Student Clubs Aim To Curb Gay Bullying
After a series of suicides by gay students across the county, local teenagers are joining to help make sure it doesn’t happen in the Coachella Valley.
Reymundo Hernandez is a junior at Cathedral City High School. Like other gay teenagers, he’s heard some hurtful things from other students.
“Slang words like ‘Oh that’s gay,’ or using words like that,” he said “But I try not to take it too personally because they don’t know me. So, I shouldn’t let them get to me.”
But, not all gay teenagers can handle the teasing and harassment.
At least five gay students have killed themselves across the U.S. in the last month. Lawmakers across the country are taking a closer look at anti-bullying laws.
Hernandez and fellow student Porsia Smith lead Cathedral City High School’s Gay Straight Alliance, a club aimed at teaching tolerance.
“It’s okay to be gay and that if your not okay with that, then that’s okay,” she said. “But, at least keep your feelings to yourself especially when they don’t do or say anything to you. You don’t need to express it to them.”
Palm Springs and La Quinta High Schools both have similar student clubs.
Both Hernandez and Smith say gay bullying isn’t a problem in their school. But other young gay people aren’t so lucky.
“It’s a sad thing like it’s pretty messed up. They don’t do anything to you. Why do you need to bully them all the time when they’re just trying to be themselves,” asked Smith.
Fashion icon Tim Gunn recently came to the Coachella Valley for a fashion event, and he admitted he also thought about suicide after being bullied in school.
“You need to talk about it,” Gunn told News Channel 3. “I’ve got to say we cannot navigate life alone. Life is a huge collaboration, and you need people who can really help you and ideally it’s the people who love you, who can nurture you.”
Hernandez agrees. He said he’s benefited from people who take the time to know him and understand him.
“They were just tolerant and they were just comforting me and telling me that, ‘If you ever need help or anything you could talk to me,'” said Hernandez, the club’s president.
“I wouldn’t re-live teen years under any circumstances,” said Gunn. “Let alone circumstances when you’re dealing with issues of sexual identity or other things that really pertain to who you are at the core of who you are, and those are things you can’t change.”
