A high school student
in Massachusetts was speaking about
the bullying problem that she's
experiencing at the school.
This was at a school board meeting
though, but during her explanation
she was verbally attacked,
interrupted by a parent that was
off in, I guess in the audience,
crowd somewhere.
Now, she's a senior at the high
school, her name is
Mackenzie Atwood, she was talking
specifically about the problem with
how there's protected classes
in the school race, gender, gender
identity, sexual orientation.
And as she was talking about how
maybe some of those groups aren't
getting the protection that they
had said that they are giving to
students, she was interrupted.
But first let's let her speak about
what was happening at the school,
let's listen.
>> I think what should be known,
is that at the high school level,
we have meetings at the beginning
of every school year,
outlining what protected classes
are in the school.
What is not clear about school
environment is that though everyone
is said to be protected,
that is not followed through.
So, kids every single day, and
being in theater there's obviously
that stereotype that everyone in
theater is gay.
And yeah, you can say that it's
pretty true because a lot of us
are gay and it's somewhere where we
can be comfortable and
that's a safe space.
But when kids are coming to theater
every single day, telling me
I got called in the hall today or
I got called a racial
slur in the hall today.
That's not something to joke about
though it's become something that
we're so numb to,
that it becomes a joke.
>> So, if you heard the first part
there, she's speaking out for
people who have become accustomed
to being called slurs, and
it's become a joke.
And she's like I remember we've
talked at he beginning of the year,
about how those protected classes
but we're not protecting everyone.
Now she went on, a parent in the
audience decided to interrupt her.
Let's listen to that second part.
>> So, I think it's important
to understand that, yes, everyone
is protected at the school.
But being someone who is Caucasian
is not something that you're
getting bullied about.
>> No [INAUDIBLE] >> Keep going,
keep going please.
>> Being homosexual,
may I say, I am gay.
Call me what you want about that.
I am being personally attacked in
school about this.
[INAUDIBLE] >> I'm asking you to
restrain, restrain. >> And
it is extremely disgusting that you
can look me in the eyes and
say that I'm not being oppressed at
the school.
[INAUDIBLE] >> Sit down,
you will be asked to leave,
please sit down.
>> This has to stop,
this is indoctrination!
>> We are going to ask for
a slight adjournment.
>> There is no such thing as
gay agenda,
there is no such thing as a black.
>> As it was going look at what she
was going to to say, black agenda
or the rest of these agendas that
these types of folks are worried
are taking over our schools and
our society because people exist.
So, there was a couple blanks there
in the audio, it's every time the
woman in the audience was yelling,
interrupting, and screaming.
because I believe the school board
was trying to keep her from getting
her comments out there out of turn.
But part of it was also, this is
the indoctrination she screamed,
at this teenager who's talking
about how people that she's friends
with and experiences things with
are being bullied despite
the school's policy on keeping
these types of things down.
And that built up a rage and
a fire in her gut to jump up and
scream that this is the agenda,
the agenda that then do what?
What then happens to people if
the school decides to protect
students that are being called
names, that are being bullied,
that are probably potentially being
physically assaulted?
It could get to that point.
What's the downside again,
what happens to people?
>> Well, look,
it's time to keep it real.
So first of all,
I just want to clarify, the person
pounding the table is the good guy.
She's trying to get the parent
to stop yelling at the gay student.
The parent is the one that's
standing up obviously not
her parent, but
as someone else's parent saying,
you're trying to do indoctrination.
Well, indoctrination of what,
right, so she's gay.
She's just stating who she is and
that offends that person so
much, she's telling her stop
telling people that you even exist,
because you stating who you are is
indoctrination.
If my kids hear that you're gay,
they might apparently magically
become gay.
First of all,
you should look into that, right?
As a parent,
you should figure out if your kids,
what they are, right?
And if you think,
I mean look, I'm not even going to
entertain their insane ideas about
how it's a choice.
I'm going to get back to her
ideology in a second, okay?
But guys,
I don't know how we get along.
So, you fill in the blank for
whatever you are, right,
so Jarrod is black, I'm Muslim,
Aida is black, Latina I should say,
etc, etc, right?
And so, if I say,
hey, look, they're discriminating
against me in whatever context,
because I'm Muslim.
I was born Muslim, I'm atheist now,
but because of that background they
call me these names.
And somebody yells at me,
stop your indoctrination.
How could I stop, okay?
And by the way,
in my case it's even more true
because I stopped being Muslim,
I'm atheist, but it doesn't matter.
And by the way,
if you don't know that,
that's how racists work.
Right wing attacks me for
being Muslim all the time,
all the time.
It doesn't even matter that I'm not
in the religion anymore because
they're not doing it based on
ideology or thoughts or principles.
They're doing it based on outward
appearances, right?
And things that don't matter like
skin color and background, etc, so
what is that?
Let's be honest about it.
So when you say, don't be what you
are, because that's indoctrination.
You're saying, I hate you.
And if you're teaching hatred,
I don't care if you're going to cry
about it, no,
that's my religious beliefs.
My religious beliefs say that I
should hate you, and
I should teach my kids to hate you,
and I should try to get the whole
community to hate you.
And we should all hate you so
much that we don't even allow you
to say who you are.
Well, no, I say no, I'm going to
fight back against you.
I think you're a hateful,
hateful person if you're against
gay people in America, if you think
they shouldn't say who they are.
If they shouldn't proudly declare
who they are and say, I don't want
to tolerate your hatred.
So if that's what we're
going to fight about ideologically,
I'm very ready for that fight.
The people on the other side
are not good people,
they're not good people.
They're terrible, evil people,
evil.
Because religious fundamentalists
call us evil all the time and
we didn't even do anything.
We just are who we are and
the call us evil for
insane things we didn't even do.
Okay, well, if you're going to
put that hatred into the world, and
you're going to try to bully
that poor girl, you're evil.
That parent is a terrible,
terrible, immoral person teaching
everyone in our community including
our kids, it sounded like it was
female, dad or mom, whatever it is.
That parent is the one spreading
poison in the community with their
hatred, that's who you are.
If you're a right winger who hates
gay people under the guise
of religion,
my God told me to hate you.
I don't give a damn who told you to
hate gay people,
we're going to fight back.
In this country the right wing has
dominated for so long and made it
seem like the rest of us should be
happy to even be here.
That they've allowed us to
exist and
we haven't even murdered you yet.
Here you are, but shut up and
know your role.
No, we're citizens,
we're 100% American citizens just
like you are.
If you don't like it, and you don't
like that we're not a theocracy,
that we're not like Saudi Arabia,
we live under your oppressive
religious rule,
your fundamentalist rule.
And you don't like the fact that
it's a democracy,
you don't like America,
you don't like our constitution,
you don't like equality, you don't
like justice, that's on you.
because you're un-American scumbag,
that's what the hell you are.
All right,
I think I'm very clear on it, Aida.
>> Damn go off, Cenk, go off,
listen I was raised by a man who
was killed by homophobes.
He was beat to death in Miami in
2013, not 1945, 2013.
Beat, kicked, stomped to death,
kicked over and
over in the head until his brain
bled until he died by homophobes.
And nothing happened to those
people.
I will say that the person yelling
out this is the indoctrination has
already been indoctrinated.
They've been watching all this
propaganda.
There's a severe, serious, serious
problem in this country with a lack
of education, people getting their
information at the gas station.
Being informed by people who
are making a lot of money on their
ignorance and it continues and
it's getting deeper.
And it's getting people in this
country who call themselves
religious.
Let me just remind you of one
thing, somebody who comes from
the church, God gotta be tired of
y'all because y'all keep speaking
up for God like y'all are God.
And that is the opposite of what
you're supposed to do when you're
an alleged God lover, Christian or
whatever faith you call yourself
belonging to is not to become God,
but you're supposed to be
a servant.
You're supposed to walk in a way
that's worthy of
the calling, right?
That's what they say, in church.
You're supposed to behave in such
a way that's so accepting and so
loving because you're supposed to
behave the way Jesus behaved.
And this behavior that you
are implementing has nothing to do
with God and everything to do with
your fear of who you really are.
And the fear of other people
participating in the privileges
that you have had for
a very long time.
I don't know one man or a woman who
is secure in their sexuality that
gives a damn about somebody being
referred to by their pronouns,
they don't care about what they do
at night.
And it just seems to me that
the people who are always yelling
this stuff out are dealing with
some issues within themselves which
is why it becomes, you're like
dude, I do not sit around worried
about somebody turning my kids gay,
it's never been a fear or
even a thought of mine.
But how sad for
those people's children who may be
battling with their sexuality.
And if you look at the suicide rate
amongst these children that goes
down to kids that are nine
years old,
it is really a big problem not just
in this country but everywhere.
Where we keep spewing this hatred
towards people.
And let's just add this whole
indoctrination, this whole agenda,
we read about Caesar in history who
was having orgies with men.
And we try to act like this is
a new thing.
It's been here since
the beginning of time,
since the beginning of man.
And now we want to act like,
my gosh,
the gays are really coming for us,
the trans people,
they're really coming for us and
they've been here since forever.
I just think that while you're
worrying about what gay people
are doing or what trans people or
queer people are referring to
themselves as, the education system
is poor, you can't get a loan.
The average kid doesn't know
whether they're coming or
going because they're not learning
geography in school.
We are struggling in this country
in terms of healthcare and
y'all sitting around here worrying
about who is loving who.
And that is just such an indicator
of why they continue to keep us
down.
Because we have lost, I mean,
that sounds crazy.
That doesn't sound like somebody
who's speaking from a place of
reason, that sounds like a person
who's been brainwashed.
And is now yelling out these
talking points that
they are regurgitating that they
heard on places like Fox News, or
being ill informed through their
pastors or the clergy in their
religious houses.
And it's so
sad because people just,
I mean we are in the upside down,
I don't know what to say or think.
>> I want you to think
about the anger we've got here,
Cenk, really fast.
So, Cenk, just got really upset,
the lady at the school meeting got
upset, the girl there, I think she
was a senior in high school there,
she got upset.
Everyone's upset about this but
let's think about the reasons and
route behind it.
The girl said, I've got students
and friends and fellow theater
folks that are talking about
being called slurs in the hallways
at the school and I would like for
them to be protected.
Sounds like something you would
respect, someone wants to protect
other people that are potentially
being attacked,
that are being attacked verbally.
Cenk is upset because he wants to
protect the folks that are being
attacked by this that then lead to
murderous intentions like what
happened with your family, Aida.
And that should spark a level of
anger in people.
I don't want people getting killed
for who they are.
Whether you believe it or not, you
don't have to believe whether or
not someone is really gay, or
whether or not gayness
really exists, or whether or
not someone who says they're trans,
isn't trans or not.
Why does that matter to you?
We talked about it before when we
were talking comedians, why does
that matter to you to that extent?
So everybody's upset.
We talked about your reason to be
upset, we talked about Aida's
reason to be upset, we know why
this high school senior is upset.
Why is that mother
upset that's screaming at her?
Who's dying?
Who's being disenfranchised?
Who's being bullied?
Who's being pushed to suicide in
her life, because folks in
the LGBTQ community exist?
These are the lines that are drawn.
We're looking to
protect people's lives.
You're looking to protect your
thoughts by getting that anger
at someone else.
>> Jayar, it's a slightly worse
thing, you're just looking to
protect your hatred.
And we should have
no tolerance for it.
So let me be super clear, the right
wing in this country has gaslit
the rest of us forever and ever.
So when they say racist things and
we say hey, could you please not be
racist against me as a person,
right?
They go, my god,
you've hurt my feelings.
My poor, poor feelings, I can't
believe I got called racist, right?
Okay, I don't care, how about when
you hurt our feelings?
You guys don't count, who cares?
You're gay and you're getting
called slurs in the hallways, good,
and shut up, they say.
Well, how about her feelings,
you don't care about that
student at all.
But if we call you a homophobe,
all of a sudden you'll be like,
how dare you?
No, no, no, no, no,
I'm done with the gaslighting,
totally and utterly done with it.
Don't ever do anything physical but
don't ever let them shout you down.
You want to get loud,
I guarantee you I can get louder,
I guarantee it.
So, when you see racism,
when you see bigotry,
don't do it willy nilly.
Okay, this is a super clear case,
when you got a super clear case
like this, racism, bigotry,
homophobia.
No, you shout her down and
you tell her, we're not going to
accept your hatred here.
You're a terrible,
immoral person, and
we're not going to stand for it.
And if you want to cry about it,
great, I'm thrilled
that you're crying.
because you might think twice
before you try to inflict
psychological damage on the rest of
us, okay?
Okay, you're the bad person, and
we're not going to tolerate it
anymore.
And I don't care at all about
your feelings,
you've never cared about ours.
>> The funny thing
is the fascination with that,
according to the Bible, and
all of the books of God,
there are other sins, right?
There are other sins,
nobody focuses on the other sins.
Why so much focus on this unless
it's just a Freudian slip?
because why do you care so much?
Are you going around telling people
though, you shouldn't be cheating
on your wife, you shouldn't be
cheating on your husband.
You shouldn't be lying on your
taxes, you shouldn't
be stealing from people.
Why are you so
fascinated with this?
This alleged sin, why are you so
focused with this?
And that is what really fascinates
me, why do you care so much?