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Fed Up with Gay-Bashing

An 11-year-old student takes a stand against homophobic slurs.

While neither The Notebook nor Rethinking Schools would ordinarily print anonymous submissions, the circumstances in this case are overshadowed by the power of the essay and the importance of the issue. As the editors of The Notebook wrote, “We publish it in hopes that more young people will some day soon feel comfortable expressing these viewpoints openly and without fear.”

“You’re gay.” That is what I have been hearing for six years – ever since I started school. Kids say those words as a way to insult each other.

But it always bothered me because I know people who are gay. When people use the words “You’re gay,” it makes it seem like there’s something wrong with being gay. I never thought that was right.

One night I told my mom that this was happening at school. She told me, “You should stand up to them.” She told me she was proud of me for not teasing other kids and for not using “gay” as an insult, but she said sometimes it wasn’t enough. Sometimes you should speak out when you think something’s wrong.

I thought about this for a long time. I never had the guts to do it. But one day I stood up for myself. It was a rainy day. My teacher was late for class. All of a sudden I heard, “You’re a faggot.” I wanted to see who said that, but then the teacher came in.</p