"Gay Michigan student defends suspended teacher"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101115/us_yblog_thelookout/gay-michigan-student-defends-suspended-teacher

Two separate thoughts come to my head when I read this article.  And I will share them, but I will rebuke one because I do not like it and I do not understand the backdrop of it.

The first thought that came to my mind is the thought that I am not happy with.  The kid says that he was bullied until he attempted suicide at the age of 9 years old.  I do not at all believe that that is wrong.  But 9 years old to decide that you are gay, to me as a straight person, it just seems a little early.  I wasn't even showing affection toward girls at that time.  But, I cannot even begin to put into my mind that this is the truth for everyone.  Everyone knows that I am the exception rather than the norm. 

On the other hand, I am very happy that he is willing to be openly gay and express it at the age of fourteen years old.  I just don't understand how people can bully him till he attempts suicide.  So, I will work on this bias that I have, and work to destroy it and replace it with knowledge that sometimes it is obvious to the person at a young age that they are gay.

The other thought that comes to my mind is that that teacher stood up for his beliefs.  He told a student to take off her belt buckle because it was the confederate flag belt that could have stood for something that was against the idea of anti-gay bullying awareness day.  He stood up for his beliefs and for his students even though now he is suspended.  I hope to be like that some day, fighting for students to have a safe environment where they feel that they are welcome and not be bullied or see someone wearing an anti-gay buckle (I admit that the confederate flag buckle is not necessarily anti-gay, but it could be implied).  Even if that means that I will get suspended for a certain amount of time.  I would do that for a student.