Gratitude to my mother

OPEN CURTAINS

September 2011, a local gas station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Enter MAE BRUCE, an African American woman of slightly below-average height, carrying a large black purse. a MAN offstage is yelling at her.

MAN: Hey! Hey, Come here!

MAE continues walking and ignores the MAN, hoping that he's talking to somebody else. Enter the MAN, running. He catches up to MAE, and taps her on the shoulder. She stops walking and turns around, irritated.

MAE: (through her teeth) Is there something I can help you with, sir?

MAN: Yeah, I know you.

MAE: I don't think so.

MAN: (smiling) Sure, I do. You're the one with a faggot for a son, aren't you?

MAE drops her bag and punches the MAN in his nose, breaking it. Blood starts dripping down is chin.

MAN: Ugh! You bitch!

MAE punches the MAN again, though this time, in the mouth. By now the blood has reached and started staining his white shirt and he is on the ground.

MAN: (crying) I'm sorry! I didn't mean any disrespect!

MAE: (yelling) HOW THE HELL CAN YOU GO AROUND SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT WITHOUT MEANING ANY FORM OF DISRESPECT! IT'S PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT ARE CAUSING SO MANY KIDS TO COMMIT SUICIDE! ARE YOU EVEN AWARE OF HOW PITIFUL YOU ARE!?

The MAN stumbles to his feet and runs away, bloody and crying. Enter a WOMAN, who runs into the scene and next to MAE.

WOMAN: Thank you so much for standing up to him. My daughter is a lesbian and he's been hanging around our neighborhood for over a week saying awful things like that to people. I'm glad someone had the courage to give him what he deserves.

MAE nods and smiles, then turns in the other direction. Both women walk offstage in opposite direction as the scene fades to black.

END SCENE

Indecisive

Definition of a Democrat

Definition of a Republican

Okay, so maybe Urban Dictionary isn't a reliable source of information. But some people sure know how to get their point across. I can't say that all republicans are bad. However, I can say that it is my belief that religion has greatly misguided the morals of the majority of them. But there is still hope for them yet. It's been quite a while since reading a news article actually made me smile rather than yawn. But after reading this, I somehow felt a huge sense of accomplishment. It seems that these huge brick walls that these supposed conservative republicans might not be all that sturdy anymore. That doesn't mean that democrats are all perfect. In 2008, even Obama didn't believe that marriage could be more than a union between a man and woman.

Music News

It seems like sides are flip-flopping all over the place. I'm not entirely sure how to keep track of it all right now. Has politics always been this confusing?

Lives at Stake

We are told that everyone gets bullied. We are told that being bullied part of growing up. We are told to trust the adult to handle the situation. We are told that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But who tells us that bullying actually does kill people?

I've heard some weird theories about bullying, such as:

• "Bullies are just trying to hide their own insecurities." 

• "The bully's parents obviously didn't do their job properly." 

•  "Everybody gets bullied. Enduring it is like an initiation into adulthood." 

•  "People don't know how to react when they see something different.

Does that really seem fair? Somebody doesn't have enough self-confidence so they build it by tearing down someone else's? Do people have such little regard for their actions that they only care about the consequences when someone's very life is at stake? Some don't even stop there! Should we stand for this? What can we do? We've dealt with so many tragedies such as Billy Lucas (see video). How many more kids have to die before American School realize, hey, we have a serious problem here...

Teenagers are so desperate that they feel that their is no other option. That there is no going on for them. They don't care what happens as long as it makes their suffering end.

 "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

 It is my belief that whoever came up with that load of ****, was most definitely high on something. Of course words can hurt you! It's called Verbal/Emotional Abuse! Everybody has insecurities and people zero in on them like some sort of merciless scavenger and drink from your self-consciousness as if it were a fountain of youth. Does anybody know what we can do about this? No? I'm not surprised. We'd rather just sit and watch with a chair and a bag of popcorn and laugh at how clever the insults are, or how stupid their face looks when they start crying. What's wrong with us? If reading this has somehow made you feel guilty, there's probably a reason for that. We need to learn to stand up for people who can't defend themselves. I, for one, am tired of sitting back and watching.

Apparently, I'm Evil

I am so tired of being told that I am going to go to Hell. I've heard that bible verse so many times that it is most likely permanently written on my brain.

• Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Do people actually believe this? Are human beings just that gullible that we believe that we are supposed to base all of our morals and lifestyles on some sort of almighty book? I thought that the American dream was supposed to be freedom and independence, not surrendering your free will to a stack of paper that is supposedly the words of some "devine creator."
I mean, I understand how people can believe in this stuff as children. The minds of children are naive and easily manipulated. They will just as easily believe in God as they will Santa Claus. But once they get older they realize that logic does not allow the existance of Santa. so they dismiss him. But why can't the same principle be applied to God? He's just as illogical if not more?
How can people say that who I'm attracted to defines whether I'm a good person or not? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Shouldn't it be my actions and/or contribution to society that determines what my motives are as a person? Around 53% of Americans believe that homosexuality is immoral and wrong. Wouldn't you think that it would be slightly difficult to contribute to a country when half of it thinks that anything I chose to "live a life of evil?"

It Gets Better

Tyler Clementi, age 18.

Billy Lucas, age 15.

Harrison Chase Brown, age 15

Cody J. Barker, age 17

Seth Walsh, age 13

Those are a few of the names of the teenagers who have recently commited suicide because of homophobic harrassment. They couldn't see that there was a life worth living past all of the bullying. And because nobody had the courage to speak out to them, they will never have the chance to know that life gets better.

Writer, Dan Savage has created something to prevent more tregedies as described above. He and his husband, Terry Miller, created a Youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcVyvg2Qlo) to tell the LGBT community that there is much more that makes life worth living. A week later, there were over there were over 1000 response video and thus, the It Gets Better Project was born.

As an American teenager, it is not uncommon that I have had periods of severe depression in my adolecency. And as a member of the LGBT community, depression tends to hit us harder than most. So unfortunately, yes, I've had suicidal thoughts before. When my closest friend discovered the pitiful state I was in, she sat me down and made me watch some of the videos of this program and I realized that no matter how hard life gets, it's not up to me to decide when it should end. If I had chosen to go through with those tragic ideas, I'd have missed out on so much.

Of course I'm going to go through bad times. It's virtually impossible to avoid.

• I've been pushed against walls
• Told I was going to hell
• Called a fag
• Emasculated
• Beaten up
• And kicked out of my grandmother's house. (My "grandfather's" words were "Get out and don't come back until you know how to be a man!")

But I never let myself forget all of the blessings I have.

• I have extremely supportive parents, especially my mom. (She once punched my grandfather in the face when she heard him say the word "fag" in reference to me.)
• I have plenty of friends that greet me with smiles and hugs every day upon meeting me.
• I have more than enough people that I can talk to about my problems.
• Most importantly, I have a wonderful boyfriend who does everything he can to make sure that I'm taken care of and smiling. (insert dreamy sigh here)

All in all, if I'd decided to "pull the plug," I wouldn't have been able to see the future. I'm glad I know now that life gets better.