I'm straight and I was bullied in grade school.

[MotorCityMan]

20. I'm gay and was bullied in elementary school, junior high and high school

I have been thrilled with all the attention that bullying has been getting, because something needs to be done about it. To read about pre-adolescents killing themselves over bullying breaks my heart.

I'm a gay man, but I wasn't really obvious acting through school. In other words, I didn't act like a stereotype. My best friend and other friends were a bit more obvious, though, so I was guilty by association. I actually went to my 5 year high school reunion (the only one I have gone or will go to), got shit-faced drunk, and told a few former classmates that had harassed me "You know? You were right! I am a fag!" Actually, the 1st time I was called a "fag" in seventh grade I didn't even know what it meant and had to ask my mother (THAT was awkward).

Anyways, that was only a small part of the bullying. The thing I caught the most hell for all those years was being SMART, from being DIFFERENT and giving a shit about the grades I got. I've had rocks thrown at me, raw eggs, and endless taunts because I gave a shit about my grades and doing assignments. I've had classmates I didn't even like tell me that they hated me. I've been ridiculed, harassed, embarrassed and a few times physically assaulted because of it. The few fights I got into I had my tenor saxophone case (I was a "band fag" also), which helped me do damage to the attackers.

Junior high was the worst, total hell on earth. I was so happy to graduate in '82, I could have cried.

People need to share these stories. This shit has to stop. Kids are killing themselves over being treated like this, whether they are gay, straight, or just different. We don't all have to march in lock step and be exactly alike. Some of us hear our "different drummer" and want to march to that. That is NOT a bad thing.