With great social networking, comes great social networking responsibility.
Using new social media outlets such as Facebook and YouTube, the average schoolyard bully can now taunt and tease on a whole new level. The gay community has borne more than their share of these attacks – with the repercussions ranging from getting fired to committing suicide.
When Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell got sacked for bashing openly gay student-body president Chris Armstrong at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, the attorney general originally determined no disciplinary action would be taken for fear it violated his basic right to freedom of speech.
It is hard to believe that the U.S. founding fathers had Shirvell’s prejudiced opinions in mind while implementing this freedom into the Bill of Rights. Shirvell's blog, “Chris Armstrong Watch” included rainbow flags with Nazi symbols. The attorney general himself said of Shirvell: “he’s clearly a bully.”
This decision was later overturned, and the assistant attorney general was later dismissed ultimately because he “repeatedly violated office policies, engaged in borderline stalking behavior and inappropriately used state resources.”
In this new world of social media bullying, it is all too easy for anyone to publicly harass and attack a person purely for their sexual orientation by clicking a few keys.
The issue of privacy laws and the Internet has always been a case of treading carefully. With rapid advances in technology, it is becoming more difficult to protect our individual privacy.
In September, a student at Rutgers University changed his Facebook status to “jumping off the (George Washington) bridge sorry” because his roommate posted a video on Twitter of him having sex with another man. And then he jumped.
Bullying has long since left the playground and moved to much bigger arenas. Social media allows its victims to be publicly humiliated in front of scores of people and the emotional turmoil remains much longer than any physical bruises a schoolyard bully could inflict.
But there is a rainbow of hope for the gay community.
Social networking not only has the ability to condemn, but also to create awareness and sympathy.
For example, campaigns such as “It Gets Better” have gone global. The campaign is aimed at GLBT high school students who have felt bullied in any form and reminds them that there is something better to look forward to. Even celebrities have got into the act. Comedian Wanda Sykes and Family Channel star Hilary Duff appear in commercials denouncing the use of the word ‘gay’ as a negative comment or insult.
While there have been efforts to curb the effects of cyber bullying, it’s still a far cry from where it should be. It’s about time that as a society we recognize all citizens deserve the basic freedom to love whomever they wish and those who disagree should just get over it.