October 19, 2012

Spirit Day

Spirit Day
Today is Spirit Day.

To the uninitiated, Spirit Day might seem simply a day of support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, which it is, but it is a specific support that goes well above and beyond just this one group of people.....or at least it should.

Spirit Day is about stopping bullying, which does have a much broader impact because it isn't just the LGBT community that gets bullied.


Think back to your school days.....odds are if you cannot recall any instances where you were bullied then you were probably the bully.  Sometimes, I'd argue most times, it is a vicious cycle where those that get bullied later become bullies themselves.

Bullying can sometimes be subtle, especially if it is online.

An associate of mine gave a 5 minute speech at last night's Ignite Boise.  The whole idea of these brief presentations is to spark ideas and dialogue, and this guy did an admirable job.  Presenters and participants are encouraged to support each other and to take the conversation to social media.  The comments on twitter were generally supportive, except for several made by one presenter absolutely blasting the final presenter of the evening.

Instead of trying to start a dialogue this presenter went out of his way to denigrate the last speaker and made it clear he wasn't willing to discuss the issue.
The Contradictory Joss Gross

If this isn't a great example of bullying someone online......

This is just a one-shot and doesn't even compare to a long-standing campaign of bullying that some people have to endure.  My point is we shouldn't put up with any bullying.

Yes, today is Spirit Day and the focus is on stopping the bullying of LGBT teens more than anything.  Wear your purple......change your icons and show some support.  Tomorrow, when Spirit Day is over, go visit itgetsbetter.org and show some real support for these folks.  The day after that start looking to stop bullying in your everyday life.

I realize that I might not be the best communicator in putting my thoughts down, so I'll try to be blunt, especially for those of you who might think that being LGBT is somehow "wrong".  I know odds are you haven't bothered to read down to the end of this post, but I want to be clear.

Bullying is wrong.  If you don't approve of someone or something, bullying someone about it doesn't make it right.

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