FASHION DISASTER

Walmart Shopper Calls Toddler A “Faggot,” Rips “Feminine” Clothing From His Head

2013-08-02-FloweryHeadbandIn case you needed another reason to completely lose faith in humanity, allow yourself to sit through the terrifying tale of a grown man that suggested violence against the two-year-old child he called a “faggot” in Walmart.

Thirty-one year-old Katie Vyktoriah, a stay-at-home mom and blogger at AMotherThing.com, recounted the awful chain of events in a recent blog post for HuffPo. She explains that the trip to a Walmart in Davenport, Florida began like any other—her two-year-old son, Dexter, was in tow with his chosen fashion accessory for the outing: a “cute girly” lace flower headband.

Vyktoriah says she doesn’t believe her son “has a sexuality” at two years old, but encourages him to dress and act the way he chooses. Dexter’s favorite color is pink, he loves Dora the Explorer, and he often plays dress up with his mother’s skirts.

“He rocked that headband,” Vyktoriah says, indicating that the picture above was taken after he charmed a group of older women by “waving like a little pageant prince.”

Shortly after, she was approached by two giggling teenage girls who asked, “Is that a boy or a girl?” She answered, to which the girls continued to giggle.

What happened next is just as disgusting as it is unbelievable:

Out of nowhere a big booming voice rang out. “THAT’S a BOY?!” The man was overly large with a bushy beard and a camouflage shirt with the arms cut off. He had tattered shorts and lace-up work boots with no laces. I could smell the fug of cigarette smoke surrounding him, and there was a definite pong of beer on him.

According to Vyktoriah, the man allegedly stepped forward, snatched the headband from Dexter’s head, and “cuffed Dexter around the side of his head.”

Visibly distraught, Dexter reached out and yelled “NO!” while the man said “You’ll thank me later, little man.”

After telling the man to refrain from touching her child, Vyktoriah says he “snarled at me” and “looked at Dexter with disgust” before telling her “Your son is a f*cking faggot. He’ll get shot for it one day!”

Perhaps the most troubling detail of the story is the fact that several witnesses failed to confront the man or offer support once he had left.

Vyktoriah says she fears mostly for the future of her children, regardless of their sexuality:

But right now, the fact that homophobia is so rampant, that gay marriage is still seen as dirty because homosexuals are “lesser” somehow and don’t deserve to have the same rights as straight folk, that people like that man in Walmart even EXIST makes me fear for my kids and their futures.

While we may accept and support whoever our kids turn out to be, I am scared beyond words at what it would mean for them if they ARE gay. Why should anyone have to live in fear because they fall in love with someone that you or someone else doesn’t agree with? Why should mothers and fathers of gay kids have to have an extra layer of terror at night because they know that the world at large is against their child?

While debate rages on her personal Facebook page, Vyktoriah has said that she has been advised “not to say any more about the situation” after filing a report with The Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy.

What would you have done if you witnessed such an act?

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