Adults Need To Stand Up

Over the last few weeks many of us have found out about Zachary Quinto’s coming out to the public. Which of course was caused by a recent suicide of a gay teen in the states. (Coincidentally of the same name as the one who committed suicide in Ottawa.)

I have read a few articles of his interview about coming out, and he manages to make it not about his sexuality, but about the need for gay bullying to stop. Only using his sexual preference as a way to talk to the press about anti-gay bullying, and of course with the press wanting to know more about him. He graciously avoids these questions, and keeps on topic. I think it is safe to say that he is a very good speaker, and also good at ignoring superficial questions.

From an objective standpoint Quinto’s only real reason for coming out randomly was due to his desire to stand up as an adult, and be a voice for the gay teens out there dealing with a vicious world. Quinto is lucky to have hollywood behind him, and knowing this he originally kept very much under wraps about what goes on in his bedroom.



This year has been seemingly the best year for support of gay teens, by both youth and grown ups. More and more people are taking advantage of their position in the eye of the media, and advocating awareness for the teens who are being abused out there.

And like my friend Kate said a couple weeks ago, it is also helping to really out all the bullying that is going on in our world. We all know that gay bullying isn’t the only type going on in our high schools, but we also know that even less is being down about other types of bullying. That is a scary thought.

Upon some inquiring about gay actors, and actor advocates who stand up for those who get bullied it is easy to get that most of them dealt with the exact same if not similar problems with bullying, and they managed to make it through. Their skin was thick enough to weave through the hell hole that is high school. Now, here they are standing up for those without a voice. If only those kids who look up to them and yet bully the crap out of others would take a second to think about where their favourite celebrities actually came from. Some how, in this day and age most theatre kids are still considered nerds. And yet shows and movies about these exact same kids are the most popular in the entertainment world. How backwards is that? You would think that people would begin to understand. How often a sad story is sensationalized on the news about a gay teen committing suicide, and yet nothing changes in our schools. How many kids go to their elders for help and our just told to grow a thick skin, and yet the problem continues on. That skin is slowly deteriorating, and yet no long standing action will ever be taken to help those in need. Just proving how bad of a problem gay bullying, and bullying in general truly is in our day and age.

To read more about bullying, please hop on over to my friend Kate’s blog two weeks ago.

http://www.katehasablog.com/2011/10/youtube-of-week_26.html

-Says Marli