Kelby Johnson, a transgender teen from the Oklahoma City area who was portrayed in the film Bully, made a trip to the White House yesterday to attend a screening of the film as part of the National Day of Silence "festivities".
Johnson was referred to as lesbian in the film, but came out as transgender after production of the film.
Kelby, who is now 19, made the trip with his father, Bob Johnson, while his mother Londa stayed home with Kelby's siblings Houston, 17, and Mayne, 8. Bob is Vice President of Distribution at Petra Industries, Inc in Edmond.
In Washington yesterday, the White House released the following statement:
The President and his Administration have taken many steps to address the issue of bullying. He is proud to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act, introduced by Senator Franken and Congressman Polis, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced by Senator Casey and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. These bills will help ensure that all students are safe and healthy and can learn in environments free from discrimination, bullying and harassment.
Bob and Kelby were scheduled to have meetings on Thursday with Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) in the morning, and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) in the afternoon.
On Friday they met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan before the 3pm screening of the film.
Kelby Johnson (age 19) currently resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After being removed from school by his parents, he went to work full time and earned his G.E.D. Kelby recently left his job and has been traveling extensively to promote the documentary Bully across the country for The Weinstein Company. He recently accepted an internship with GLSEN in the hopes of utilizing the publicity surrounding the release of the film to lobby for legislation aimed at creating a safe school environment for all students. He hopes to continue working in this capacity.
Kelby was
interviewed recently by the Dallas Voice.
As a child Kelby excelled at softball and basketball and so was generally well-liked and enjoyed school. But in 6th grade she didn't transition from wearing short hair, baggy jeans and loose t-shirts to more feminine attire as was the case with most of her female classmates. And her sports teammates began to shun her.
In 8th grade Kelby came out as lesbian which made her an outcast in the tiny town of Tuttle, OK (pop 6,000) southwest of OKC, where the family lives.
Lifelong friends stop talking to Kelby's parents. The family home was "egged" regularly during the night. In school Kelby's classmates refused to sit near him. One teacher thought it was funny to call Kelby's name separate from both the boys and the girls during roll (although I have no idea why the boys and girls names are divided for that process).
A note was put in Kelby's locker:
Faggots aren't welcome here. |
My parents had been to the school multiple, multiple times, and we had done just about everything we could, and no one was there to support us. No one really had anything to say. So where do you go when the teachers don’t help?
After three suicide attempts, Kelby's parents reached out to Ellen DeGeneris, whose producers put the family in touch with Lee Hirsch, producer of
Bully.
According to a 2007 study by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, 88 percent of LGBT-identified students get physically and verbally abused sometime during school (compared to 14 percent of students overall). LGBT students are also much likelier to attempt bullying-related suicide.
39% of LGBT victims of bullying report the incidents. Why such a low percentage? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that only 1/3 of those incidents reported result in any school intervention.
Boys will be boys. Et fucking cetera.
Some states have passed new anti-bullying laws, but in many of those cases actual collection of statistics on bullying is not required.
Chris-James Cognetta, board chair for the LGBTQ youth advocacy group Youth First Texas, would also like additional laws requiring schools and districts to report bullying statistics to the state — and penalizing schools that ignore bullying.
James Tate, chair of GLSEN’s newly relaunched Dallas chapter, added that such laws provide students and parents legal pressure to ensure that schools respond to bullying, even if anti-LGBT bullies claim they are simply expressing “freedom of religion.”
There is no religious exemption to bullying a child. It is the law and is enforceable, and if [schools act] against the law, we need to get rid of people who aren’t enforcing it. Fire teachers and school administrators.
Children are federally mandated to be in classrooms for seven hours a day. It’s our responsibility to make sure they are protected no matter how they identify.
--James Tate, GLSEN Dallas
In Kelby's home state of Oklahoma, there is no anti-bullying law.
Johnson recalled another incident when, while walking with friends, a minivan with six boys repeatedly drove by yelling and throwing things. When Johnson walked into the street to ask them to stop, they sped up.
They fucking hit him with the van.
Johnson initially wanted to remain in Tuttle and speak to high school classes about LGBT people and bullying. But when his teachers refused, he realized he couldn’t do it alone. He dropped out, got his GED and moved away.
Kelby now lives in OKC with his girlfriend. As part of his activism, he supports the group
Do Something.
What I want [young people] to get out of [the film], is that we can be the generation to stand up and say: ‘This isn’t gonna be us. We’re gonna put a stop to this now so that our children do not have to go through this.’ And that no matter what school you go to, no matter what parents you have, you deserve the love and respect that everyone else gets.
--Kelby Johnson
Bully opened around the country yesterday.