No room for hate

Sometimes people confuse leadership with representation.?

That all leaders need to do is represent the views of so-called “majority”. Certainly speaking on behalf of your group matters, especially if they are under threat.

But for us here at Seedling Leadership, leadership isn’t just about representation. Often it’s about challenging the status quo – the beliefs, attitudes, ways of doing things,- ?to do what's right for the long term benefit of all .

When it comes to hate speech against LGBTQI people, at Seedling we are unequivocal -there is no room for it. It ultimately hurts us all. It tears at the fabric of our society. In the long term it diminishes us.

If you're starting a sentence with “I'm not transphobic but…” and then go on to say something even slightly disparaging, something that ultimately degrades, hurts, pulls people down - then you are engaged in an act of hate. If you are turning a blind eye to the isolation and the belittlement of others; to bullying; then you are supporting hate.

There is no grey area in this for us.

Some of you won't like what I'm saying – very happy to have a conversation.

I’m the proud father of a trans girl who daily has to put up with hate: bullying, snide remarks; directed deliberate, attempts to pull her down, plain mean behaviour.

I can tell you that I bristle; I rage.

I look at the conversation taking place on social media, with 15 minute fame seekers wanting to get their punches in; comics like Ricky Gervais and Jimmy Carr and their punching down on trans people and I'm disgusted. Their words get flung up in children's faces in places they can’t escape, like the school ground.

Children.

Just imagine that your child, from a very early age, told you that they were born in the wrong body. That they hate their body. That they don’t know how to cope.

Are you're just gonna cross your arms and say “well too bad for you?”

If it got to a stage where their anxiety was so high, and their self-hatred was so high that they hurt themselves; if that child were to commit suicide - how would you feel?

Would you feel justified in your decision to ignore them; to hurt, disparage, belittle.

I welcome conversations about women's safe spaces, about sports etc.,- that can be discussed. These are new challenges for our community, and there is a way to go before we figure out what’s good for all.

It's not what's discussed it's how it's discussed. It's the vitriol. It's the cheap gags. It's the death by 1000 cuts that my and other kids have to endure.

I'm lucky. My daughter's got two parents that love her very much, that support her, and she has an ecosystem of family and friends that are right behind her.

Many kids don’t and they're the ones who become an easy target for the bullying. And where do kids in the playground get their views? Home, and of course social media.

So I urge all of you today to really look at the way you flip through social media, what you press like on, what you'll laugh at, what you allow to happen. What you say around d the dinner table in front of your kids. Think about the impact on those without power.

And if you're one of those that actively pursues hateful action I'd ask yourself what would you do if it was your child in the firing line?

Today Seedling Leadership stands with the LGBTQI community, in particular trans kids.

There's no room for hate.

#seedlingleadership #idahobit #transrightsarehumanrights