“Most people,” What Would You Do‘s John Quinones found, “walk by” when witnessing their teenage actors engaging in homophobic bullying on a boardwalk in Long Beach, N.Y. “Families, couples, even other teens walk by without saying a word.” How come? Because the bullying “didn’t go far enough.”
hidden cameras
How Come Almost Nobody Tried To Stop These Teens From Bullying Their Gay ‘Friend’?
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lovely lisa
or maybe because it was completely fake-seeming? i saw this on tv the other night and could not stop laughing. one of the stupidest things i’ve ever seen
Qjersey
yeah calling someone a fag is A-OK, don’t get involved until someone is bleeding.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Because hets want to be seen as heros, as evidenced by people intervening when the dog is being abused. But no het wants to be seen as a “fag”, which is what most straight people think you are, when other straight people try to help us.
Beacuase of anti-gay hets like Matt Stone and Trey Parker telling their white, straight and male audience that it’s ok to use anti-gay slurs, America’s hets don’t see “faggot” as a bad thing. And if you call them on their use of anti-gay slurs, they pass it off as not being anti-gay, becuase that’s not what they “meant”.
I’d like to see this program set up a situation where whites are using racial slurs, and see the difference in reactions
Giovannidude
Disappointing that so many walked by while the kid was being tormented, but it surprised me so many intervened. Maybe there is some hope after all. I think things are changing.
villager
no surprise.
DR
I gotta co-sign with the first post. That acting was awful, I’m not sure I would have believed it myself.
As for the show, well, they had a situation where gay couples with kids were being berated by a waiter, ad the general response was pretty good in terms of protecting the gay/lesbian families. By the end of the ep, several folks demanded to see the manager and demand the waiter be fired. One hetero male almost beat the poor guy up!
Jouin
I very much liked how those girls at the end of the clip reacted, it was refreshing seeing it coming from highschoolers. It shows that for some this campaigning supporting gay kids is paying off at least in small doses.
scott ny'er
From this clip, I’ll say this is not a great experiment. Good, maybe. It’s quite possible people walk by because they think it’s an altercation (not a gay one) and they don’t want to get involved because they too will get beat up. As the Jewish dude said, he’s a slight guy so you think about it carefully.
Unless you are in earshot, then it might be more apparent it’s a homophobic bullying situation.
Daez
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Oh for the love of god, South Park is not anti-gay. They are equal opportunity bigots. They address topics that many are completely uncomfortable with and bring it into the forefront. It is quite possibly one of the best series ever written in that aspect.
Hilarious
This scenario isn’t anything remotely like a high school situation. In school you can’t get away from bullies.
This kid could have and should have just walked away and gone elsewhere. Hell even go to the police and file harassment charges if need be and get a restraining order if they start stalking.
The reality of the situation is most men are not going to stand up for other men(gay or straight so seriously stop the “hetero” talk, it’s gender based) and a woman getting involved will only make the situation worse because then the guys will start throwing punches(trust me I’ve seen it and experienced it).
Learn to fight back or use your brain to avoid the situation altogether. No one can argue by his or herself and without an argument it usually won’t escalate into a fight.
It’s usually the same with bullying and I’ve experienced quite a bit of it myself on both sides. If you don’t give or get a reaction it doesn’t work.
I stopped getting bullied when I no longer gave a reaction.
Ironically the ring-leader who insights the bullying in the first place is almost always closeted himself. The one you find staring at you out the corner of your eye. It’s no different than when any other little kid has a crush but can’t express it so he gets your attention through childish means.
People think teens are adults, they’re not, they’re kids. What do kids do when they have a crush? They hit, punch, call names, bite, and slap.
Suicide is actually an entirely different issue and I really wish people would stop trying to tie it into bullying. Those able to commit suicide need psychological help, if they didn’t kill themselves over this it would be something else without the proper assistance.
You can’t solve depression by saying “It gets better.”, chemical imbalances don’t go away by watching a youtube video, or some reality show on ABC.
Louis
If they are my friends: Why would they bully me?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
If you are a Gay kid with the issue of getting bullied, or you have a friend or relative that is dealing with or you think may be getting bullied, learn how to defend yourself or urge them to learn. Bullys are usually the biggest pussies with a cranium full of insecurities. As soon as they are faced with pushback for their actions, they quickly end the bullshit..
I have posted this story before but it bears repeating. In elementary school my friend Kyle was about 4′ nothing and the most adorable queeniest boy you could ever meet. I am talking when Kyle opened his mouth a rainbow poured out with unicorns riding down it :p
His parents wisely realized very early on that Kyle would face issues for who he was. They never attempted to change him nor “butch him up”. What they did was at a very early age enrolled him im martial arts training. Kyle loved the moves and kicks (of course :p) and by age 9 held an advanced black belt.
Nothing gave us more pride and absolute glee than watching Kyle land some bully more than twice his size on their fat ass and then watching their reaction as the stars they were seeing began slowing down as Kyle stood over them. He would tell them……“You just had your one and only warning. You touch me or anyone else smaller than you for any reason and I am going to act as stupid as you are”…………
eyesiq
It really didn’t seem genuine. Kids don’t go around calling each other “disgusting homos”. If they had the actors cuss and use the word “fag” (which I believe would be much more realistic) they would have gotten some different reactions.
Samwise
That dialogue and acting really was awful. “I’d like to see someone defend you! *ahem* I SAID” – stares directly at bystander – “I’D LIKE TO SEE SOMEONE COME OVER HERE AND DEFEND YOU!”
Okay, it wasn’t quite that bad, but it was close.
Giovannidude
@12-Plays Well With Others: Thanks for sharing this. Kyle’s parents were really smart to put him in martial arts training. It was the perfect solution. Unfortunately, many parents need a brain transplant, because they will either ignore the situation and pretend it’s not happening, or else try to change the kid by futile attemps at butching him up. Either one of those approaches will fail.
I wonder if Kyle realizes how lucky he is to have had parents who knew just the right way to handle a tricky situation…
Topher
I got harassed for being gay when I was 15…AT GAY DISNEY! Even gay people didn’t stand up for me until the Disney staff jumped in. It was sad and comforting at the same time.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Giovannidude: He definatley appreciates his parents. Kyle is just one of those guys who basically came with an “I am Gay” tatoo on his forehead. His Father is a hypermasculine guido type guy, one whom you would think would have tried to enroll Kyle in pee-wee football to “butch” him up, or basically disown him. Instead he saw the obvious,his son was very small and queeny accepted it as simply the way Kyle was born and decided to make his life as easy as possible by giving him as many tools at his disposal to deal with the tools who he knew would harrass him……..
hotone2me
I feel it necessary to point out that many people have the incorrect notion that the African American community is entirely homophobic especailly since Prop 8.. The young ladies on this clip are truely heroes!!!
ewe
@hotone2me: I have always heard Prop 8 anger and resentment focused on black evangelicals among others, not all african american people. Thanks for your opinion but i disagree with what you say.