“I had to fake an illness, just to get away from it.”, Cory Warren, Gay, Straight Alliance (G.S.A.) student coordinator, said during the Free Speech Seminar. “I asked my teachers to help me, but they just stood by and did nothing.”
The Free Speech Seminar began at noon on April 22 in the Diversity Achievement Center and they had a panel consisting of four speakers which were G.S.A. members Newmie Wilson, Liz Davis, Cory Warren, with the last speaker being Art Bervin, a former teacher at LBCC and is a member of the Luther House Council for campus ministry.
Anyone that has been bullied throughout their life knows what Warren had to go through. Warren, like many other people, never said anything to anyone about what these kids were saying and/or doing to him and just let it slip by, but that is the worst thing that can be done. Throughout the seminar, Warren often said that people need to learn to speak up and defend themselves.
The Luther House, which is located a block away from the O.S.U campus, is a gay-friendly community sponsored by the Lutheran Church (ELCA).
“The Old Testament prophets often addressed issues of right and wrong, but did not touch upon the rightness or wrongness of same-sex relationships.”, Bervin said.
“I had to hide it.”, whispered Wilson. “It was very difficult being bullied and having to relive it every day. My goal for this school is I want everyone to be able to say what they want, whenever they want, and to be able to love whom they want, without it being questioned.”
Bervin often repeated that faith and identity can’t be meshed together, but then why are they? Is it because today’s society doesn’t approve of what our generation is capable of doing? We are supposedly a free country and can say whatever we want and do whatever we want, so why can we not marry whomever we want? Isn’t that taking away our rights as a free citizen?
There are millions of people in America alone that are often bullied for no reason and will then commit suicide because they can’t escape it and 20% of suicides in America are gay people. If we stop bullying people than we ourselves will be happier, healthier people and can find other things to fill our time up with. Don’t drive someone to kill themselves, because you will feel bad about it once you find out what happened.
“The phrase I often think back to is the one we use to always say in elementary school. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. But words do hurt and we need to watch what we say around each other.”, stated Bervin.
The Free Speech Seminar was a safe place for students to go and talk about their past experiences with bullies, whether it was because they were gay, a lesbian, or there was just something about them that someone didn’t like.
At a glance:
What: Free Speech Seminar
When: April 22, 2011
Where: Diversity Achievement Center
G.S.A. advisor: Karelia Stetz-Waters 541-917-4556
For more information: Visit the D.A.C.
For the record, I am not a pastor. For the past three years I have been a member of the Luther House Council for campus ministry. The house is not a church, but a community created by and sponsored by the Lutheran Church (ELCA).
ReplyDeleteAlso, to clarify, the Old Testament prophets often addressed issues of right and wrong, but did not touch upon the rightness or wrongness of same sex relationships.