Welcome to Anoka MN....Now go Kill Yourself.

I will confess to  living, to a certain extent in a bubble.   London is a wonderfully diverse, cosmopolitan and progressive  city.    Before moving here I of course,  lived  in San Francisco.  Which is  largely its own planet, much to the pride and delight of residents there.   Prior to SF I lived on the North Side  of Chicago, the liberal bastion  of  Lakeview  (aka 'Boystown').   On top of that  I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin.  Hardly  a conservative enclave by any means.

So it's easy to forget  how  insane  some places are.  Places like  Anoka, Minnesota.

I have blogged in the past  about the epidemic of  teen deaths in  Anoka. How  in a space of less than two years nine young people  at  Anoka middle and high school were  bullied to death.  All because they were either Gay or Lesbian, or  were perceived to be Lesbian or Gay.    And the good  Christian conservatives response to  this epidemic of suicides?   Blame the victims, and  do everything they can to prevent  ANY effort to  address the real cause or issues that  drove nine young people in their town to end their own lives. MSNBC  profiled the issue, back last Fall



The current  issue of  Rolling Stone Magazine  takes a clear,  brutally honest look at  Anoka, and how the intolerance of  one town is killing their own kids.   The article is very hard to read, but I encourage everyone to try to get through it. 

The Anoka-Hennepin County  School District,  is  in the Congressional district of none other than GOP/Tebagger bigoted whackjob  Michelle Bachmann.  When she was a Minnesota State Senator, Bachmann vigorously  opposed  anti-bullying programs.  Citing her concerns that telling kids they shouldn't terrorize and torment classmates who they think might be Gay or Lesbian, telling them they should just go kill themselves,  is somehow a violation of the right to free speech.  (Hat tip to  the Huffington Post)   

Bachmann said, "I think for all us our experience in public schools is there have always been bullies, always have been always will be," according to a recording posted by the Dump Bachmann blog.  

"Will it get to the point where we are completely stifling free speech and expression? Will it mean that what form of behavior will there be, will we be expecting boys to be girls?" She asks. "I just don't know how we can realistically expect a zero tolerance of bullying behavior."

Yeah,  because  to expect educators to make school a safe space for all  kids,  is just so irrational right?    On his program "The Last Word" , Lawrence O'Donnell highlighted  the issue.



The article in Rolling Stone explores how hate groups like the  insanely mis-named "Minnesota Family Council" have mobilized  full force to defend what they believe is their right to  bully LGBT kids to death.

It is people like the Minnesota Family Council, who have smiled approvingly as the climate they created resulted in the bullying of   nine young people to death, and then  claim any effort to stop them from killing even more, is somehow a violation of their rights,  who truly make me hope that  atheists are wrong,  and there really is a Hell.   Because,  I dearly want  the bigots and bullies of Anoka,  Minnesota  to spend eternity there.