My Heart Goes Out to Kardin Ulysse

When will it stop? Another case where a Brooklyn 8th grader, Kardin Ulysse was bullied to the point of potentially being blind in one eye if it cannot be corrected. The kids were harassing him, calling him antigay slurs and attacking him physically. On Good Day New York, Kardin stated, "They were calling me such horrible words, like being gay." Instantly I thought, wow, progression hasn't really taken place as far as acceptance for the LGBT community. More so, being called "gay" is seen as horrible, as Kardin described it. Nobody should be harassed for who they are or who they aren't -- my point is, these kids have the mindset that "being gay" is a terrible thing. Even Kardin said it was a terrible name to call him. Even if he's not gay, regardless, the word itself or description is certainly not of a negative one, unless used in a derogatory manner. I'm hoping by him describing gay as "horrible", was meant by derogatoriness.   The two kids who beat him up were arrested and the school system is being investigated for proper supervision.

Back when I was in middle school, in fact, 8th grade, I was being bullied and taunted every single day because I had a terrible argument with a friend who had an entourage of approximately 20 girls. Every single night, I would get a phone call saying, "You better not come to school or you're dead you fucking lesbo!" I'd stay up all night, worried that morning would come too fast. I would play sick or cut out. If I was forced to go on the bus, where my bullies were, I was cornered in the back of the seat, being called awful names, having books being thrown at me and having to hide when the bell would ring, leaving me late for class just to not get my "ass kicked" as they threatened. They walked in a pack of girls practically hunting me down. I'd come home and get the threatening phone call again. "I"m going to kick your ass if you show up tomorrow!" (With a few other choice words.) I hated school because of this. I hated anything that had to do with going on the bus or going into that school. It meant my life was at risk. And finally, one day, I carried a huge doubled edged hunting knife that I had taken from my dad's room. I even showed a few people who were on the neutral side of the klan.  Their eyes bulged out and of course, they ran to tell them what I had. Luckily, the teachers didn't find out. But more so, I would have never used it. I just wanted to show that I was protected. But if I think long enough about it, what if I was being physically harmed in a way of defending myself? I'm not sure if that knife would have stayed in my coat pocket. It came to the point where I tried to kill myself by drinking an entire bottle of scotch in my iced tea. I was saved, thank God, but my intention was getting out of this mean world.

So whenever I hear about a story where a kid is being bullied, I cringe. I can't imagine what it's like to be a student today going into a school with so much technology to be used against you and so many kids 'offing' themselves due to the aggressive bullying. I know I tried, I'm sure we'll hear more and more of this unfortunately. To be completely honest with you, if I were Kardin's parents, I would remove him from that school or homeschool him. After a traumatic experience such as that, I'm not surprised if he has PTSD. He's not well enough to go back to school. They have every right to sue that school for 16 million because there should have been more supervision on every single corner of every hallway and security guards surrounding the cafeteria. It angers me and tears my heart out because I was there. I was forced to go to school. I was frightened for my life on a daily basis.  I will say that it got better once I got into high school, but the memories of being in middle school still haunt me till this day, especially when I see someone innocent get the shit kicked out of him for no reason at all, or for a misassumption of him being "gay". It's just wrong. My heart goes out to Kardin & his family.

And you're right. I'm angry.


Chosen Tweets: 
Unaware of HomophobiaMeet Kardin Ulysse14blind in his righteye after thugs attacked him for being gay.

Roxanne Lapeña ‏@roxanne_amanda
I almost teared up watching that segment on Fox 5 about KardinUlysse who was left blind in his right eye after being bullied atschool.



For more of Deb's articles, please visit: www.debrapasquella.com