Treat People Like People.

In Canada, most people seem to be under the guise that we aren't the kind of place where people are discriminated against, be it for gender identity, sexual identity, race, religion, or any number of things. Most people believe that these kind of things only occur in other places, most notably the U.S. The case of Jamie Hubley must have pulled quite a twist on that sort of logic (which I will hereafter refer to as "Laramie Logic"; the idea that bad things happen somewhere else, with different people, and not in our own communities).

How is it that things like this are still occurring? I wish I could say that we are past these kind of incidences; but I know, deep down, that we've only progressed in baby steps in this area. Where have we gone wrong; how could we have stumbled so much in regards to human rights, where something as important as a person's sexuality is ignored, and, if it isn't heterosexual, is viewed as weird, shunned, or, in a case such as Jamie Hubley, ridiculed, driving him to a point where he felt his only escape from something such as this is death?

While Hubley had suffered from depression, which put him at further risk of suicide (or suicidal tendencies), the underlying fact remains that, had these kids not harassed him, he would have certainly had a different set of options present for him. And why shouldn't he have had those options present from the beginning? Why should I even have to take about somebody two years younger than me taking his life, because of the simple fact that he was attracted to men? It's disturbing, baffling, and a slew of other words that I can't think of, or should most likely not be saying in a blog for school.

Anyways, back to the point I'm trying to make; we need a serious spokesperson to step up for this issue. Rick Mercer's rant about how "It Gets Better" needs to change to "It Is Better", and I fully agree. We need a spokesperson to both tell LGBT youth that they are okay the way they are, and to actively pursue ways to combat this issue. The more we ignore this issue, the more people are going to feel uncomfortable for something they can't control, and subsequently create an atmosphere that condones the idea that bullying is alright, which can lead to extreme ends, as seen in the Hubley case.

I think we should just treat people like people. Are you a person? I'd imagine that's the case. So, by that logic, treat other people like actual people, and everyone will have less crap to deal with.