Tag: bullying

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Tyler Clementi’s Roommate Gets Bias Convictions Overturned

Today, former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, who’s anti-gay bullying led his roommate Tyler Clementi to commit suicide, saw his 15 count conviction overturned due to a change in state law in New Jersey.

Folks in the LGBT news world are stunned.

From NJ.com:

The appellate court sided with Ravi’s attorneys who had argued he never should have been charged with bias crimes and his convictions should be reversed. The court also ordered a new trial saying Ravi could not have received a fair trial as the bias evidence “permeated the trial.”

“It’s far from over,” Ravi’s attorney Steven Altman said Friday morning. “I’m extraordinarily pleased with the decision. I haven’t spoken with the Ravi family yet, but I can only imagine they’re pleased as well.”

The appellate decision arrives four years after Ravi’s conviction on several counts of bias intimidation and other charges following a highly publicized trial in New Brunswick, which put a national spotlight on cyber bullying.

Clementi, of Ridgewood, who was Ravi’s dorm mate at Rutgers University when the two were freshmen, jumped off the George Washington Bridge several days after the bullying incidents in September 2010 in which Ravi set up a remote webcam that spied on Clementi while he was having an intimate encounter with another man.

Ravi was not charged in Clementi’s death and his defense maintained the webcam incidents had nothing to do with Clementi’s decision to commit suicide. He was sentenced — and has already served — his 30-day sentence, three years of probation and 300 hours of community service.

After Ravi’s conviction in 2012, the state Supreme Court in a separate case struck down part of the state’s bias crime statute that focused on the victim’s state of mind. According to that case, it is the defendant’s state of mind and intent that is important, not the victim’s.

The appellate court said the prosecution conceded in its oral arguments four of Ravi’s bias convictions should “be void as a matter of law,” and, accordingly, dismissed those charges with prejudice. The court also dismissed Ravi’s conviction on hindering his own apprehension and tampering with witnesses.

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Home of openly gay teen in Michigan targeted for vandalism

A openly gay 16 year old student has become the target of vandalism to his home in Vienna Township, Michigan.

From NBC25:

The parents and the young man are speaking out tonight—saying they will not suffer in silence.

“Over here you can see the red and black paint from the arrow,” says Melanie Peabody while pointing out the damage to her home.

She and her husband tried to wipe away the graffiti but the traces are still there.

“I’m mad. My son’s not safe,” says Peabody.

A homosexual slur was spray-painted on her Vienna Township home with an arrow pointing to her 16 year old son’s bedroom.

“It does hurt,” says Levi Peabody who attends Clio High School. “As much as I don’t want to admit it, it does hurt that someone would dislike me that much to do something to my window,” adds the high school sophomore.

The Peabodys believe classmates of Levi are behind the act.

“I want the kid that did this to get caught,” says Levi’s mother.

The Peabodys have even installed a security camera in their bedrooms to try and catch the culprits but more importantly to let people know, they will not stand for this.

(via Towleroad)

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Anti-bullying PSA: “I Will Survive”

Some folks over at Adweek are saying the idea of “revenge” as a message to stop bullying sets in motion a cycle of the victim becoming the oppressor.

Thoughts? Is it not really that deep and just a message delivered with a bit of comedy?

Or is this not the right tact to take in breaking the cycle of bullying?

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Ohio man sentenced to five hours with sign declaring “I Am A Bully”

An Ohio man, Edmond Aviv, was ordered to spend five hours at a street corner with a sign declaring he’s a bully said his sentence was unfair and the judge who gave it to him ruined his life.

Municipal Court Judge Gayle Williams-Byers ordered Aviv to display the sign for five hours Sunday. The judge selected the wording for it:

“I AM A BULLY! I pick on children that are disabled, and I am intolerant of those that are different from myself. My actions do not reflect an appreciation for the diverse South Euclid community that I live in.”

Bravo to the Judge Williams-Byers.  My opinion is – if you do it, if you say it – OWN it.  Be the icky, bigot you are.  And be proud of it.  Otherwise, adjust and learn that the world embraces and celebrates every kind of person.  

(via Politico)

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World Vision bows under pressure regarding position on hiring same-sex married employees

I recently reported on an announcement by Christian charitable organization World Vision’s decision to allow hiring same-sex married employees.

Now, under pressure and boycott threats by religious groups, World Vision has reversed course and decided against the new hiring practice.

Via World Magazine:

Board member Stephen Hayner, president of Columbia Theological Seminary, replied to an email inquiry from WORLD this afternoon concerning the outcry from evangelicals over the original decision: “The Board of World Vision is just concluding a meeting and will be releasing a statement shortly reversing the decision that was made. It was never the intention of the Board to undermine our firm commitment to the authority of the Scripture.”

Over the past two days, many major Christian leaders, churches, and evangelical bloggers had responded with shock and dismay over the group’s decision to embrace the unbiblical practice, and some Christians had wondered whether they could continue supporting the group’s popular child sponsorship program.

The haters were quick to gloat:

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North Carolina: Bullied nine year old can bring his “My Little Pony” backpack to school

Nine year old Grayson Bruce, a student in Asheville, NC was taunted by his classmates for wearing a “My Little Pony” backpack.

When his mother addressed the situation, the school told her Grayson couldn’t wear the backpack because it is a “trigger for bullying,” basically putting the blame on Grayson for the bullying.

The story has gone viral over the past several days, attracting the attention of national news outlets and more than 70,000 Facebook supporters rallying behind the #SupportforGrayson hashtag.

Now, the school has reconsidered after meeting with Grayson’s mother on Thursday.

The Buncombe County School District released a statement Thursday in response saying:

“We have appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Bruce family and discuss the issues. We sincerely regret that the issue of being told to leave the book bag at home was perceived as blaming Grayson. While that was not the intent, the perception became reality. We support Grayson bringing the book bag to school.

“We discussed a number of options to consider in moving forward for Grayson. All of the options discussed included a safety transition plan and an allowance for Grayson to bring the book bag to school.

“Every situation with young children is a teachable moment and we will use this example in our efforts to address a wider issue of bullying. The Bruce family has committed to working with us to improve and enhance our anti-bullying programs.

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Focus on the Family promotes their anti-gay “Day of Dialogue”

This kind of thing is always interesting to me.

If you were to come across this little video, you might think that it’s pretty harmless. Candi Cushman, of the innocuous sounding Focus On The Family, tries to present the anti-gay propaganda in a very “polite” and passive-aggressive manner here.

Candi (isn’t that a friendly name?) frames issues in the context of helping students “wade through the confusion” regarding bullying and LGBT students in high schools.  To be honest, I don’t think there’s much “confusion” on behalf of high school students on this issue today.

And isn’t the “host” wonderful to continually praise all of the “great stuff” in the Day of Dialogue parenting guide.  You hear from her that it’s all so fantastic, it really must be, right?

I think some ultra-conservative groups and parents like to present this information in this manner so it doesn’t come across as stridently anti-gay, because that would be “distasteful.”

Instead, Focus On The Family phrases their buzz words in a tone that seems just dog-gone friendly and helpful.

It’s not. What FOTF is doing is trying to sell their propaganda for their “Day of Dialogue” which actually promotes the right to bully in schools. 

The Day of Silence is a student-led national event on (April 11th this year) that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. That’s a good thing.

What FOTF would do is turn “Day of Silence” around and have you believe that it’s primary objective is anti-religion, which it’s not.

It’s all very insidious. Watch FOTF’s little video as much as you can, knowing what the true agenda here is.

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Video experiment: Would YOU stop and help someone being bullied in public?

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Post by Ashley Gervil.
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5th grade “band of brothers” stand up for first grader with speech impediment

Here’s your “feel good story” of the day:

Danny Keefe is a Bridgewater, MA first-grader with speech issues who serves as the water boy for the school’s 5th grade football team. Danny likes to dress in a coat and tie often. That and his speech issues have led to him getting bullied a lot.

That is, until a “band of brothers” made up of 45 of his classmates came to his defense. Watch the story below:

(h/t Towleroad)

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Bullied high school student faces bully ten years later

Strong, honest and eloquent essay by Paul Florez on Queerty that really struck a nerve for me. And probably for a lot of people like me who were bullied for most of their teen age years.

Paul writes not only about his high school years and “that one bully” who really went after him for all of those years, but also meeting him ten years later. What did ten years bring to Paul’s life? What did it bring to his bully’s life? And what happened when they were face to face years later?

Here’s just an excerpt that sets the scene for much of Paul’s teenage years:

I eventually made friends in high school, but there were always plenty of people ready to bully me. Some were overt about it, shoving me in a locker like a sad cliché. Others were more coy, sending me anonymous IMs with the word pato. But there was one person who’s bullying made me feel helpless, and I carried his cruelty with me the years following high school. For the sake of this article I’ll call him TJ.

TJ was not the meathead, Karofsky archetype from Glee that one normally thinks of when talking about bullies. He was a straight A student, in AP classes, and constantly on the morning announcements for his accomplishments. If there was anyone who was going to be valedictorian of La Salle High School in 2002 it was going to be TJ. He was also charming, able to win over large crowds with jokes and sat at the head of his lunch table like a king.

It’s easy to look back and say TJ was taking out some buried insecurity out on me. That wasn’t true. In fact he was the opposite of insecure. He was confident.

I really encourage folks to take a moment to read the whole article.

I have one of these guys from my high school years. He was a LOT like Paul’s bully. Maybe not so smart, but confident and happy to call me a whole list of names in front of hundreds of people.

 I was lucky though, that somehow I ended up with two best friends who were popular (and very big football players). That slowed some of the bullying my last year of high school. But I “get” Paul’s whole perspective here, and I congratulate him for putting it down for others to read and take in.

I don’t know that I could handle the “ten years later” encounter like Paul, but it’s inspiring reading.

Read the full essay here.