I didn't want to post this as a Thread before, but I feel that is was a great achievement of mine and it was something really important for me to do.
It was probably my most heroic action so far and hopefully it helped many people in my class besides me.
We were on the first period, it was Religious Studies.
I was thinking a lot since yesterday about defending gay rights in public. So there were some guys saying some shit about me, and one of them called the other "Haha, faggot. FAGGOT!"
I asked him 'Can I ask you an honest question? Were you offended when he called you a faggot?'
'No.'
'What about you, Tomás, did you mean to use it as an offense?'
"Yeah, kind of"
"Why is faggot an offense?" I lost a lot of memory from the moment since i have a bit of memory loss but I'll type what I remember.
Not much time passed when another guy, called Renan, used the word again: faggot.
"Did you hear what I just said? Is that even an offense?"
"Of course it is!"
"Tell me, why?"
He just laughed. Most of the class was quiet, staring at the argument.
"Tell me! Why?"
The teacher said "Argue, Renan."
"Shut up, Dias" said Daniel, another asshole from my class.
"N. You ARE going to answer me."
I looked around the class.
"ANYONE here have ANY reason for why being gay is bad!? Why being called that is offensive!?"
Augusto raised his hand "Because men need to be men and women need to be women!"
"But why? A gay man is still a man!"
Everyone laughed in confusion. Bunch of ignorant idiots.
"Why don't you go on the front of the class and tell us what you think, Dias?"
"I think I will."
I got up and stood in front of the whole class.
"Being gay isn't bad at all. It's not wrong, and it's not like anyone had a choice! No one wakes up and goes "Now I want to like this" Or "Now I want to like that". It is something you're born with!
I'm not sure what else I said after this part. August was giggling.
"...And if you think what I'm saying is funny, go fuck yourself!"
Everyone instantly shut up.
"I..."
I don't remember much after this, but my teacher grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me a bit to the left. He supported me, but I can't remember what he said. I just remember he told me "But you wanted to say something, still. What is it?"
I thought this was the perfect moment to come out. But I couldn't, not yet. I just said something like "It just bothers me to see people use this an an offense. What is the choice of people like this? You're the wrong ones! Just like prejudice against black people, or Jews, or anyone is wrong, intolerance against homosexuality is horrible! THAT'S what's wrong!"
The teacher congratulated me and thanked me for being this courageous, standing up to my class, like this. He said that there was no denying that people like this exist for a reason, since the beginning of the human race, and that it was with small yet brave actions like this one that I would play my part in society, and help to change, even if just a bit.
He told me to sit down, and said one more thing before starting his class. "And remember, never throw rocks at glass. Because a shattered glass, can never be mended."
I was shaking. What were people thinking of me? Was I a joke? I payed attention to the class, and as soon as it was over, Tomás came to my table and apologized. He said he didn't mean anything he said, and that he was stupid... I told him "I know it was just a joke, but..."
"But it offended you. I'm really sorry. If you need anything, I'm here for you."
He's normally a jerk to me, so it was very surprising to hear him say something like that.
I went to the bathroom to wash my face, since I was really nervous, even though I wasn't crying. I just wanted to breath in and out. I could hear voices from some people from my class, and I just opened the bathroom door. Surprisingly, the sound got lower. I closed the door and there it was again.
"...And then he was like "Go fuck yourself!"
It was coming from the girls' bathroom. Were the girls gossiping about me?
I went back to the class. There were some of the popular guys. I avoided eye contact and walked in the class.
"There he is!" Some girls shouted. I thought for sure, this is it, bracing myself, but they just said stuff like "That was amazing! You're so great!"
There was a girl with teary eyes, and she's tough as stone, she told me she got really emotional when I was out there. Another one said I was her idol, he hero!
Many people came to pat me on my back, but I was really bothered that Rodrigo, someone who used to be a huge friend of mine, didn't even dare to look me in the eye.
Either way, the same douches from the first class still were like "No fucking way we're apologizing, right bro?" and asked me "Why do you defend them so much?"
"Because they're human beings, and have their rights."
"Okay, but why get out of your way to do it?"
"...And why not, Renan? Why don't you go up there and give us your arguments?"
"Hum... because..."
"It's because you don't even know why you're being an idiot. You don't have any arguments in your favor."
"Dude, if I'm homophobic, don't you have to respect that too?"
"No, because even though I just gave you about 20 reasons on why not to be, you're still being a dick. Why disrespect another person on these circumstances?"
In the end, I do feel like I went out winning. I know most people from the class congratulated me, and i know that Eduardo(My Religious Studies teacher) Is a big gossiper since my math teacher knew about it right away.
I actually met him later, and he said "I couldn't get that scene out of my head, and... do you allow me to ask you one thing?"
I already knew what, and I felt like i could trust him. "...Sure..."
"Are you?"
He said there definitely were some hints, but he didn't really form the puzzle, and that he didn't want to say anything that would make things awkward for me, so he let me speak.
He told me it was great and that I should feel indignant and protect myself, but to be careful to not to anything that could end up hurting me in the end.
My math teacher also asked me and I ended up telling her and explaining. That probably explained some stuff i did during her classes... She said it was all about accepting myself, and that other people were just too childish and immature to get it.
One word that definitely defines me... Brave, even though I AM a coward.
I'm proud of myself, and I think I gave inspiration and hope to many people from my class. I really hope what I did yesterday DID matter to more people than one.
I didn't want to post this as a Thread before, but I feel that is was a great achievement of mine and it was something really important for me to do.
It was probably my most heroic action so far and hopefully it helped many people in my class besides me.
We were on the first period, it was Religious Studies.
I was thinking a lot since yesterday about defending gay rights in public. So there were some guys saying some shit about me, and one of them called the other "Haha, faggot. FAGGOT!"
I asked him 'Can I ask you an honest question? Were you offended when he called you a faggot?'
'No.'
'What about you, Tomás, did you mean to use it as an offense?'
"Yeah, kind of"
"Why is faggot an offense?" I lost a lot of memory from the moment since i have a bit of memory loss but I'll type what I remember.
Not much time passed when another guy, called Renan, used the word again: faggot.
"Did you hear what I just said? Is that even an offense?"
"Of course it is!"
"Tell me, why?"
He just laughed. Most of the class was quiet, staring at the argument.
"Tell me! Why?"
The teacher said "Argue, Renan."
"Shut up, Dias" said Daniel, another asshole from my class.
"N. You ARE going to answer me."
I looked around the class.
"ANYONE here have ANY reason for why being gay is bad!? Why being called that is offensive!?"
Augusto raised his hand "Because men need to be men and women need to be women!"
"But why? A gay man is still a man!"
Everyone laughed in confusion. Bunch of ignorant idiots.
"Why don't you go on the front of the class and tell us what you think, Dias?"
"I think I will."
I got up and stood in front of the whole class.
"Being gay isn't bad at all. It's not wrong, and it's not like anyone had a choice! No one wakes up and goes "Now I want to like this" Or "Now I want to like that". It is something you're born with!
I'm not sure what else I said after this part. August was giggling.
"...And if you think what I'm saying is funny, go fuck yourself!"
Everyone instantly shut up.
"I..."
I don't remember much after this, but my teacher grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me a bit to the left. He supported me, but I can't remember what he said. I just remember he told me "But you wanted to say something, still. What is it?"
I thought this was the perfect moment to come out. But I couldn't, not yet. I just said something like "It just bothers me to see people use this an an offense. What is the choice of people like this? You're the wrong ones! Just like prejudice against black people, or Jews, or anyone is wrong, intolerance against homosexuality is horrible! THAT'S what's wrong!"
The teacher congratulated me and thanked me for being this courageous, standing up to my class, like this. He said that there was no denying that people like this exist for a reason, since the beginning of the human race, and that it was with small yet brave actions like this one that I would play my part in society, and help to change, even if just a bit.
He told me to sit down, and said one more thing before starting his class. "And remember, never throw rocks at glass. Because a shattered glass, can never be mended."
I was shaking. What were people thinking of me? Was I a joke? I payed attention to the class, and as soon as it was over, Tomás came to my table and apologized. He said he didn't mean anything he said, and that he was stupid... I told him "I know it was just a joke, but..."
"But it offended you. I'm really sorry. If you need anything, I'm here for you."
He's normally a jerk to me, so it was very surprising to hear him say something like that.
I went to the bathroom to wash my face, since I was really nervous, even though I wasn't crying. I just wanted to breath in and out. I could hear voices from some people from my class, and I just opened the bathroom door. Surprisingly, the sound got lower. I closed the door and there it was again.
"...And then he was like "Go fuck yourself!"
It was coming from the girls' bathroom. Were the girls gossiping about me?
I went back to the class. There were some of the popular guys. I avoided eye contact and walked in the class.
"There he is!" Some girls shouted. I thought for sure, this is it, bracing myself, but they just said stuff like "That was amazing! You're so great!"
There was a girl with teary eyes, and she's tough as stone, she told me she got really emotional when I was out there. Another one said I was her idol, he hero!
Many people came to pat me on my back, but I was really bothered that Rodrigo, someone who used to be a huge friend of mine, didn't even dare to look me in the eye.
Either way, the same douches from the first class still were like "No fucking way we're apologizing, right bro?" and asked me "Why do you defend them so much?"
"Because they're human beings, and have their rights."
"Okay, but why get out of your way to do it?"
"...And why not, Renan? Why don't you go up there and give us your arguments?"
"Hum... because..."
"It's because you don't even know why you're being an idiot. You don't have any arguments in your favor."
"Dude, if I'm homophobic, don't you have to respect that too?"
"No, because even though I just gave you about 20 reasons on why not to be, you're still being a dick. Why disrespect another person on these circumstances?"
In the end, I do feel like I went out winning. I know most people from the class congratulated me, and i know that Eduardo(My Religious Studies teacher) Is a big gossiper since my math teacher knew about it right away.
I actually met him later, and he said "I couldn't get that scene out of my head, and... do you allow me to ask you one thing?"
I already knew what, and I felt like i could trust him. "...Sure..."
"Are you?"
He said there definitely were some hints, but he didn't really form the puzzle, and that he didn't want to say anything that would make things awkward for me, so he let me speak.
He told me it was great and that I should feel indignant and protect myself, but to be careful to not to anything that could end up hurting me in the end.
My math teacher also asked me and I ended up telling her and explaining. That probably explained some stuff i did during her classes... She said it was all about accepting myself, and that other people were just too childish and immature to get it.
One word that definitely defines me... Brave, even though I AM a coward.
I'm proud of myself, and I think I gave inspiration and hope to many people from my class. I really hope what I did yesterday DID matter to more people than one.
Edited by Kinode