I am not really not feel all that well. Nothing bad but my stomach is unsettled and upset. I think I just needed a down day. But then this clip popped up in my feed. It is a story of two boys who are gay teens, they discover each other. At the point of this clip one of the gay boys has been beaten up for being gay and his teachers want to bring in a guest speaker to try to teach tolerance and acceptance of gay kids. The person in charge at the school is against it because some parents will think the school is proselytizing or pushing gay rights / gay sex on the kids. Sound familiar? The boy who got beat up is accepted by his dad who celebrates his 16th birthday by taking him to a gay club / bar where he lets the boy meet other gay people. But the main focus of this clip is on the other boy Louis and the highly negative reaction of his parents to seeing his search history, his chat logs with Nathan his boyfriend, and finding out he is gay. They don’t take it well with the dad hurting the boy and then they try to force him to change claiming both it is a choice he is making and a sickness he has. They take away his phone and computer and keep him grounded not even allowed to go to school until he comes to his sense and decides not to be gay anymore. Louis figures he has to lie to get back his life so tells them he is not gay but the dad finds out he has been using his forbidden phone to contact his boyfriend. It just makes the situation worse. His father demands the entire family shun him. He cannot eat with the family, he cannot be in the rooms with them, he is to stay in his room, and even his little brother is not allowed to talk or be with him.
I am posting this for those that don’t understand how important it is for LGBTQ+ kids to have acceptance at school, to have teachers willing to provide them with safe classrooms where they know the teacher will not let them be attacked or bullied. Especially kids with highly religious or bigoted families. If the kids don’t think it is safe for them to tell their parents how does a teacher telling the parent make it any better or safer for the kid. It is why symbols like the rainbow flag and other gay pride things in the classrooms or on the doors are so very important. This is happening in the US right now, all over the country. Kids are born gay, they know it, and some parents are accepting due to the positive teaching in society. But some parents are horrible bigoted and not only punish their own kids for how they are born but either make them do conversion therapy which has been proven to be harmful and of no benefit or worse kick them out of the home making them homeless forcing them to live on the streets somehow. Sadly that for most homeless gay / trans kids means selling their bodies for food or shelter. The very thing the parents claimed to want to protect them from. I have watched videos and read stories of Christian / Muslim families who claim that their gay child is choosing to let the devil in to them by sinning so they cannot have their young gay teen in their home. The clip is not in English, but the subtitles are very good. Please understand this is what the Don’t Say gay Bills are doing, promoting this bigotry and harm to gay kids. In Florida it has removed safe spaces for gay kids and forces teachers to tell bigoted parents that their child is gay or trans so they can be treated this way. It removes the teaching of tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. It removes the positive reinforcement about LGBTQ+ people so that the only thing kids hear / know about them is the negatives, that those people are bad and dangerous to the good normal kids so they need to be stopped, hurt, and harmed before they hurt good normal kids. Please watch and leave me a comment on your feelings. Hugs
ABOUT ‘HIDDEN KISSES’: Nathan goes to a high school party and meets Louis. The two find themselves out of sight and kissing, but someone takes a photo of them. When the photo is placed online, a storm overtakes their lives.
Scottie's Playtime 