gay hate on my walk home

tonight walking home from a friends house in a neighborhood I usually don’t go to. I pass a bar (not gay) and outside is a group of guys talking. as I approach i can hear their conversation…

..”this gay dude I work with makes it all about being gay all the time, he wants attention from it, he’s so annoying and I can’t stand him, hes a sissy too”..

I slowed down just to make sure it wasn’t happening to someones face standing there at that moment and needed some help. No fight was taking place as far as I could tell. but something inside me felt I should speak up.

i wasn’t gonna keep silent.. I had to speak up… I had a flash back to middle school in my mind and all the lockers and backpacks seemed to appear again in an instant.

I paused for a moment & said to the group of guys outside the bar “who cares dude, let him be gay & shut the fuck up”

I didn’t wait for a response but as I walked away I hear someone from the circle say.. “damn right” ..

Though it may have seemed to be a harmless little hate speech on a gay co worker of his, but hate comes in all forms and starts with a small seed. He could be bullied at the office even.. we can’t be sure, but I do know this….

Speak up! In that moment! Do not walk by and let someone plant those little seeds of hate. Yea I could have kept walking out of that shaky neighborhood like I wanted to, I could have said something better than thr F* bomb. But I spoke up, I spoke for every little gay kid being bullied in school, everytime faggot was yelled in my youth and I didn’t have the strength to yell back.

I made a choice to speak up. please do the same. we have to.

~ AJ