UCC leaders say urgency is needed in addressing anti-gay bullying

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

UCC leaders say urgency is needed in addressing anti-gay bullying

> Written by Jeff Woodard
> October 5, 2010

In the wake of four recent teen suicides that have sparked a national
conversation about anti-gay bullying, the UCC has released a statement
by its five-person Collegium of Officers encouraging people of faith
to "recognize the God-given worth and dignity of every person that
human judgment cannot set aside" and "work in solidarity to stop the
bullying and violence against LGBT people."

Here is the statement by the Rev. Geoffrey A Black, general minister
and president; Ms. Edith A. Guffey, associate general minister; the
Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, executive minister of Justice and Witness
Ministries; the Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte, executive minister of Wider
Church Ministries; and the Rev. Stephen L. Sterner, executive minister
of Local Church Ministries:

"The culture of anti-gay bullying that persists in academic and other
institutions is an aspect of the broader issues of violence and
harassment LGBT people face in the United States and around the world.
It is experienced in a variety of ways from the invasion of privacy
and taunts in school hallways to being beaten and tied to a fence;
from the enactment of laws that criminalize sexual orientation and
extra-judicial killing of people believed to be gay to the failure of
elected officials to pass legislation that ensures the full equality
of every citizen.

"The reality of anti-gay harassment and bullying creates environments
of fear and intimidation that not only have tragic consequences for
those who are targeted, but also for the communities in which they
occur. Even when anti-bullying policies are in place, without
effective implementation peers, teachers and other adults can still be
intimidated into silence and inaction. Studies continue to tell us
that this is more often than not the reality in the vast majority of
our schools. Nine out of 10 LGBT youth report being verbally harassed
at school; 44 percent say they have been physically harassed; 22
percent report having been assaulted; and 60 percent say that when
they report abuse, no one does anything to help or protect them.

"All people of faith must recognize the God-given worth and dignity of
every person that human judgment cannot set aside. Together we must
work in solidarity to stop the bullying and violence against LGBT
people and ensure the safety and protection of all our children. This
is a baseline call to action grounded in the commonly held values of
the Golden Rule, which every household of faith should be able to 
embrace."

The UCC has numerous resources to help churches develop a
community-wide ethos to eliminate bullying.

The four suicides occurred within a three-week period in September:

Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old from Greensburg, Ind., hung himself Sept. 9
from a barn rafter on his grandmother's farm.

Seth Walsh, 13, of Tehachapi, Calif., was removed from life support 10
days after hanging himself from a tree. He died Sept. 27.

Asher Brown, a 13-year-old from Cypress, Texas, used his stepfather's
gun to shoot himself to death Sept. 17.

Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman, jumped to
his death from the George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River
between New York and New Jersey on Sept. 22.

The deaths prompted an impassioned, on-air plea last week from openly
gay talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres to "anyone out there who feels
different and alone to know that I know how you feel, and there is
help out there."

Issuing a wakeup call to quell the "epidemic" of anti-gay teen
bullying, DeGeneres says, "One life lost in a senseless way is tragic;
four lives lost is a crisis." View the video.