Anti-gay bullies trend the wrong way
Even with their faces blurred in reproductions of their Instagram photo, it is hard to miss the idiocy exhibited by the boys showing their contempt for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students at their Washington County high school.
The teens are proud members of McGuffey High School’s informal posse of thoughtless young bigots who exude the kind of fratboy immaturity that usually isn’t in full bloom until the college years.
In the unedited version of a photo that will follow them the rest of their lives, the boys wore coordinated flannel shirts while displaying unembarrassed grins and the beginnings of beer bellies. They were determined to exercise their First Amendment right to be as obnoxious as possible in response to a silent protest by the Gay-Straight Alliance at their school in Claysville the previous day.
On April 15, nearly 50 students associated with the GSA paid quiet tribute to those who had died at their own hands or at the hands of others because of their sexual identities. There was no finger pointing — only a plea for understanding and tolerance.
The next day, a group of students walked the halls at McGuffey High raising awareness of what they unimaginatively dubbed “Anti Gay Day.” Some had “antigay” scrawled on their hands and a Christian cross etched on their flesh with a black marker to show how committed they were to being Jesus’ truest disciples.
Others let their freaky flannel fly on social media, where they “tagged” known and suspected LGBT students at their school with homophobic insults and Bible verses. A few GSA-affiliated students found pithy, but hateful, flyers saying “ANTIGAY” stuck to their lockers.
It was not a time for subtlety, as far as the anti-gay protesters were concerned. The boys in the flannel shirts wanted the whole world, beginning with their classmates, to see what 16 to 18 years’ worth of life experience had taught them.
They exhibited no worry about social ostracism as they grinned through several dumb poses. If they feared punishment by the school or the district superintendent, they didn’t show it. They wouldn’t let anything deter them from speaking their minds.
Their actions got the media’s attention. WPXI-TV, Buzzfeed and newspapers from across the state sought comments from members of GSA, the anti-gay protesters and the school’s administration.
There were unconfirmed rumors of a “lynch list” containing the names of LGBT students at the school. Allegations of year-round bullying also surfaced. Everyone contacted told the story from their perspective, but it became clear that the boys in flannel had underestimated the level of outrage their “protest” would generate across the country. They began trending on social media as examples of the worst kind of rural-suburban bullies.
Soon, the boys in flannel were complaining about being threatened and relentlessly mocked on social media simply because their opinions were unpopular. The backlash they had sought to generate against their fellow students had boomeranged against them.
Because they’re so young, these students’ bigotry is likely the result of aberrant religious training and bad parenting. They simply haven’t lived long enough to develop core convictions that LGBT people represent a genuine risk to them. What had a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person ever done to them except get out of the way whenever these boys strutted en masse down the hall?
That’s why it is obvious that someone told these kids that Jesus was cool with them denouncing classmates as “dykes” and “queers” and with Scripture promising eternal damnation to homosexuals and those who condone their behavior.
In a public statement, the McGuffey School District promised to investigate all allegations of violence, bullying and intimidation. “We will follow our Student Code of Conduct, and file legal citations, as warranted,” the statement read. “We resolve to ensure that all children can grow and learn in a safe, supportive environment free from discrimination.”
Meanwhile, it would be difficult not to recognize that an enormously teachable moment has arrived at McGuffey High School. Teachers who may have been reluctant to deal with questions of bias in the past are now in a unique position to lead their students into a constructive conversation.
A week after the anti-gay protest, things are considerably quieter in Claysville. If they’re lucky, the boys in the flannel shirts are learning that color-coordinated bigotry is scarcely an improvement on the white sheets of another group of losers who shall remain nameless.