No Bullies
Thank God we did not take selfies in the early 1980s. Otherwise someone could blackmail me with photos of me wearing pink pants, suspenders, and argyle socks (don’t judge). It is safe to say I was a confused, rebellious, pseudo-Pentecostal, adolescent, who had just discovered Led Zeppelin and marijuana. Although the following could easily be a scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” don’t mistake the chaos in this story for anything other than the disoriented stumbling of a lost 15-year-old, because to this day, I cannot explain what I was thinking.
I had just bought my first bag of Maui Wowi and it was safely tucked away in my pants, where most guys keep their stash. Pink pants and all, I crawled into the backseat of my friend’s 1968 Camaro and the four of us took off to get something to eat. Within a minute of hopping on the Pomona Freeway, we saw blue flashing lights and foolishly decided to wait until the next off-ramp to pullover. We were met by no less than three cop cars on our exit. I was a nervous wreck when they pulled us from the vehicle because of the huge bag of weed in my possession.
You could say the devil made me do it, but as the officer slid his hands up the inside of my leg approaching my crotch looking for contraband, I wiggled my hips and said, “that feels good.” He stopped searching me and grabbed my hair smashing my face on the trunk of the car and yelled, “Hey Faggot! How Do You Like That?” I tried not to smile in victory when he pushed me down on the side of the road to sit by my friends (stash intact).
Aside from the typical teenage slurs like homo, fag, c@ck-sucker and such, I had little exposure to gay bullying, but now reflecting on this incident as an adult, I realize this cop was WAY out of line. Approximately 30% of teen suicides are connected to a sexual identity crisis. It would seem that the church would want to step up and be a beacon of hope to these young people struggling with trying to figure out who they are in life, but unfortunately, many Christians are part of the problem. It is not uncommon to hear jokes from the pulpit ridiculing homosexuality and the LGBTQ community. Don’t be like that cop, and bully someone because he or she is not like you. Do you tolerate the use of derogatory language in your youth group? Do you encourage discrimination in your church? If so, is that the kind of gospel you want to preach?
