge effort. We have to remember that children emulate what their parents say and do and that ignorant parents raise ignorant children. So Subt and people like him who think Blacks are the one’s doing all of the teasing… You are just as prejudice and ignorant as the people who think it’s ok to tease people because of their sexual orientation…

By: Jenn

Jenn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:25:01 +0000

I am a straight woman who graduated from an IL high school and it breaks my heart to hear such a statistic. It never hit me before that there’s more than one “high school”. The one I went to where no one bothered me and I went on with my day. And the other “high school” within the same building where a person is being harassed for his or her sexual orientation.
A child should always feel safe within the walls of their school. And they should always be able to speak to a faculty member about harassment without being blown off. A child’s safety is the issue here.
IL needs to step up! Freedom isn’t something reserved for a select few, it’s for everyone!

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:05:47 +0000

Agreed that 206 is WAY too small of a sample size to be an effective sample. And “thousands” of students in Illinois? Try about a million.

By: Wayne Madden

Wayne Madden — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:35:51 +0000

Studies in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom have all shown the negative effects of homophobic harassment and bullying. They also show when teachers and administrators intervene against such harassment and bullying (and all bullying and harassment), it is reduced and LGBTQ students and teachers feel safer in their schools.

Unfortunately, there are social conservatives who feel that having policies against homophobic bullying will only encourage homosexuality– and there are a few teachers who prefer to blame the victim rather than the bully. A few even regard such policies as interfering with “free speech”.

As a community, our organizations and individuals must demand that school boards, schools and state and provincial offices responsible for public education must implement and enforce policies against homophobic bullying and harassment.

By: Subt

Subt — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:31:50 +0000

Why not find out what the majority race of the hate perpetrators are? My guess is that it’s another certain minority group…

By: CelebrityNews24-7.com » Blog Archive » Sad

CelebrityNews24-7.com » Blog Archive » Sad — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:18:44 +0000

[...] new report reveals that most – 89%!!!! – of gay and lesbian youth in Illinois are [...]

By: Will

Will — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:11:40 +0000

I went to all Illinois public schools (in an affluent community) and I was never EVER physically assaulted. I was not super open about my sexuality in high school but I don’t recall ever being harassed for having gay ‘tendencies’. I am just one evample though…

Illinois should do everything possible to reduce all forms of bullying and harassment, but I question GLSEN’s sample size – 206 students is fucking small. There are thousands of high schools in Illinois… there is no way they covered a wide swath of all socio-economic groups and communities. Plus Chicagoland is notoriously liberal and the rest of the state is rather republican… That being said further media coverage will only insure that schools will work harder to develop more comprehensive anti-bullying programs and lgbtq support networks.