Note: I wrote this on Facebook last year, but felt it needed to be reposted today. Yom Kippur started the evening of the 11th and lasted through the 12th. It's a day where we atone for our sins of the previous year, ask for redemption, and feel cleansed for the upcoming year. Please pardon the language but I didn't want to clean the language up to show how people are still talking today.
From October 11, 2016:
I told myself I wasn't gonna post tonight but this is something that truly bothered me.
If you weren't aware, today is National Coming Out Day.
I like to walk to and from synagogue during the high holidays. I've been doing it for over 20 years. As I'm about to cross the street, I hear "Yo, Mr. Saks!" coming from a car waiting at the light. I acknowledge with a wave and continue walking.
As their light turns green and they drive away, I hear them yell "YOU'RE A FAGGOT!"
Right away, I knew it was a student. A teenager. (Someone who should know this word should not be used anymore)
I just kept walking and didn't react. In the classroom or in school setting, I tell kids that I don't like that language because their using the term gay as a negative with horrible connotations.
In 2016, we've made great strides to make people comfortable and be okay with who they were. More and more people are coming out as homosexual.
What happened to me is a big reason why people AREN'T coming out. They're afraid of their peers, of the public, and random strangers attacking them physically, emotionally, and mentally because they are gay.
Now, many people know I'm NOT gay but I have many gay friends who I've made at Temple, Disney, Sesame, and even in high school. I am a supporter of the LGBQT community.
Tonight, is Yom Kippur, where we atone for our sins from the precious year and ask for forgiveness.
To this student, I hope you realize the harm you might be causing someone and you change your ways. Your words can cause damage beyond your comprehension.
Your teenage years are definitely a time for growth, but it's not a time for hate.
If you're a parent, I hope you teach your kids not to yell out profanities and hate words. If you're a parent, I hope you teach your kids that you should accept others for who they are. No one is saying you have to be friends with everyone, but don't hate them because their gay or black or Jewish. Bigotry will get you nowhere.
"You're gay, faggot,etc." and any other derogatory word demeaning homosexuals needs to be erased from our vocabulary.
Please educate yourself and don't spew hate.
