Prayers for Bobby Page #6

Mary!

Mary?

Mary, what are you doing out here?

You're soak. Come inside.

I didn't know where else to go.

I was sitting there,

listening to all their stories.

About how they...

always just knew...

their kid was different.

And then I had this dream tonight...

Bobby was a baby.

My son was always different.

His difference began at conception.

I knew that.

I felt it.

I know now...

why God didn't heal Bobby

He didn't heal him because...

there was nothing wrong with him.

I did this!

I killed my son!

You did not kill your son.

Bobby killed himself.

How could God forgive me?

How could Bobby forgive me?

God has already done the forgiving.

You have to forgive yourself.

I'm so sorry!

I'm so sorry!

Dear god.

Give us something we can live with

and pass on to others whose lives will never be the same because of a loved one's death.

I did not decide on brown eyes for myself.

And I now realize that Bobby didn't decide to be gay.

If you say in your word

that it is evil and wicked to be born with no arms,

and a child is born with no arms,

What is that child to think?

Our first order business is a proposal for a gay freedeom day in Walnut Creek.

Attention, please.

We have a select group to debate the issue.

I don't see her.

...it's reverend Whitsell.

For one day,

for one day, people can celebrate their difference rather than feel shame.

They should be ashame!

There are so many other people who need our time and our attention.

Why are we wasting it on this?

Alright, alright. Let's have some order here please.

They spit in the face of decency and morality.

We cannot allow the fabric of our society to be torn apart.

Right?

I heard he tries to run for the Human Relations commission,

they picked that limped Whitsell instead.

They sent him a letter.

I said, 'We sing hymns at our church'.

What do you do with the hymns at your church?

So unless anyone else has anything else to add,

we'll adjourn to make our decision.

Mary?

Hey Dad!

Dad, get in here!

Dad hurry up! Mum's on TV.

Homosexuality is a sin.

Homosexuals are dommed to spend eternity in hell.

If they wanted to change,

they could be healed of their evil ways.

If they would turn away from temptation,

they could be normal again.

If only they would try and try harder,

if it doesn't work.

These are all the things I said to my son Bobby when I found out he was gay.

When he told me he was homosexual,

my world fell apart.

I did everything I could

to cure him of his sickness.

jumped off a bridge and killed himself.

I deeply regret my lack of knowledge about gay and lesbian people.

I see that everything I was taught and told was bigotry and dehumanizing slender.

If I had investigated, beyond what I was told,

if I had just,

listened to my son,

when he poured his heart out to me...

I would not be standing here today with you

filled with regrets.

I believe

that God was pleased with Bobby's kind and loving spirit.

In god's eyes

kindness and love are what it's all about.

I didn't know that each time that I echoed eternal damnation for gay people...

each time I referred to Bobby as sick and perverted and a danger to our children...

his self-esteem,

his sense of worth, were being destroyed.

and finally,

his spirit broke beyond repair.

It was not god's will that Bobby climbed over the side of a freeway overpass

and jumped directly into the path

of an 18 wheel truck which killed him instantly.

Bobby's death

was the direct result of his parents' ignorance and fear of the word gay.

He wanted to be a writer.

His hopes and dreams should not have been taken from him but they were.

They are children

like Bobby,

sitting in your congreggations,

unknown to you,

they will be listening,

as you echo Amen.

And that will soon silence their prayers.

Their prayers to god,

for understanding,

and acceptance,

and for your love.

But your hatred, and fear,

and ignorance of the word gay will silence those prayers

So...

before you echo Amen

in your home and place of worship.

Think!

Think and remember.

A child is listening.

Oh, Mum...

Should be good.

He lost.

They voted the order install.

Well, he'll try again next year, right?

So, we're really going to San Francisco?

I think we have to.

I don't think that's a choice.

Well...

that's ironic.

Ok.

Are we late?

Just in time!

Jacky, is this everyone?

Oh! honey, no...

Come with me.

We have a special place for you.

Ok .

To all the Bobby and Janes out there...

I say these words to you as I would with my own precious children.

Please don't give up hope on life.

Or yourselves.

You're very special to me.

I'm working very hard to make this world a better and safer place for you to live in.

Promise me you'll keep trying.

Bobby gave up on love.

I hope you won't.

You're always in my gods.

My name is Bobby Griffith.

I write this in hope that one day,

many years from now,

I would be able to go back

and remember what my life was like,

when I was a young and confused adolescent,

desperately trying to understand myself in the world I live in

The other reason I write this,

so long after I died,

others may have a chance to read about me,

and see what my life as a young person was like.

On December 6th 1995, Mary Griffith testified before members of the Congress of the United States.

Her tireless work protecting the rights of gay and lesbian youth has established her as a major force in the fight for human rights.

Before you echo Amen in your home or place of worship, think and remember. A child is listening. - Mary Griffith

In loving memory of

Bobby Griffith and Leroy Aarons

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes