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I just wanted to have a thread here because I read someone that completely confused me and upset me but at the same time I understood. I also wanted your views on here and whether this is a cause everyone here would feel comfortable participating in. I would like to put a purple ribbon on the front page but only if everyone in the guild is comfortable with it.

For those who don't know what the purple campaign is it is the campaign to stop bullying in the gay/bisexual/lesbian/transgendered community. Before you guys get mixed up I am 100% for it. It started with the recent increase in suicides of GBLT teens. I think the biggest story being the boy who was outed as gay over the internet when he was being taped with his boyfried without their knowledge. He was so upset over being outed that he ended his life.

I was just on my deviantart account and 1 of the people I am watching posted a journal about boycotting deviantart while the purple campaign is happening because she didn't agree with it. I am just going to take the entire journal entry and post it here so that you can see exactly what she wrote that way it's not my version of what she said.

"I am not going to be on Deviantart until Saturday.
I'm not telling you this because I feel so high-and-mighty that some of you will miss me for 2 days, but I thought if I was going to do this, I'd better buck up and tell everyone why.

I do not support this LGBT Purple thing they have going on right now.
Now, before you start throwing rocks, I am not a homophobe, nor do I hate people with alternative lifestyles.
I have a few gay friends, and my roommate, whom I love, is bisexual. I know some of my watchers have alternative lifestyles and I love them just the same as the others, so I am not prejudice in any way.

However, this is a moral issue for me. I do not, and never will, be OK with the act of homosexuality. I don't believe it is necessary or right.
Yes, this is a faith thing, but please don't get angry at God for this, because He doesn't hate homosexuals or transvestites or bisexuals either. He made every single person on purpose, knowing what mistakes they will make and what good works they will do.
On the other hand, never in the Bible is the act of homosexuality tolerated (1 Cor 6:8-10). In some passages it is even considered a curse.
Homosexuality does not define the person. They are not the sin, and so God and I love them.
I'm not saying they are lucky that people love them, but making sure you know I do love them, just like people love me even though I'm a lazy slob. ;P

I'm not against people standing up for their beliefs. What Deviantart is trying to do here is a noble effort. I am simply exercising my right to not believe what they believe.

Also, I am a bit confused as to why this Purple thing is only limited to LGBT bullying. What about racism, sexism, religious persecution, and general cyber-bullying? Of course homosexuals, etc. should never be bullied, but neither should anyone else.
I'm sitting this one out. But I encourage you all, during this time, to not only remember those in the LGBT community who are bullied, but the fat girls, the Muslim kids, and the Hispanics who are also discriminated against in this country.
They deserve our sympathy as well, especially those who did not choose their way of life.

Sorry for the rant, but if I didn't explain I would be putting my faith in a closet, and I want to be true with you all and myself.
Much love and God bless!" iesnoth on Deviantart

Now for my opinion. First I want to say that I feel everyone has the right to believe in whatever they want. No one has the right to say you are wrong. And I am in no way saying anyone is wrong. I'm confused because I don't understand how you can be ok with something and have friends in the GBLT community but believe that it's wrong. I just don't understand if someone does can they explain it to me, how can you be friends with someone if you don't agree with "their life style choice". I think ontop of it for me it's hard to understand why people feel that way in general because it's not something I ever considered bad in the first place. I have a hard enough time understanding why people think being gay is a choice because honestly I didn't choose to be straight it just happened (not saying I want to be bi or a lesbian although I tried to force it once cause I don't have many straight friends but I digress). I don't see why people have a problem with the idea of being with the same gender, you can't help who you love it's as simple as that for me but I understand that not everyone thinks that and just as I have the right to think what I do so do people who disagree. I think this is a great cause because it draws attention to one specific group. Just as Tyra banks has her acceptance shows where she talks about the bullying on big girls. I want to quote a user off deviantart because I feel they said it way better than me.

"The color purple is associated with homosexuality. Don't ask; it just is.

They're doing this now because they should have done it a long time ago. Fat girls, cyber bullying, muslims, hispanics... they've all gotten a lot of attention in the past few years. I can't count how many television programs i've seen dedicated to insecure (usually over-weight) kids, and the have been multiple ones for cyber bullying because it is also a problem that has made several kids commit suicide. The Muslims and Hispanics have been getting a lot of news time, too. But only recently has the gay community been shoved into the spotlight again. It's because of that kid, who had his personal privacy invaded when his partner's roommate left the webcam on on the computer and video taped... well, you get the idea. The roommate posted it on the internet, which is totally not cool, and makes this a case of cyber bullying as well. He committed suicide, and because of the cyber bullying aspect, it wound up on the news. Which brought attention to several other cases just this month (er... and I guess part of last month) where at least three other homosexual teenagers committed suicide due to bullying and the sort. A lot of people are starting to realize this is an actual issue. That's why.

This isn't the first time we've noticed a problem within the homosexual, teenage community, but so far this is the most active one. It's one thing to have a general "teen bullying is bad." A completely different one to focus on one community. It's more powerful this way, and most other groups have gotten special attention in the past. The only one that /hasn't/ is, unfortunately, transgenders. They're at just a great of risk as gays; the two groups have many things in common, and transgenders are less understood. But for whatever reason trans has found its way into being one of the most controversial things /ever/ and I haven't seen /one/ televised broadcast dedicated to it." Artykawaii on deviantart

I also wanted to add in that we do have a fight against bullying day. Has anyone ever worn pink to school? The campaign this year is for February 23 Facebook Link for Pink Shirt Day


I wanted to start this thread because I think it is a topic to discuss and while I didn't necessarily need to quote these 2 people I think they were 2 points of views on this I was interested in reading so I thought it would be something interesting to share. What do you guys think about thinking purple? I think I'm also excited cause it's my favorite colour and my power colour lol.


Lastly this poll is for us to see if we want to post a purple ribbon on the front page of our guild to show our support. If you think we shouldn't don't be afraid to click no, if I get even 1 no we won't wear purple it's as simple as that. And if you are nervous remember we have no way of knowing who voted for what so only you will know you were the one who voted yes or no.

The reason that we are mourning these deaths is not because we are gay, not because we support LGBTQ people, not because we agree with their lifestyle. Although I don't see why someone can disagree with this. Did you ever go up to your parents and say "mom, dad I have something to tell you. I'm straight" This has nothing to do with it. We are wearing purple because we don't believe that any person should be bullied, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The purple is to show that we don't accept this as the right thing to do, to bully people into such a position where they take their own lives.



I think as people who have faced the stigma of bullying we shouldn't turn our backs on this. With this campaign we are supporting each other as much as the GLBT community. I would also like us to post a pink t-shirt or pick a new colour ribbon that doesn't already represent something (because quite frankly when I See pink I think of breast cancer) and create our own ribbon to represent anti-bullying in general or if we're creating it for ourselves we can have it for anti-bullying against different views such as our own. Tell me what you guys think about this as well. We can just have a string of ribbons at the bottom and then below that what each ribbons means and stands for.

This event has my full support, because all people deserve to be treated the same, no matter who they love.

I'll admit that i am not completely sure of my own sexuality at the moment, and i think it's only fair that the world be a place where people can discover real love without fear of torment or ridicule.

All love is love, and it's wrong for anyone to try and tell an individual that their emotions and feelings are wrong.

heart