Well this is an interesting one for me because I sued my home town high school when I was a teenager, and won! For nearly six years I was literally beaten so bad I had to go to the hospital a few times. I was stalked, harassed, mentally abused, had house spray painted and vandalized, all because I was a gay teenager in rural Pennsylvania. Nothing more, I was a sport to them. I never looked at anyone "funny" or tried "anything" with anyone, I just wanted to be left alone. I had some severe attempts at suicide but I even suck at that.
For 6 years the school would pacify me and say they would deal with it and sweep me under the rug. One day I was shoved down two flights of stairs while hearing the taunts we're going to kill you fag. When I recovered I used the pay phone and called my mother and told her what happened.
She came to the school and we had one last sit down with the principal and he looked right at us and said "We feel Tim beings on his problems himself for being openly gay, but if he was a woman we would have stopped this in the beginning, but Tim needs to stand up for himself"
Hearing that I stormed out and that was the last day I have ever entered that building. Really, you knew I was beaten so bad the ambulance had to come, stalked and harassed and it was MY FAULT? Needless to say we took them to court over that. you cannot just deny a child civil and human rights just because you do not agree with their orientation. We won a very large sum of money.
Saying all this I want to be remembered because NO other gay person will EVER have to go through what I did. I do not care if you are straight, gay, black, Chinese, or ANY other minority no one ever deserves to feel like you are totally worthless & suicide is the only way out.
My lawsuit has gone world wide, I have done two documentaries, and continue to educate the bigoted and ignorant. If you get the chance watch "Out In The Silence." worth the watch.
Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy post.
