Sometimes being a proud parent and an advocate for diversity come together. My 17-year-old son Jake composed this poem the other day that I thought I would share with you. Thank you for reading, Howard Ross
Hate
by Jake Ross
Hate.
Children forced to vacate their schools,
Punished again and again for following the rules,
Trying to fit in to a society that doesn’t want them,
That calls them different for being who they were born to be,
Gay, lesbian, transgender, straight, we are all people, there's no need for hate.
People are hated for who they are,
Told they are different, told they have flaws,
But the truth is,
Nobody deserves to be hated,
Harmed for things beyond their control,
Feelings are feelings,
And they belong to the feeler,
Schoolchildren harm each other,
Wounds too deep to heal.
Little boys interested in others,
While people just like them are murdered every day,
And there's poor innocent Matthew Shepard,
Who died for being gay,
Beat to death and left crucified in the desert.
When will the world learn that to discriminate is to kill?
Calling a little boy “fag” is the same as stabbing him with a knife,
Whether it be from an angry, ignorant fool, or by his own hand,
This wound may cost him his life.
Life is a very beautiful thing and deserves to be cherished,
But this cannot happen when innocent children perish.
So stop the hate, stop the death, stop the rage,
Learn to love,
Because the world won't fix itself,
We must fix the hearts that have broken,
Because if we can't love those different from us,
Then how can we really love at all?
