I myself am not gay but I know what it’s like to be bullied because you are different.
As a young kid it started with braces on my legs, add in a learning disability and my life was hell for quite a few years.
Oddly enough when I was in Jr High and early High School, I was simultaneously taunted with "Nerd" by the Jocks and Burn Out crowd and shoved into lockers and also shunned by the Nerds and called "Burn Out"....eventually I learned to use humor to connect and managed to crawl somewhat up the social ranks and avoided ridicule by my Junior year and gained some popularity/notoriety by the time I graduated.
As an adult bullying is no longer acceptable behavior, so they change the description to things like bigotry and harassment.
I have been harassed because folks think I am gay, why else would I carry a wallet in my back pocket and have gay friends?
I have been discriminated against on so many things from being Christian, adopted, a non-custodial Mother, as PWT, as a blonde and then as a red head, to even being picked on for being a person of mixed race.
The plain and simple truth is that some folks are just plain mean or in order to feel important, they belittle others, and if you give them a chance you will be bullied for turning oxygen into carbon dioxide...
In the spirit of folks donating their FB posts/status to the awareness of different causes, today I donated my FB status to Trekkies of all genders, race, religion and orientation that have come out or will come out of the Star Trek closet. It’s not easy my little closeted Trekker compadres, but it will get better.
Watching Star Trek as a kid provided escapism and helped me deal with daily bullying, it gave me hope for a future where things would be different, but made me a target for ridicule ever since.
For decades Trekkies have been bullied. And people wonder why I.T. techs are so condescending and bitter.
One time after a ST event, when I wore a Next Generation Uniform while on a Mountain Dew run at a grocery store, an idiot in a football jersey and a big Blue “M” painted on his face, repeatedly pushed my ST badge saying “Beam Me Up Scotty” and made alien sex jokes while his Neanderthal buddies giggled in unison holding their cases of beer.
Trekkies as a group have been sneered upon by media and victims of condescending jerks everywhere. We’ve been shoved in school lockers and mocked on TV, even by our own ST heroes....
It’s funny how one group of people who believe in a vision of the future where there is no bigotry or greed, where people of all races, genders and orientation work together for the greater good are constantly mocked and belittled. Granted some Trekkers or Trekkies take it to the extreme with their pointed ears, uniforms and Klingonese.
With a recent retooling for a Blockbuster ST movie by JJ Abrams and a popular TV show about nerds in prime time, Trekkies are going mainstream ya’ll!
I came out of my Star Trek Closet 19 years ago and haven't looked back, I was a Trekkie before it was cool.
Sure WE are the nerds that hoard toys, figurines and other items from a plethora of available Star Trek Merchandise, say goofy things and wear odd clothing.
BUT:
WE also do blood drives and collect clothes for charity.
WE volunteer at homeless shelters and stock the shelves at food banks
WE support the humane society and Amnesty International as well as other humanitarian foundations and charities around the world
WE fix your lap tops and are on hand to set up emergency communications in areas that are war torn and devastated by natural disasters.
WE design your computers, cell phones, and medical equipment.
WE are the Engineers that make your cars safe.
WE are the smarty pants people that created flat screen TVs, HD, THX, IMAX and Video Games.
WE are the Doctors and Nurses that treat you in your local emergency rooms.
WE are the Astronauts who pilot the space shuttle.
WE are the Authors who write books that appear on best seller lists.
WE are brilliant Physicists.
WE are award winning Actors, Producers and Directors that make movies that gross billions.
WE are the Humanitarians who spend millions if not billions on relief to Africa.
WE are a President that sits in the White House as I type this.
WE are a man who once said “I have a dream!”
That’s right I am a Trekkie and I am proud!
Blogity Blog, Crapity Crap: the random musings, observations, obsessions and outright rants of a 40 something, thrice married, Mother of 4 with a low income but high expectations. I have no stinking time to write a blog but its cheaper than psychotherapy or shoe shopping....
