“I am human”
It’s a few days old - but if you haven’t seen Johann Hari’s piece on Section 28, it’s well worth the read. It must be some of his best writing in a while:
Let’s end with the story of one boy – one of many – who paid the price for Section 28’s stalling. Jonathan Reynolds was a 15 year-old from Bridgend, South Wales, who came out to some of his closest friends in 2006. They blabbed – and he was bullied and harassed and threatened as a “faggot” and a “poof” until he couldn’t take it any more. His school had no policy in place to protect gay children; any move to develop one had been squashed by the vast legal block of Section 28, and hadn’t recovered in time for him. So one day, after he sat a GCSE exam where he earned a starred A grade, he lay down on the train tracks near his home. He texted his sister Sam: “Tell everyone that this is for anybody who eva said anything bad about me, see I do have feelings too. Blame the people who were horrible and injust 2 me. This is because of them, I am human just like them. None of you blame yourself, mum, dad, Sam and the rest of the family. This is not because of you.” Then a train sliced his body apart.
Jonathan Reynolds’ final text message – his last cry of “I am human” – should serve as the obituary for the late, un-great Section 28.
Ignore the occasionally poor sub-editting, and it’s an excellent summary of just how vile that law was.
Posted in: Fear and Loathing, Madness, Sexuality, Wood-pulp
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