I’ve always felt strongly about bullying. It’s not something I’m too fond of, yet it is something I’ve had my fair share of. I’ve never been the one to bully another kid, but I have been the one who was bullied. It was nothing too severe though; more like petty middle school drama and being picked on, rather than big time bullying. Yet, in the end, it still always hurts. But I’ve always felt bad for kids who got bullied or picked on; especially when it was something they had no control over or if it was because they were simply being themselves. Whether they might be overweight, or gay or a lesbian, or believe in something some people might not agree with, or it was the color of their skin, or if they’re even a bit weird. I’ve always felt bad for people who got picked on for all those reasons. It’s not right that they should be discriminated against purely because they’re who they are. Although I’ve always felt strong about it, I’ve never been personally affected, until about a few weeks ago; Thanksgiving of 2011.

Thanksgiving night, I went home from my friend Claudia’s house. I was going home just to take a shower and get ready for the night I had ahead of me. We were all going to the mall for Black Friday, something I’ve never done before. I went to the front door and it was locked. I rang the doorbell. No answer. I looked inside and saw my mom and brother, Craig, talking. He was crying hysterically. I thought it was because he was a bit drunk, and my mom was yelling at him for being rude while we were at Claudia’s house. I was so wrong. My mom opened the door, and to avoid awkwardness, I just went straight to my room. But on my way all I heard was my brother crying and saying things like “It’s just not accepted in society.” At that point, I had a whole new idea about what was going on. My family always had suspicions that Craig was gay, and as soon and I heard him say that, I knew right away what that conversation was about. Nearly two minutes later, as I sat by my door and listened, I heard Craig go into the bathroom and I rushed out to talk to my mom. She asked me if I knew what this was about, and I said yes. Then, Craig came out, still crying. He asked me if I knew what this was about. And I still replied, yes. He asked me to say it. To say that I knew he was gay, but it was just hard for me to say it so bluntly. He yelled, “Say it! What is this about!? I know you know!” I just stood there, kind of speechless and asked him to not make me say it. “I’m Gay…” he said to me, still crying. He cried so much, more than I’ve ever seen him cry. And he kept saying to me and my mom that all he wanted was to be normal. He wanted to be normal and not to be different. He kept saying that he hated himself for it, and feared he wouldn’t be accepted. Just seeing my brother like that made me cry as well. It broke my heart to see him that upset. My mom and I love him no matter what he wants in life. We accept him for who he is. As the conversation went on, he just kept crying and crying and crying. We woke my step dad so that everyone could know. Everyone was there, except for my other brother, Carl. We called him to come home, because this was something Craig wanted everyone to know. But before he arrived, Craig said to us that he feared that Carl was gay too. He said he wanted better for him. And he didn’t want my mom to be disappointed that two out of three children were gay. My mom wouldn’t care though, she wouldn’t care if my brothers were sexually attracted to penguins; she would love and care about them just as much. Then Carl arrived home, and Craig told him. To be one hundred percent honest, no one was really surprised that he was gay.

As time went on, Craig still cried and Carl took me to the side so I could tell him what happened before he arrived. He told me Craig went about this situation all the wrong way. And then he grabbed my shoulders and said, “Ya know what, I’m gay too.” I was a bit shocked by this, but i still didn’t care. I loved him all the same and I didn’t look at him any different. It was all just a lot to take in; the concept that both of my brothers were gay. It’s apparently very common with twins, though. Carl didn’t want to tell Craig just yet, due to the circumstances, but he told my mom and I. Carl isn’t like Craig, though. He doesn’t care what people think. He says, “I am who I am and if people don’t like it then they can go f*** themselves.” I really admire that in Carl; the fact that he is so confident. While Craig continued to cry, Carl and I sat in my room just talking about everything. We really opened up to each other, and that night I’ve never felt closer to both Carl and Craig. As the night went on, things got better; Craig stopped crying and eventually felt better about himself, Carl went back out to his friends and my mom drove me to the mall. As much as Craig gets on my nerves, I still love him and it really breaks my heart to see what he thinks of himself- the fact that he fears he won’t be accepted because he is gay and he just wants to be “normal.”

Bullying affects so many people and society is just cruel. People are discriminated against for just being who they are and who they want to be. My brother hates himself because he is not “normal.” He wishes he wasn’t “different” and he just wants to be accepted.
A main question of mine is what kind of a world do we live in where people can’t even be themselves? So many people in this world are just so ignorant and superficial. It’s always sad to see someone cry and it’s even sadder when it is someone close to you, someone you love and all you could do is watch because there is nothing you can do to change society or how others think. Society is messed up, so stop bullying. Accept people more, because you really never know when or how it’s going to affect you.