Mercer's impassioned plea comes on the heels of a video released a week ago by some members of Canada's Homophobic Conservative Party with an "It Get's Better" message. Some called that hypocritical considering most of them had already recently voted in favor or reopening debate of same sex marriage, something which had been legalized across the country in 2005..
via The Canadian Press:
OTTAWA - Openly gay comedian Rick Mercer seems to have struck a chord with his call for an end to bullying in school by calling attention to the problem with one of his signature "rants."
Mercer added his voice Tuesday to the chorus of calls from opinion makers that the bullying of gay teens in school be stopped.
He featured the issue in one of his rants, a popular fixture on his CBC television program "The Rick Mercer Report."
The segment is now racking up hits on YouTube, with nearly 126,000 as of Thursday night. [Edit: Now over 250,000]
The calls have been sparked by this month's suicide of openly gay Ottawa teenager Jamie Hubley who was bullied relentlessly by his peers.
In the video, Mercer points out that every year in Canada, 300 kids commit suicide -- a number he calls "mind-boggling."
He not only takes schools to task for not doing more to deal with bullying and finding out who exactly is responsible, but he also says adults -- particularly gay adults who are public figures -- need to stand up and be role models for gay teens.
Mercer says he knows gay cops, soldiers, athletes and cabinet ministers, for example.
"So if you're gay and you're in public life, I'm sorry, you don't have to run around with a Pride flag and bore the hell out of everyone, but you can't be invisible -- not anymore," Mercer says in his rant.
