A young Ottawa boy, about the age of fifteen killed himself after being bullied relentlessly by his peers at school. This boy, Jamie Hubley, was bullied because he was gay. He was tormented for being a figure skater and being openly gay in high school. He battled depression until he could battle it no longer. The city mourns him. His family mourns him. And, the Conservative Party of Canada has decided to join Dan Savage's 'It Gets Better' campaign in this boys' honor.
Wait, what?
Yup, that's right John Baird (hate that guy), Vic Toews and Rona Ambrose among others star in a heartwarming video telling gay teens that although they might be bullied in high school, life gets better out in the real world. Because out in the real world you've got people like Vic Toews, who from 2003-2005 was relentlessly opposed to both Bill C-250, which protects homosexuals under hate crime legislation and to Canada recognizing gay marriage nationwide. He even launched an extended filibuster to delay committee work on the issue. Toews also argued that religious organizations should be permitted to deny gay individuals the use of their facilities.
You think someone like that should be giving out this kind of message? A message that, in time, the bullying will stop and you'll be in a land of wonderful tolerance and unlimited possibility? Toews, who we might as well just come out and say it: fucking hates homosexuals. And the rest of this Conservative crew that was apparently slapped together at a moments notice to star in this low-budget garbage fest probably aren't much better.
Sweet pepper relish, have you watched this shit? A bunch of Conservative MP's, all privileged as hell, droning on in their dead voices about how it gets better, so obviously cold-reading off cue cards because they can't say anything from the heart on this issue, repeating the same thing over and over and over, they couldn't even clear the fucking halls in the House of Commons for five minutes so you don't get all that fucking background noise? Is it nitpicky? Yes, but the poor production values make it look even less sincere, and makes it seem that these people just slapped this together to capitalize on what could potentially be good publicity. The message is delivered with less gusto than those old 'The More You Know' ads that used to run on NBC. You're dedicating this to someone who just took their own life after years of bullying and abuse! Can't you folks fucking just pretend to give a shit for five goddamn seconds? You can see it here for yourself.
They're really pushing the Kids Help Phone, too. Unfortunately, when you're in a situation where you really need really real help, the Kids Help Phone can't always do much for you. The Kids Help Phone can't stop people at your school from bullying you. The Kids Help Phone can't make your parents accept you for who you are. The Kids Help Phone can't promise you that 'It Gets Better' anymore than can Conservative MP's, some of whom if given the chance would make it worse for you, out there in the world after high school. Neither can Dan Savage, as a matter of fact. He can just tell you that if your partner likes to rape you, or slap you or shit on you and you don't much care for it, well, then you're a prude.
Maybe I'm being overly critical of this. I do tend to suspect ulterior motives when Conservative MP's do anything even close to human. It's mostly the gall of Vic Toews to even be in the video that gets me. I mean, did they just not tell him what it was for? However it happened, having a well-known homophobe tell LGBTQI youth that 'It Gets Better' seems just a final slap in the face to one youth that it never quite got better for.
No comments:
Post a Comment