Hello there!
Some folks call me Charles, some folks call me Ásbjørn. I'm a music major studying vocal performance. I'm also a budding composer, and ethnomusicologist. Music is my life, and some of my fondest birthdays have been spent entirely in rehearsals and performances. You'll likely find this page to be as scatter-brained as I am. So, I encourage you to watch your step for the duration of your stay. <3 +++++++++++++++++
Is America Really Going to Elect a Bully Like Mitt Romney?
“Do you like that, faggot?” he asked, waving the hotdog wiener in my face. “Come on, you know you like it.”
I awkwardly tried to avert my eyes and focused instead on my lunch tray. I had been through this many times before. This was the drill. Just ignore him and he’ll lose interest and go away. Don’t acknowledge him, don’t even look at him…
Then I felt the cold, wet slap of a hotdog wiener across my face.
“I’m talking to you faggot!” he said.
I wiped my face with my napkin and continued to look down at my food.
It wouldn’t do any good to fight back. He was three times bigger than me and the rest of the school would no doubt be on his side if I tried to defend myself. I was a slightly effeminate, nerdy kid in a small town in Oklahoma. Teachers didn’t even like me, much less the students.
No, the best plan of action was to try to not call attention to myself and just keep looking down at my stupid lunch tray.
“I thought you liked wieners!” he said, him being the persistent prick he was. “What’s wrong? You don’t like my wiener?”
My experiences with bullying stick with me to this day. They still haunt me, and unfortunately, they left me with quite a few issues to work out.
But there was some poetic justice for me. I went to college, came out of the closet, became fabulous, and my bullies are probably creeping on my Facebook right now and crying and trying to call me to apologize but they can’t because I changed my number. At least, in my mind, that’s what’s up.
Of course, not every victim is so lucky. While my bullies are busy being non-factors, I know one bully who apparently never had to answer for his crimes… and he’s running for president of the United States.
While in prep school, Mitt Romney orchestrated an attack on an openly gay classmate. Romney and his cohorts pinned a student named John Lauber to the ground and cut his hair off. Lauber had apparently returned from spring break with long, blond hair over one eye.
Romney, during the act, said things like “he can’t look like that!” and “that’s wrong!”
Lauber according to eye-witness reports, only cried and screamed.
And that’s not all. Romney also harassed a closeted student named Gary Hummel by yelling out “atta girl!” every time Hummel answered a question in class.
John Lauber has since passed away, and it doesn’t seem like Romney ever apologized or even regretted harassing him. I mean, unless you count what he told Fox News about the incident:
“I don’t remember that.”
His classmates, however, seem to remember. Fiver other students gave their account of what happened, and all agreed that the incident still troubles them to this day.
I can only imagine what it would be like for Lauber if he was still alive. I think about how I would feel if one of my bullies ever became a viable candidate for president of the United States. What a scary thought.
There are some who dismiss this as a prank - but let’s be clear, bullying is a serious issue, and it is a tactic employed by weak-minded and insecure to feel bigger than someone else and better about themselves.
How would you feel if someone who had tormented you was running for such an esteemed and respected office? How would you feel if it had been your child that was pinned down and attacked?
…And Romney wants to pretend like this issue is irrelevant?
In a time when LGBT youth are killing themselves because of bullying, how exactly is this irrelevant?
Let me tell you something. Mitt Romney is no different from the guy who called me a faggot in the lunch room and hit me with his slimy, wet wiener.
Okay, that was gross. But you understand.
The only difference is that Romney is a grown up now and is expressing his hatred for people who are different in other ways - check his stance on same-sex marriage, for example.
So now we know the truth - Mitt Romney is a bully. So now my question for you is… what are you going to do about it? Are you just going to sit there looking at your lunch tray hoping that he just goes away, or are you going to get up and vote in November?
I don’t know about you, but I won’t be voting for a bully. I hope you’ll share this if you feel the same.
This is from where I live, and since its original posting date, has garnered a significant amount of attention from the internet and various political camps. They have cited their own outrage as a breach of civil rights, and I cannot blame them for citing the obvious.
This is in the wake of civil disobedience in the Pensacola area, over the course of weeks and months. The meeting before was being held to discuss a movement to effectively criminalize homelessness in Pensacola, by outlawing the use of materials to shield oneself from the elements. The implication there would ban tents from being set up, of course. It isn’t the first, but a reaction to an earlier outrage. Looks like it sparked another.
I have no words to properly reflect my feelings on the subject matter. I’ll let it speak for itself.
Note: Listing the following sites for their relevance to the original video recording.
http://www.pensacoladigest.com/2011/12/council-urges-civility-threatens-priest-with-police-removal/
http://www.pnj.com/article/20111219/NEWS01/111219005/Speaker-s-City-Council-shutdown-video-hit?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Interview of Fr. Monk, gives some context for the video (TW: Fox affiliated venue):
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/freedom-watch/index.html#/v/1336390024001/defending-our-god-given-liberties/?playlist_id=158146
http://www.dailypaul.com/194297/priest-kicked-out-of-city-council-for-free-speech
To Chick-Fil-A, Truett Cathy, and the WinShape Foundation:
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you saying that I can no longer, in good conscience, patronize your establishment. Nor can I partake of your delicious, succulent, juicy chicken.
I mean, I would like to. Oh trust me, I would! But the beef (ha!) I have with you isn’t about your chicken. Your chicken is actually quite good. Your ongoing support of anti-gay organizations and hate groups, however, is what has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.I had deduced that your business was religious - meaning I noticed it was always closed on Sundays and I just sort of guessed. And that’s fine. I live in Oklahoma and I know plenty of Christian businesses who do the same thing. That much never bothered me.
I never really knew what Chick-Fil-A’s opinion of gays was, but I probably wouldn’t have cared. You are free to have whatever rampantly bigoted views you choose to hold, and I have the right to call them just that. If one of the Chick-Fil-A cows were a homophobe, I’d hope he’d have the common courtesy to at least keep that to himself and we would be fine.
But then you had to do it to me. You just had to push me away. You went and donated $2 million, money that customers like me helped you make, to anti-gay organizations like the Pennsylvania Family Institute. These are people who have said that striking down Prop 8 was a direct hit to human civilization. They’ve said same-sex marriage threatens children, hurts families, and punishes society by caving in to a radical sexual revolution.
I’ve checked your tab, and apparently that’s not the only anti-gay organization you support:
- Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199
- Focus On The Family: $12,500
- Exodus International: $1,000
Oh, that Exodus International one is a low blow, Chick-Fil-A, because that group’s entire purpose is to eliminate and “cure” homosexuality like it’s a mental disorder.
And then you sent out a message saying you’re not anti-gay and that you respect LGBT people. But then, well, this:
http://news.change.org/stories/yes-chick-fil-a-says-we-explicitly-do-not-like-same-sex-couples
That’s an odd definition of respect. And you’re absolutely sure you’re not anti-gay?
Come on, just admit you don’t like me. It’s pretty obvious. You’ve given money to organizations who are actively trying to make sure I don’t get to enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples. You have helped fund hate groups who, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, are listed right alongside the KKK.
So I think you’ve made it pretty clear how you feel. Now here’s how I feel.
I refuse to spend my money at a business that supports hate, and I encourage others to do the same.
Maybe you think a small number of people boycotting won’t make much of a difference. And, you know, that may be true.
But when I think that even so much as a penny, a single freaking penny of my money went to Exodus International and helped fund their sick, perverse practices of “curing” gay people, it breaks my heart.
It makes me physically ill to think that a single cent of the money I paid to eat your chicken goes to a hate group who clearly disagrees with my very existence. And when I think, even for a second, that I have in any way helped a group who is trying to undermine my civil rights… well, it makes me want to puke.
And suddenly, I’m not so hungry anymore. No matter how tasty the chicken might be.
But hey, if you meant what you said about not being anti-gay, and if you’re half as Christian as you claim to be, then I’ve got a proposition for you.
Homelessness among LGBT youths is rampant, and charities and churches all over America are struggling to provide them with food, shelter, and a positive environment. Even if you think their sexual orientation is a choice, they are still human beings - and they are suffering.
Here’s one organization that could sure use some help:
http://www.aliforneycenter.org/And even if you don’t feel like giving a monetary donation… I bet those homeless teens could really go for some free chicken.
Just a thought.
I certainly hope that you have read all of this and heard me out. I also hope that, one day, I may again enjoy one of your chicken sandwiches with extra pickles and waffle fries. It was my favorite!
Until Chick-Fil-A stops supporting these hate groups, however, my morals will simply not allow it.
Sign the petition!
http://www.change.org/petitions/support-lgbt-rights-and-tell-chick-fil-a-hate-is-not-okayWatch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1sJgHU2DNw&context=C2865dADOEgsToPDskJP3piHkFUqmvhpTd5Xm62F