GLBT community in Huntsville speaks out against bullying

A gay rights advocacy group teamed up with the Huntsville community to bring awareness to bullying.

WAFF 48 News was at the Thursday night event and talked to the people involved. Organizers said social media provides new avenues for bullying and could be why bullying cases seem to be worse in recent years.

"Cyber-bullying is very destructive. Someone can put all of your information, or lies about you, in the Internet to where your whole school can know about something or your whole community can know about it," said James Robinson, of GLBT Advocacy & Youth Services.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Advocacy Youth Services and Equality Alabama hosted the event at the Flying Monkey Arts Center at Lowe Mill in Huntsville. It was held to commemorate Spirit Day but above all else, organizers said they wanted to put a spotlight on bullying.

"I try to build bridges in the community with everything we do with the agency because it is all about community. It takes all of us to make a difference," said Robinson.

This includes board members of Huntsville City Schools and the members of church community, who also joined the panel.

"A lot of the reason is because of technology," said Huntsville City Schools board member David Blair. "Things are so fast nowadays. You have the smartphones, the Facebook; you have the whole social media."

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