A New Young Hero

I was very active politically back in the 1980-90’s, I marched on Washington DC. I attended political rallies and worked at getting petitions signed. Then I just stopped. I guess I felt that I was just not making a difference. I was so wrong in thinking that one person could not make a difference in the political/social arena. I have discovered a young man that is making a difference here in Tennessee.

Marcel Neergaard is a Tennessee boy who was home-schooled for sixth grade and even contemplated suicide due to severe anti-gay bullying, bullying that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates say could have been fostered in public schools throughout the state if the “Don’t Say Gay” bill had actually passed.  

The bill, rejected in 2012, aimed at banning talk of sexual activity other than "related to natural human reproduction." It was resurrected by Representative John Ragan (R-Tenn.) this year as the "Classroom Protection Act." It included an amendment requiring school officials to inform parents if they have reason to believe the child might be gay. The bill also required schools to provide counseling for such students so as to prevent “behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well-being of the student or another person.” 

 From what I can decipher from reading the bill, it would have required Teachers to respond to students trying to report anti-gay bullying by saying basically “that subject is inappropriate for your age group”. If the student was able to speak to one of the few school officials who can discuss homosexuality such as nurse, counselor, or principal that official would be required by law to report the gay or lesbian student’s sexuality to the student’s parents.

The proposed “Classroom” bill failed in March but prior to that, Regan was honored in 2012 with the educational “Reformer of the Year” award by the StudentsFirst, a group dedicated to defending the interests of children in public schools.

Marcel did not think Regan deserved such an award and wrote a petition to have StudentsFirst retract their award to Regan. Marcel was able to get over 50,000 + signatures for his petition.

StudentsFirst founder Michelle Rhee not only did she rescind the recognition, but Rhee also denounced Ragn’s bill as “ill-conceived and harmful legislation” that would have “cultivated a culture of bullying”.

This young boy is a hero in my eyes and his parents are heroes for supporting their son in this venture. Here is Marcel’s video:   http://youtu.be/U54Px3jvr_Y

So Thank you Marcel for renewing my faith that a single person can make a difference in bringing about political/social change. That one person standing up for what they know is the right thing is a force to be reckoned.

We should all be proud of who we are, we should not let anyone bully us or anyone. We should stand up for ourselves and for those not able to do so on their own. 

Keep Dancin’ Larry B.