This morning Glenn Beck had a surprising guest on his radio show– a plush pony he placed on his deck in support of a North Carolina boy bullied for bringing My Little Pony paraphernalia to school. I don’t know if being warily proud of Glenn Beck is a sign of the apocalypse, but I’m going to keep an eye out for headless pony riders just in case.
Beck’s display of bro-tude this morning was a response to the story of Grayson Bruce from Asheville, North Carolina who was bullied repeatedly for bringing a Rainbow Dash backpack to school. In support of the #StandforGrayson campaign, Beck asked listeners send in pictures of themselves with My Little Pony merchandise to demonstrate support for the 7 year old.
Grayson’s mother Noreen Bruce explains on Facebook that she was contacted by the principal, saying:
Grayson could no longer bring this lunchbox to school. My son is being called awful names and has even been told to ‘go home and kill himself!’ Now on top of everything he can’t bring a lunch box he really likes and I feel like is being sent the message that this is his fault.
Bruce also says a school counselor told her son to “hide his lunch box in his backpack and that when you carry things like that these things happen.”
The school’s “blame the victim” mentality is worthy of ire, but Grayson has a surprising advocate in Beck, who in a statement this morning reminded Grayson he need not hide his Brony light under a bushel. Said Beck,
“You didn’t respect his viewpoint of ‘I like My Little Pony.’ I don’t have a problem if you say, ‘Hey, buddy, I want you to know there are jerks everywhere’… But they’re tolerating it… They’re building special bathrooms for protected classes. Meanwhile, a 9-year-old who just likes My Little Pony is not a protected class, so he has to be told, ‘You should hide who you are.’ How do you expect our children to even know which way is up and which way is down? Because I don’t even understand it.
“We’re not aficionados on My Little Pony. But I am an aficionado on what it takes to be a man in today’s world. And just because you like little ponies means nothing. You having the courage to be who you are and stand up no matter what society says, that is worth its weight in gold,” Glenn concluded. “Send us your snapshots or whatever else you might have and we’ll post them. And Grayson, if you and your mom ever want to come down to Dallas, you let me know. You can bring your My Little Pony lunch bag, and I might bring My Little Pony lunch bag. And we can have lunch.”
Beck comes dangerously close to criticizing support for other gender and sexual minorities in this statement, but otherwise his stance is admirable and could influence his largely conservative followers. Brohoof, Glenn Beck. Put it here. Just this once.
(via glennbeck.com and The Blaze)
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