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Tennessee after-school Satan club holds first meeting despite protests
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2024
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The Gay-Straight Alliances formed back in the 90s were critical to establishing the LGBT population as a real and recognizable social cohort in need of a distinct codified set of legal rights. Prior to the formation of these groups, it was entirely too common for kids to be taught in school that gay relationships were a sign of physical and sexual abuse, a mental illness, and a moral perversion. Having a community in the school of out-kids who could testify to the contrary made a huge difference in how the subsequent generation of students (and their parents - I got to watch in real time family friends go from implicit bigots to LGBT advocates) perceived of the LGBT population.
Being united doesn't stop the bullying immediately. But it brings bullying into sharp relief and turns it into a conflict between groups rather than a social stigma against individuals.
I don't disagree with you, but these are the first group of kids doing this club, so they're going to face the brunt of the bullying, which is why I said they were brave and why I hope it doesn't scar them.
They likely already were facing a lot of bullying. I'm old enough to remember people claiming that being gay meant you could give people AIDS from a toilet seat. I had a Health textbook that described "gay bowel syndrome" as a chronic condition caused by intimacy. Nevermind the teacher-sponsored religious groups that talked about how sinful it was to express any kind of affection towards one another. Just enormous amounts of misinformation, fear, and hate. And if you were a singular Out voice, it all got directed at you.
Clubs like this are as much an immediate defensive measure and emotional support group as a long-term progressive spearhead.
Which isn't to say that spearheading the project doesn't take an immense amount of bravery (and hard work and some exceptional social skills). But I think it mistakes the pre-organized LGBT community as somehow enjoying security through obscurity, rather than a population that simply suffered in silence.