Who's To Blame?
by Terry Zimmerman
Recently I received sad news that disturbed me greatly. A young
man named Jacob Orozco, who was to become president of the Gay-
Straight Alliance at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, took his own
life on September 4th, 1997. You may recall the political / religious battle
that occurred in the Utah State Legislature in early 1996 concerning the
sanctioning of this alliance by the schools. It made the national headlines
as the state legislators of Utah attempted to ban all extra curricular clubs
from the campuses of all public schools in the state, simply to prevent this
particular group from being formed. Well, the students won.
The purpose of the Gay-Straight Alliance was to provide a safe
haven for teenagers dealing with the issues of sexuality and homophobia.
Jacob Orozco was at the forefront of the battle to reach that goal, and
sadly, he is no longer with us. He is yet another casualty of the pressures
that continue to torment the lives of gay and lesbian youth in their struggle
for acceptance.
We know, all too well, that this is not an isolated incident. Studies
indicate that 30% of suicides amongst teenage males are related to
homosexuality. How long will we accept these tragic losses? How long
will we stand silent?
It is quite easy for us to put the blame on the government for failing
to protect these youth from their tormentors. We can blame it on the
Christian fundamentalists who continue a nationwide campaign of hate
and intolerance against homosexuals. We can blame the school boards
and teachers. But, It is our fault more than anyone else's. Because, we
continue to tolerate the actions of the above mentioned factions and do
nothing to stop them. We allow our local schools to ignore the harassment
of our youthful brothers and sisters right here in good old Northeast Ohio.
In Akron, in Canton and all the other towns in this area, gay youth are
subjected to the bigotry and ignorance of their heterosexual counterparts.
And as unbelievable as it may seem, many times, the actual teachers,
themselves, add to the harm.
Being 54 years old, I do not personally know many of these youth.
But, I do know of a situation where a young lesbian was being constantly
verbally, and sometimes physically, abused by her classmates for being
gay. She found that when she asked her school administrators for help,
they took the side of her antagonists and put the blame on her. They said
she was just a troublemaker. She eventually had to quit school, due to the
unbearable emotional toll that it was taking on her self esteem. What will
she do without an education? She's a very bright person too. How will she
ever establish credentials?
The school did not have any interest in hearing the cries for help
from a child, simply because she was openly gay. Do you think the school
would have tolerated other students constantly making fun of or defaming
a student with a speech impediment? Would they deem this person a
troublemaker too? Of course not. Because a person with a speech
impediment has protection under the law. Homosexual children have less
protection from harassment than we, their adult counterparts, do. And in
most cases the parents will not get involved because they themselves are
ashamed of supporting gay rights.
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