BY HUNTER THIERS
LGBTQ: Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans, Queer. GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) reports that 33% of teens in the United States are harassed because of their “perceived or actual” sexual orientation.
Conner Davis is an openly gay student at Mariemont High School.
“I’ve never really faced a problem with it. I’ve just always been accepted.” Davis says.
Davis was bullied throughout most of elementary school and junior high, often being called names by other students; however, when he decided to come out on April 7th of 2013, he received a lot of support from the student body and faculty.
“It’s just like being normal,” Davis says. “When someone brings up gay rights in class, everyone stares at me. At first it was pretty awkward, but I just think it’s kind of funny now.”
Davis is also thinking about starting an LGBTQ club. He thinks it will be a great way to educate students as well as provide support for other students like him. He takes bullying very seriously and thinks it is something we need to address.
As a graduate of Mariemont High School, Peter Laug opens up on being gay in high school.
“It kind of subjective,” Laug says. “I definitely reached a point in high school where I wasn’t lying. If people asked me, I would tell them, but it is kind of a personal thing.”
Laug admits that when he was in high school being gay wasn’t addressed.
“Nobody talked about it,” Laug says. “Because nobody talked about, I just assumed it would be better not to come out.”
He thinks the biggest issue is that we don’t talk about the issue. According to Laug, by starting an LGBTQ club, we can stop harassment based off of sexual orientation.
43% of Ohio students said that bullying was a major problem in their schools and the most common report of abuse was bullying based upon sexual orientation and gender expression.
Laug says, “The worst thing is silence — being indifferent towards a situation is only going to inflame the issue. It’s really important to challenge the way we view the world.”
