School officials canceled public performances of “The Bullying Collection”, telling organizers it did not conform to school values. Scenes in the play include one student confronting another for bullying a gay student.

Oliver Baez spent two months rehearsing a scene for a school play in which his character confronts another student about bullying a gay student who takes his own life.

After much preparation, the 12-year-old’s small scene turned into a big problem among school officials in Wheatland, Wyoming. At the last minute they canceled the anti-bullying play, saying it did not conform to school values and leaving the young cast without a stage.

“It was awful,” Baez said. “For the school to cancel it, it’s like saying that ‘LGBTQ should not be included in a society.’ Which is really awful and cruel.”

Twenty-five years after a watershed moment for the gay rights movement — the murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student in a university town not far from Wheatland — the canceled performances of “The Bullying Collection” show how far the LGBTQ+ community still has to go to gain acceptance in Wyoming and elsewhere.

…

A local theater group, the Platte County Players, has permission to perform there and salvaged the rights to the play and sponsored the performance a month later at the high school, as originally planned.

  • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
    281·
    10 months ago

    they canceled the anti-bullying play, saying it did not conform to school values

    So Wheatland schools are pro-bullying. That’s an odd stance for them to be taking.

    • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
      161·
      10 months ago

      People are tired of bigotry. Living a false life and pretending to love someone you don’t honours nobody.

      Your false honesty and false compassion is less Christian than gay people being themselves. Jesus said do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

      • gaifux@lemmy.world
        216·
        10 months ago

        Yes. I remember when I had to sit my father down and tell him his whole “family” thing was patently false ideology, showed him all the LGBT studies and he eventually agreed. He then came to me and told me something that was truly hard for him- turns out, he has a natural desire for women other than my mother. Since birth, or puberty or whatever. So in true LGBT fashion we brought him to a legal brothel in Montreal so he could be his own true fabulous self! My mom seems not too keen on all this but that woman is totally right wing regressive n stuff “you made a promise of fidelity to me”. Like c’mon it’s 2024 marriage is for the tax savings, doesn’t really mean anything now so there’s no honor in honoring your wife nemore. Gotta give her time. I’ve seen her eyeing the pool boy so maybe it’s time for her coming out party lol

        • force@lemmy.world
          7·
          10 months ago

          I mean if you don’t love your partner you shouldn’t be in a relationship with your partner, unless that relationship brings other things that convince you to stay with them. If you’re unhappy with your monogamous relationship and want to pursue a non-monogamous relationship, then that’s your decision to leave your current relationship.

          Nobody should have to stay with someone they don’t love, and nobody should have to stay in a relationship they are unhappy with. And conversely, everyone should be able to be in a consensual relationship with someone they love, and everyone should be able to be in a consensual relationship that they’re happy with. If your relationship makes you unhappy, you have no personal obligation to stay in it, and if your relationship makes you happy, you have no personal obligation to leave it.

          Also you have no obligation to your parents or outsiders at all for that matter. They don’t “deserve” to decide your entire life just because they fucked without protection one day. Don’t let other people control your happiness, especially not cultist nutjobs.

          If you want to marry for tax purposes only, there’s nothing wrong with that. Marriage in the current sense is an entirely legal concept, and only exists for legal purposes.

          Like I’m sorry if you regret your relationship choice and you’re unhappy with it, that you’re sexually unattracted to your wife and have such strong sexual and/or romantic urges for other people that you want to cheat on her / are so untrusting of your wife that you’re paranoid that she wants to cheat on you, and you felt you’ve gone in too deep to pull out of it, but that’s on you and entirely your problem. Don’t get into a relationship if you know from the start that you’re going to be unhappy with it, and don’t stay in a relationship and waste everyone’s time and emotional effort if it makes you miserable. It’s pretty obvious but I guess some people have a hard time understanding it.

          • gaifux@lemmy.world
            18·
            10 months ago

            Exactly. I for one encourage fathers to leave their wives the second they are challenged or bored of it. For the good of society. Kids gotta grow up some day and learn they don’t necessarily need a father or discipline and financial stability. I mean, if they aren’t always happy how can society ever get there? Proud of young minds like yours that see through the BS and understand that indeed, it’s all about your happiness.

            • force@lemmy.world
              51·
              10 months ago

              If you take boredom or challenge as making your relationship miserable I guess. I don’t think your wife would want to be chained to someone that’s so irresponsible or delusional as to play strawman like this, so you’d probably be doing her a favor… assuming you have a wife (I doubt you do nor ever will but I have to suspend my disbelief sometimes).

                • force@lemmy.world
                  51·
                  10 months ago

                  Not cruel, just stating the obvious. Like if you’re that unstable, causing any amount of change to make you extremely unhappy with your relationship, you probably shouldn’t be in the relationship to begin with. You shouldn’t have kids in the first place even, like if you’re that quick to commit to something you know next to nothing about, that is an issue entirely caused by your selfishness and/or impulsiveness.

                  The only obligation you have is to your kids, because you made the decision to bring them into this world and you’re responsible for cursing them with existence, you have no obligation to your relationship or your parents or anyone else for that matter.

        • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
          3·
          10 months ago

          The part you are missing is consent of all parties.

          Also, any studies obviously, as you’re just making stuff up, but alluding to studies.

          Yes, c’mon it’s 2024, do people still really believe lgbtqi+ people should lead false lives and that’s good for them, or society or children.

          There’s no hate like Christian love.

        • Miaou@jlai.lu
          31·
          10 months ago

          I upvoted because you made me laugh but I’m actually worrying you might be having a stroke.

    • CarniMoss@lemmings.world
      8·
      10 months ago

      Ah okay so my mistake was being born. Well the fact that I exist on the same planet as shitty people like you may prove that point.

    • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
      6·
      10 months ago

      At first I thought you meant we were all getting tired of “this stuff” meaning like schools wasting time being anti-lgbt, but I think you might be on the opposite side of this issue?

      Or Poe’s law? I mean look at your user name. I have no idea what to believe about this.