Payne: don’t bully people, spread rumors for any reason

It was hard for me to find the words for this piece.

I can think of plenty but not too many of them are printable. So I'll start with this: I'm ashamed of my generation. I'm ashamed of the American culture. I understand that this is probably the best place to live but there are days that I'm willing to trade in my citizenship. Why am I so upset with everyone? Simply put because we kill people. Yes, we all do it. I'm not talking about senseless wars or silly crimes (though those don't help) I'm talking about with words. With simple actions that are so unnecessary.

Lately there has been so much news about young boys taking their own lives because people have attacked or humiliated them for being who they are. There is no reason for bodies to be fished out of rivers because someone thought it would be funny to video tape them kissing another man. Why do young boys feel the need to hang themselves? There are bodies dropping all over the place and the blood is on all of our hands. This isn't about the details of the past weeks. If you want them all you need is a TV or Google. This is a problem in general.

Its disgusting that there are people who view homosexuality as some kind of joke or germ that must be exposed and picked at until someone taps out. I can't figure out why it's so interesting who someone sleeps with. I personally couldn't care less because generally when other people are in bed I'm not there. And I figure it's hard enough to be categorized as different without everyone putting their two cents in.

But still everyday girls are attacked, boys are beaten, children are berated because others have decided that they have some idea about their sexual preference. Would it have been news worthy had that boy been sitting in his room with a girl? I doubt it. His peers didn't pick on him for being nerdy or ugly or even for being a bad person. It was because he was gay. Or questioning. Or whatever he was, he had the right to be that.

We've all had rumors started about us and they're hurtful even when they aren't true but it's a special kind of burn when it is true. When something that you weren't ready to share or something you weren't sure about is exposed and on top of all that people laugh at you. When you know that one sliver of information can put you in danger.

Everyone has the right to like what they like and dislike what they don't. But as a people I think we've forgotten that our rights end when another person's begins. So if you don't agree with same-sex relationships…don't be in one. But leave the people who want to be in one alone. This applies to everything. What makes people think its OK to torture others when I'm sure that we wouldn't have to scroll too far back in history to remember the time that it was them?