The Power of Education

When I was 16, I saw a short film simply called, 'The Power of Love'. I've spent the last two hours trying to find it again, but its nowhere to be seen, and only just now have I found out why. It was removed from the Internet.

The creator of said movie was a young gay man called David. He had spent his entire childhood being bullied in school, and later college, for having camp tendencies. Somehow, I remember the movie and the comments underneath like I had written them myself.

The movie was about a young man, much like myself at the time, who was at school and being bullied for wearing mascara and acting camp. His peers assumed he was gay, and bullied him endlessly for it. Later on, one of his bullies is being attacked outside school and David goes across and helps him. It was brilliantly simple, but also amazingly effective. Yet the comments were horrific...

"Why the f*** have you made this? You're just promoting evil!"

"Faggot! No one likes you!"

"You'll burn in Hell for making this movie!"

As a young man who was just beginning the journey of self-discovery, these comments were very disconcerting and played on my mind a lot. The amount of hate being splurged on to that page, poisoning the power of the film itself says a lot about the society we lived in during the year of 2007, and before. Since then, have things moved on? The attitudes of same-sex relationships differ in the US (where this video originated) and the UK, but ultimately, the arguments for and against remain the same.

Since then, I have seen many films, websites and blogs designed to educate. For, I believe, education is the key to acceptance and the beginning to living a life where you accept all for who they are. I have mentioned RUComingOut a few times now, (www.rucomingout.com), but sexuality is just one branch to the huge tree that is the taboo of life. Sexuality, mental health, sexual health, racism and immigration, religion.... Somewhere out there, there is someone raising awareness of subjects that, if we lived in the perfect world, would never need to be raised. However, this world of ours is far from perfect.

I'd like to share just two examples.

Starting here at home, there is one chap called Tom. Tom is HIV Positive, and around his day job spends his time raising awareness of HIV and AIDS. The stigma around this virus is unbelievably negative, but Tom works tirelessly to break through that large taboo and educate people. HIV is not a guaranteed killer, and it can be treated. Only a few months ago did I learn that, and that was because of Tom with his website and blog, (http://www.ukpositivelad.com/). Although I am negative myself, in terms of HIV status anyway, I do know that many, many people, (and one person personally) have found help through Tom and his website, and that is just one man. One man is helping to change the world, and that is admirable.

How did I find out I was HIV negative? I read about Tom's campaign, 'It Starts With Me', and felt I owed it to myself to find out. (http://www.ukpositivelad.com/it-starts-with-me-a-new-hiv-campaign-for-the-uk/) The symptoms related to HIV don't seem dangerous, (i.e. some people suffer with flu like symptoms at the beginning), but some don't have any symptoms AT ALL. There are so many people out there who are walking the streets completely unaware. I am no longer unaware, and its thanks to Tom that I owe my thanks for just tripping my brain into thinking about it.

For that is the power of these initiatives. Some of the people who hear about it will not think twice about it. The vast majority of young people, simply browsing the internet in the middle of the night through boredom, will skip over the website and think it has nothing to do with them. However, some people will see the website and wonder. Some of the people who visit this, and similar websites, will just think... Wonder if it has anything to do with them... And then some of those will do something about it... I did... Sure, I was negative, but there might be one person out there who wasn't... And their life might have been saved...

Once you appreciate the importance of that, you really begin to appreciate everything that life has to offer...

If you can manage to make one person think about a topic they had previously disregarded, and educate them on it, your effort has been made worthwhile.

And then we go across the pond to the States, and to a website called Connected Health Solutions, ran by another young man called Kenny. This website creates educational videos, aswell as giving young people the opportunity to work together in creating, publishing and promoting them. I have watched a lot of their PSA's, and have been impressed by every single one.

Especially this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jFXSv0KVfw&feature=youtu.be

Its close to my heart, for obvious reasons, but it makes you think. The majority of the world population are heterosexual, for this is a fact, but imagine what it would be like to be in the situation the young man above finds himself in, simply for being straight. Imagine... This is the scene that many young LGBT people face every day, in schools and colleges across the world. Whether it is deliberate or not, I am not sure, but the fact the cast of the film above are either black or Hispanic, adds to the message that it simply does not matter what race, colour, sexuality or creed you are. It simply doesn't matter, and there are people like Kenny and Tom who are working to make this world a better place, by education.

Trying to show people that it really is what's inside that counts.

Another example from Connected Health Solutions is also about HIV. This is their most recent video, and is an emotive example of how HIV doesn't have to ruin lives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=37t19yqbKCU

...

So is it working? Yes. It is working, slowly. However, I imagine it to be an exceptionally difficult task. There are many examples of ignorance when it comes to equality, across the board. Take the Woolwich murder a couple of weeks ago. A young man lost his life in a horrific attack, and the amount of hatred against Islam I saw because of that was astounding. Frighteningly so. There needs to be a lot more education about the world in general before we see the desired result, and there needs to be many more examples of people wanting to educate and spread the message of equality if we are to reach it.

You can follow Tom on Twitter (@UKPositiveLad) and Kenny at CHS (@CHS_Kenny) and see more of the brilliant work they do. There are so many similar initiatives, for any type of taboo that exists in our society.

Sometimes it feels like I waffle for all eternity on this blog, but if you don't take anything from this post, it is important to remember this: If you are struggling with any aspect of your life whatsoever, there is ALWAYS someone out there who will help you. Always.

You are not alone.

P.S. What about David I hear you ask? He went on to marry a beautiful woman and start a family. He was straight, yet was bullied for being gay. That's how wrong the bullies are.