If reporting on gay teens killing themselves over bullying can lead to a snowball effect, where other depressed gay teens begin to see suicide as a way out and take their own lives, can the same be said for showing how bullies torment their victims? On Fox’s Glee, the jerk jocks are known for slushie-ing those weirdo student singers. In all four years of my high school experience, I never saw blue or purple flavored ice drinks get tossed at vulnerable classmates. But in Toronto, a merry band of high schoolers appear to have found their inspiration in Glee, throwing around the word “faggot” along with their ice-cold drinks at people in the city’s Gay Village.
The suspects: High schoolers from Jarvis Collegiate, who are “travelling in swarms at lunch hour and after school,” the Toronto Sun reports. The artillery: slushies, snowballs, ice, and mean words. The victims: gays, but also middle-aged women, crossing guards, and florists. The response: Police are, supposedly, beefing up security in and around Gay Village.
Gay bashing is no stranger to the Village. Even today, folks still drive through some summer nights, tossing drunken insults. Eggs were once the gay-bashing missile of choice. The fear is slushing will escalate to something more solid. Already, chunks of ice have been added to the arsenal. The latest slushing happened at noon last Monday. Local florist Paul Winsor, 49, was walking through the Village, headed to the gym.
“How about him?” said a kid in a passing pack of about 15, before letting fly. Winsor took a full Coke slushie dead in the back of his red Canada goose coat. “I got pretty upset. And I was less than polite. They hurled insults back. I was so angry I can’t say for sure what they said.” The f-word? And not the one that rhymes with duck. “I can’t say. And I can’t be certain they picked me out because I’m gay, but I met my friend Mark right after, and he was specifically targeted. “They threw ice at him and called him ‘faggot’,” he said. “I think they’re just randomly picking out people in the neighbourhood. “As a community, we tend to be a little complacent, but I decided not to take it.”
So Winsor followed the culprits two blocks back to the high school, taking another slushie hit along the way and dodging a hunk of road ice, and alerted a teacher. “I’d like to sit those kids down and ask them why I shouldn’t press charges, and why they think what they’re doing is OK,” he said. Next day, sure enough, he met a similar pack. This time he had his camera, and they fled. “But now I’m looking around. I really don’t want to run into that again.”
So surely something is being done to punish the high school students who have been identified by their victims? “Students who engage in gay bashing or homophobic behaviour will have consequences,” says Jarvis principal Elizabeth Addo. “It’s not in the spirit of the school or the spirit of inclusivity.” Addo did not say, however, how or if the students were disciplined.
On television, the slushers face no real punishment for attacking the slushies — who all seem to just take it. Or find their revenge in song. On one episode of her show, Oprah had Lea Michele teach the proper “slushie throwing technique” to would-be assailants. It was meant to be Funny Haha.
How about we take this to the next level?
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And not that what some pricks in Toronto are doing should impact how Glee‘s writers incorporate slushies in the episodes to come, or what Oprah does in the daytime, for the same reason teens using drugs doesn’t mean we erase that facet of life from everything on The CW. But it is curious to see the very TV show that’s provided so much inspiration and affirmation for tormented gay kids is also a learning manual for bullies.
divkid
i doubt anyone could learn ANYTHING from glee.
well, that is except perhaps, that profound hearing loss isn’t entirely devoid of an up-side.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Is it racist to point that Jarvis’ student population is predominately black? When my cousin went there in the early 90’s, it was called Compton North. Jarvis street itself is a warzone, where it’s residents are more concerned with keeping the cops out, than actually keeping crime down. yet you see them on TV bellyaching that no one does anything to help them.
Stupid punks.
randy
The best way to fight back if you get it in the face at school is to throw one back at the bullies later on.
You might get beat up, but it will pretty much put a stop to it. But it’s been so many years since I was in high school, I wouldn’t know for sure.
Cartwright
Well it does nothing but perpetuate bad gay stereotypes anyway, so add that as well. Kids need to take care of themselves, stand up to bullies. We don’t need stars or shows telling them things will be okay – it’s just bs…
Francis
I doubt these kids did this because of Glee. I don’t think kids like this watch that show. Supposedly, this particular area is pretty bad, run down, made up of mostly blacks and Muslims. These are just punk kids trying to prove themselves with this macho bravado, showing off to their friends of how daring and brave and tough they are. More of the same pack herd hate mentality, terrorizing others because you are protected by others, who are doing the same thing. Since these kids have attacked middle aged women and crossing guards also, this seems more than a homophobic attack, but basically a “I’m going to pick on people I perceive as weak and who can’t attack me back” attack. Remember, ALL bullies/attackers are inherently weak. They are assaulting people they know wont hurt them.
Hearing all of these stories of punk kids terrorizing innocents, the only thing that will get to these clowns is either do as Randy says, throw a slushie back in their face, or just punch them in the face. These kids are fucking rabid dogs, trying to talk to them on a human level isn’t going to work. The ONLY way they stop is if they feel a true incentive that what they do will catch up to them, and that’s by standing up to these fools and fighting fire with fire.
John
Give me a break. Have you forgotten about the 1985 movie Weird Science? No doubt there have been many other TV shows and movies wherein slushies were thrown or dumped on someone else by a bully. I don’t watch Glee myself but see no reason why anyone should be upset with the show over this.
Shazzer
Slushie-throwing is just one of the MANY inaccuracies in Glee. It doesn’t happen in real high schools because the custodial staff would raise holy hell about it.
Sexy Rexy
PLEASE STOP GIVING GLEE SO MUCH POWER.
Sceth
@Shazzer: Inaccuracies? Comedic faculty politics and a high-end singing club that pretends to be underfunded aren’t ‘inaccuracies;’ they’re plot points from a fantasy world. At its most realistic, Glee is symbolism. With great music. Don’t prod too deep.
adman
Jamaicans masquerading as Canadians, wow, who knew? Just catch one or two of them up late at night and make the ‘ol example of them. They’ll have an emotional vigil, “save the hate for jeebus” or some such bullshit, and eventually learn to start acting like their human for a couple months. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed.
Garj
Wow, I thought Toronto was cool…
Francis
Toronto (Canada in general) has been seeing a rise of immigrants, mostly Africans, Eastern Asians, Middle Easterners, etc., who have settled there, and in turn, hate crimes against gays have gone WAY up in Canada. Of course, this could be completely unrelated, but the stats are there, more immigrants, more hate crimes, so who knows if that’s the causation. Thinking back, I remember that several of the hate crimes were committed by a Polish man, a couple of Middle Easterners, and I think a Chinese man. Is it racist to deduce that people from homophobic countries end up committing homophobic crimes in countries more tolerant? We’ve seen the same thing in the Netherlands.
Interesting how statistically hate crimes went down in the US in 2010, even though there was extra reporting, but went up considerably in Canada. Guess that shows us all that ignorance has no bounds.
Olli
Canada has a large Jamaican population. They are Canadian, many of them are Canadian born.
What difference does it make if their black or Muslim?
Compton North? Is their something wrong with being from Compton or going to that school or having Jamaican roots?
I’m not a fan of subtle racism. Just say the N word and be done with it. Stop trying to fool anyone. Being a racist is not somehow better than being homophobic like those immature kids in the article.
Discrimination is bad either way.
Olli
Francis, I know you mean well, but let’s not also forget the racism that many immigrants still experience in Canada.
Canada’s immigration laws and their recent deportations concern many who care about this country.
If Canada doesn’t allow immigration, we are in massive trouble because of the low birth rate of White Canadians. Do we stop immigration of non whites? It was like that many years ago, and that was a horrific policy.
I will wait to see of any proof tied between immigration of non whites which has been going on for decades now (many blacks in Canada are descents of slaves of course) and gay hate crimes in Canada.
If it’s true, these cultures aren’t evil. A little education goes a long way for I presume are mostly young men who commit these crimes.
Adam
@Olli: Actually, there is more than likely a correlation. The same thing is happening in the U.K., specifically in London, where gay hate crimes have gone up because of the Middle Easterners and Africans who have moved there with their conservative, anti-gay, highly religious values. Or, take the case of Minneapolis and the Somalis who have invaded that region. If these people cannot assimilate into Western society, there needs to be some sort of crackdown on these people infesting our cities and bringing their homophobic mentality with them.
Mike
The idea that an actually article was posted correlating slushie throwing from Glee, to slushie throwing bullies in Toronto is absolutely stupid. I hate Glee with a fiery passion, but come on now.
Since we’re grasping for straws here, you might as well write an “article”, I use that term loosely for you Queerty, about how shitty plotlines in stories are getting kids gay-bashed.
Michael
@Francis: “Guess that shows us all that ignorance has no bounds.”
Yeah, that includes your own mind. Stop being ignorant.
“Supposedly, this particular area is pretty bad, run down, made up of mostly blacks and Muslims.”
Pretty bad? No. Made up mostly of black and Muslims? Sure, why not? Point being? You know how many attacks on gay people go on in rural communities? You know what colour the attackers usually are? White.
What’s that? All races and religions can hate gay people? Wow, who would have thought.
carmenx
If you reps a slush at me then we are going to fight. I don’t care if I lose. That is unacceptable behavior that a fist in the nose should put and end too.
And subtle racism is one of canadas problems no one talks about mug but I’ve heard stories about it. Same problem in a lot of Europe. In the US despite the hate groups here we al know they are here and they aren’t hidden or subtle so they can be dealt with. I think its far worse when a country is in denial about the prejudices of its population.
Danny
Simple solution. Purchase a toolbelt at your local hardware store and carry a hammer in it when you walk around. No one messes with someone carrying a hammer. And it is completely lawful to wear a toolbelt with a hammer. And remember the old saying, it’s the claw end that works best for lawful self defense.
Kev C
@Danny: Rock hammers rock.
http://tragicoptimist.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/hazel-rhfs-closeup.jpg
afrolito
There is nothing subtle about the racism in these comments. Just a typical day at queerty, where black people are spit on, even when the story has nothing to do with them.
QueertyFAIL
Ha. This is media hysteria. Ask anyone who actually lives in the village.
DillonS
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: if you live in the city then you know Jarvis is anything but a ‘warzone.’ where do you come up with this crap?
Ken
I guess the pandora box for racial insults has been opened. It’s like reading through a fox news blog, without the disgusting homophobic slurs included. How is it that a gay person who is typically hated so much in this country utter such racial garbage? SMH..
Sue
@afrolito: I agree with you. You know spitting on another weak minority might make one feel not so down and out. It kind of makes one feel a little powerful even if it’s just in the blogosphere..lol
CHUCK
@Francis: Easy on the racial stuff dude. I have nausea just from reading that post.Let’s try to keep it clean
CHUCK
@Francis: Easy on the racial stuff dude. I have nausea just from reading that post.Let’s please try to keep it clean.
Francis
I’m mixed (black, white, spanish and american indian), so I’m really NOT coming from a “I hate all minority races” angle, yeah that may sound like an excuse, but it’s truly not. With that said, it’s simply a fact that there has been a rise in immigration in Canada, and on the same timeframe, there has been a rise in hate crimes. This particular school is made up mostly of minority races and immigrants. I can see why it comes off racist, but is it? Is it racist to point something out that’s factual. And it’s not even about feeling powerful for me, because obviously, not everyone in these groups are bad individuals. It’s just two things that may OR may not be working in conjunction with each other, I don’t truly know. And as Adam has said, the same thing could *potentially* be said in the UK also. Rise in immigrants, rise in anti-gay hate crimes. It’s something that has to be checked out and see if there is any connection so something can be done about it.
Francis
@Olli: I understand Olli. Yes, there is obviously racism that many immigrants face, worldwide, and that’s awful in itself, also. Definitely steps need to be made to assimilate these individuals into their new cultures. Canada, and other countries, should allow immigration, but they can’t just let these people flounder once they get in the country, which happens way too often. And it’s not just a non-white issue, or at least I didn’t try to make it seem that way. It’s an immigration issue in general, and one that I guess needs to be focused on much heavier in Canada. Whether there is a connection between immigrants from more socially conservative countries and anti-gay hate crimes is definitely something I’m interested in knowing, because then the problem can be addressed fully if so.
Francis
@Michael: Of course all races and religions can hate gay people. The majority of hate crimes are committed by whites because the majority of the population is white, but that is not really how stats work. It’s about averages, and on average, the stats could be much different. What I DID say was, that statistically, anti-gay hate crimes and the violent nature of these crimes went down a fair bit in America, yet they have been going way up in Canada. And then I brought up immigration because, again statistically, immigration has gone way up in Canada during this same period, and most of the immigrants are from places that are NOT gay friendly. Now, we can talk about the disproportionate number of hate crimes in rural v urban communities or between different groups, but the fact is with Canada, there has been an upswing in immigration, and there has been an upswing in hate crimes. And the fact is, this particular school is made up of mostly immigrants, and they are committing hate crimes. Is there a correlation? Remains to be seen.
Francis
The question I asked was simple, though. Why has there been a decrease of hate crimes in America and an increase in Canada? A lot of Canadians mock Americans for being anti-gay, but statistically, only Canada has seen the major upswing in anti-gay hate crimes. Is it because of complacency? Is it because people genuinely think it’s a non-issue in Canada? And yes, is it because of immigrants from homophobic countries who do not assimilate to a more tolerant nation. It’s something that needs to be addressed.
John (CA)
The fact remains that whenever an individual of British or German descent commits a homophobic crime, the calls for punishment only applies to the perpetrator. They are treated as individual actors. Their racial identity isn’t mentioned at all. It is only within the context of being against non-white immigration that race becomes the “cause” of the problem.
And it is often the case that changing demographics will lead to more safety concerns. That is, white folks will put up with a certain amount of bad behavior from their own people. But they will complain immediately when an African, Latino, or Asian immigrant so much as gives them a nasty stare. This in turn attracts the attention of the media, police, and politicians.
Coming from a state and city that has struggled with these racial tensions for many years now, I have seen anti-immigrant hysteria taken hold here too many times to consider it a mere coincidence. And it really isn’t any more subtle in Canada than it is in America I am afraid.
CHUCK
@Francis: I don’t care how mixed up you are man. I am 25 year old white man and all your racial stuff is disturbing. I mean, Clearance Thomas is a known racist bigot and he is very black. Keep the hate, any kind of hate out man. Peace
Sue
@CHUCK: Mixed up…lol! fucking hillarious. Clearance Thomas often uses his race to hide his bigotry and don’t get me started on his Tea party wife.
TomMc
School profile of Jarvis Collegiate: http://www.tdsb.on.ca/profiles/5520.pdf
Adam
@John (CA):
I’ll speak for myself in saying that I am not against anything. But if there is a pattern of homophobia associated with people from certain known homophobic, extremely religious and fanatical regions, it needs to be recognized. Broadly speaking, Eastern Europeans, for example, are well-known for having a homophobic culture, and that should be brought up as well if a collection of people EE descent were committing these crimes.
And I take exception to the claim that Europeans are given leeway in discussions of their crimes. How many times have Germans been labeled Nazis and have that stigma associated with their lives? Or Italians labeled violent gangsters?
Adam
@Sue: Exactly how are “minorities” weak from a legal and cultural standpoint? There are social and legislative protections available to racial minorities such that it’s gotten to the point where you cannot utter one word critiquing a brown or black skinned person without being labeled a “racist,” yet I hear a ton of vitriol aimed at white people from these groups, and no one says anything. Double-standards? Yes, indeed.
More to the point, GLBT, of all races/ethnicities, continue to face the stigma of being who they are in a homophobic, ignorant world. We are, without question, the most discriminated against minority out there, in terms of political, legal, and social restraints. That is not to suggest that racism isn’t alive and well, but it is to suggest that it has been recognized as a societal and cultural flaw. The same cannot and has not been said of homophobia, worldwide.
John (CA)
@Adam: You can take all the “exception” you like. The fact is Americans of European descent are given far more lenient sentences for committing the same crimes as other groups. This is well documented in the literature on criminal law.
And something along the lines of “if these people cannot assimilate into Western society, there needs to be some sort of crackdown on these people infesting our cities” tends to be interpreted as a racist statement.
Because it is.
Adam
@John (CA): Don’t worry, I do take exception, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I wasn’t arguing against what you said about lenient sentences, which wasn’t the point I was making. I was showing that stereotypes and stigmas aren’t aimed at just non-Europeans.
Any my statement was not “racist,” since I JUST gave the example of Eastern Europeans and how I would suggest similar treatment of them due to CULTURAL differences. I’d suggest you learn what the word “racist” means before you and those like you who sustain and nurture knee-jerk reactions to anything race-related, start spouting off and making assumptions about shit you don’t know about, OK? Thanks.
John (CA)
Because adding Slavs to the list of people you hate makes you a great humanitarian, right?
You, sir, are a racist.
Period.
Ryan Walsh
You guys do realize that correlation doesn’t mean causation, right? Basic statistics. There’s been a rise in immigration, yes, and a rise in hate crimes. This doesn’t mean that the increase in immigration population is causing, or even related, to the increase in hate crimes.
Also, how did this conversation turn into one about race? There’s no mention of race in the article, and is it truly necessary to create divisions in our community?
Adam
@John (CA): LOL! Yes, the debating equivalent of calling someone a “fag” when you can’t argue your points rationally. Thanks for playing and showing how inferior you are when faced with a logical response. Now you are dismissed.
Seriously, that was awesome.
John (CA)
@Adam: There’s nothing even remotely logical about your response. You basically said that you didn’t like a particular group of whites. Which somehow, by your twisted logic, means you aren’t a racist. But if liking every single person of the same race was a necessary condition of racism, then no one on the planet is racist.
You have made your racist beliefs very clear from the outset.
Adam
@Ryan Walsh: “There’s been a rise in immigration, yes, and a rise in hate crimes. This doesn’t mean that the increase in immigration population is causing, or even related, to the increase in hate crimes.”
No, it doesn’t. But the possibility also cannot be ruled out. What’s the harm in mentioning it as a possibility? Especially when the same thing is happening in other places? Who are the perps committing these crimes? Those are the questions that need to be asked.
Adam
@John (CA): I didn’t say I didn’t “like” any one group of people. If you’ll notice, I put “cultural” in CAPS.
This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture, hence why I mentioned “assimilation into Western society” in my previous post, the one that you appear to take issue with.
Anyway, you’re very ignorant and annoying and I don’t have time to deal with race-baiters like yourself. You also appear to have problems with reading comprehension.
I’m done.
Kev C
@Ryan Walsh: “This doesn’t mean that the increase in immigration population is causing, or even related, to the increase in hate crimes.”
ORLY? The Netherlands was once a tolerent gay mecca. Now it has about 200 anti-gay hate crimes a year, mostly caused by immigrants or naturalized citizens from homophobic cultures (muslim and african). I think your mistaking color blindness for blindness.
John (CA)
@Adam: Railing against Africans isn’t racial? Claiming there’s a “double standard” against whites isn’t racial? Resenting legal protections for racial minorities isn’t racial?
This really is just a typical day at Queerty.
Lawrence
Do we really hate ethnic minorities this much?. I just don’t see this in real life. In fact LGBT people are usually more tolerant of other minorities. So why do I feel like I am perusing through REDSTATE OR DRUDGE with all this ethnic crazy talk? Maybe I am reading too much into it? Either way, I feel guitly just reading through the posts.
Meg
Hi, I’m a student in her victory lap at Jarvis Collegiate and I’ve read the articles related to the incident and quite a few of the comments. First and foremost, please understand that the entire Jarvis community isn’t like this. Many of us are disgusted by it and can’t even begin to understand the reasons behind the uncalled for attacks. I, fellow students and many recent alumni are very angry. Not all of us are like this. Second, the students who did do this clearly never learned the golden rule from when we were children ” Dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all” – easily relate able to ones actions.
In regards to the comments that have been left, I have one thing to say – if you are so against hate and hate crimes then why is it okay to blame a certain ethnic or religious group for these actions? Two wrongs don’t make a right. It’s easy to say these horrible things here, but understand that someone somewhere could easily say something rude about you based on the colour of your skin or the religion you wish to follow.
Also, don’t assume that because I’ve said this, I must fall under Muslim or “Black”. I’m caucasian and white and am Christian. There is so much hate in the world, please dont further it by leaving derogatory comments.
To end this, Jarvis students are actually quite wonderful. We have a GSA ( Gay-Straight Alliance) and many of us can count those who aren’t “straight” as our friends. These actions were committed by foolish young people who didnt take into account how much their bullying hurts. Please dont judge the rest of us for their wrong doings.
Thanks.
Kev C
@Meg: What do they do at GSAs, hold hands and sing Kumbaya? Hey look at my token gay friends, let’s hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
Heres’ my version of that spiritual called ‘Eatadick’.
Eatadick, My Lord
Eatadick
Eatadick, my Lord
Eatadick
Eatadick, my Lord
Eatadick
Oh Lord, Eatadick.
Jay
All this racial crap is so not necessary. point is theres homophones in all races and ppl who are religions not just a particular group. just like how their are compassionate and understanding people of all races and religions. would it be fair if i bunched up a whole group of certain gay and bi men of the Caucasian persuasion that called me the n word. or wouldn’t be my friend simply cause of the color of my skin and call of them racist? NO in my experience ive had less problems with my straight counterparts than i have with gay ones in terms of race and sexuality. b4 i came out i would get hassled saying i am not gay or how do i know i am gay if didn’t have sex with a man yet? really?? but that does not make me in denial that their are assholes and ignorance in every bunch. Black,white,middle Eastern,gay,bi,straight,etc no one is exempt we all have some learning and growing up to do only then will the world be a better place
Jay
typo homophobes
Wren
Uhm, sure.
Because homophobic bullies have a shortage of ways they torture gay kids?
Meg
@Kev C:
that was incredibly ignorant. wow.
Sami
@Meg: Don’t worry Meg, he’s an asshole. I fully support what you just said.