from SportsPickle.com: Gay Children Dislike Playing Smear the Queer

Study: Gay Children Dislike Playing Smear the Queer

A group of elementary school children in Eugene, Oregon take part in a game of smear the queer Tuesday. The queer is pictured at the bottom right.

A joint study released today by the National Recess Board, the Gym Teacher Association of America, and GLAAD found that homosexual children dislike playing smear the queer by an almost 3-to-1 margin.

The findings come after a 10-year study looked at more than 50,000 grade school children across the country and studied their feelings towards the popular schoolyard game in which one child is arbitrarily deemed the “queer,” and then is repeatedly tackled, thrown to the ground or pelted with kick balls depending on local rules. The study was funded by a $40 million federal grant.

“The research proves what many have long suspected – gay children feel excluded, even targeted, by their classmates from smear the queer,” said Mary Levine, president of the National Recess Board. “What some see as a harmless child’s game is really a societal mechanism to discriminate against homosexuals at an early age. The queer smearing needs to stop in this country immediately.”

Seventy-four percent of gay children surveyed said that they feel either “sad,” “different,” or “disliked” when their peers play smear the queer. A majority also reported they often found themselves to be the target of the game, with gay or effeminate boys being deemed the “queer” more than 90 percent of the time.

“The other kids always smear me. I hate that game,” said an eight-year old gay boy from Nebraska in the report (no names were disclosed). “Everyone makes me the queer ‘cause they say I run weird and because I design stylish clothing for my G.I. Joes during lunch. They tackle me and kick me and punch me. I wish we never played that stupid smear the queer.”

“Every day when we go out for recess or have a free day during gym class all of the bigger boys point at me and say: ‘Lets play smear the queer everybody. [Name withheld]’s the queer. Get him!’” said a 10-year old Maryland boy. “Then they chase me around for a half hour, tackling me and jumping on me. It is my least favorite part of school.”

Of the 26 percent of homosexual children who said they “enjoyed” smear the queer, 80 percent were girls, a segment the study found is rarely made the “queer” in the game and, in fact, often hands out a disproportionate amount of the beatings.

“Of those who do the smearing of the queer, most were extremely homophobic straight boys, but we also found many gay girls, who in grade school often seem to be quite brawny, did heavy amounts of queer smearing,” said Larry Childs of GLAAD.

The other 20 percent of those who said they “enjoyed” smear the queer were gay boys who claimed they believed the game rightfully punished them for their homosexuality.

“I know from what my dad says sometimes about the people on the TV that I shouldn’t be gay,” said a 7-year old Texas boy. “So when we play smear the queer I always pray that the other kids will beat the queer out of me so I can be a normal boy. But it hasn’t happened yet.”

“My Sunday School teacher told us that being gay is wrong,” said an 11-year old Ohio boy, “so I see smear the queer as God punishing me for not stopping my gayness. And also, I like it because sometimes I can kiss the other boys when they tackle me.”

The idea that the playing of smear the queer should be stopped has not been met with unanimous support, however. Anti-homosexual and faith-based family groups across the country said that the results of the study prove that smear the queer serves a valuable purpose.

“Smear the queer is the first line of defense against the scourge of homosexuality,” said Dick Platt, director of the Family Foundation Association. “Who knows how many gay children have been turned back on the straight path by being smeared at an early age.”

“Playing smear the queer is an important part of growing up in America,” said Rodney Richards, president of AmeriFam. “Of course gay children don’t like smear the queer. It’s because they know that their lifestyle is wrong. If we outlaw the game we’ll have written a free pass for queerdom to overtake this great country.”

Yet despite such protests, it appears smear the queer’s last days are on the horizon; researches have already received a federal grant to conduct a 15-year study to find ways in which children can be discouraged from playing the game.

“We hope that by 2020, our nation’s young queers will feel free to walk their school’s grounds without the fear of being smeared,” said GLAAD’s Childs.

[Origin of the Species]