Bullying is nothing new in the United States. In fact, it is likely that we have all been victims of bullies or have even bullied people ourselves. Recently, with the advent of new technology, bullies have been able to infiltrate the lives of their victims through a variety of different means.
With one click of the mouse, a bully can find out everything they need to know about a person via the internet, including their sexual orientation. Today’s bullies have endless amounts of material at their fingertips. Gone are the days of stealing a kid’s lunch money, replaced by the public harassment of individuals based on their sexual orientation. In a society that has been slow to accept people for their differences, compassion is unique and all too rare.
Problems associated with acceptance, as it relates to individuals of a different sexual orientation, are not isolated to the United States. This global epidemic presents serious problems for the safety and protections of all individuals in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. For instance, in Uganda, there presently exists a bill being proposed to the parliament that would make homosexuality potentially punishable by death. While the bill has not been enacted into law, there is much momentum surrounding its passage. Proponents claim that it is necessary for the protection of the traditional family. Certain Uganda media outlets have been publishing lists of known homosexuals in the country, forcing many individuals in the gay and lesbian community to take hiding for fear of their lives.
The International community’s reaction, both homosexuals and heterosexuals alike, to this potential legislation will be great indicator of how far we have come with GTLB acceptance and liberation. For the United States, a country often at the forefront of individual rights, especially human rights, are we prepared to once again attempt to solve the world’s problems before we clean up the mess at home. In a country where we cannot come to a consensus regarding the rights and privileges of homosexuals, do we have the resources to help homosexual individuals in foreign countries fight for their own rights?
Could this call for the protection of homosexuals in a global market could be construed as moral colonialism? Which is ironic because the Uganda situation is a direct result of several Congressmen from the US going over there and pushing for that legislation. I think the more interesting point to make is that as homosexuality has found greater acceptance in the developed world. Majority world countries have become the new moral battle ground where riligious zealots have spread hate in an effort to export their ideology to more favorable breeding grounds where people don’t have constitutional or legal protections that others enjoy in the Western world.