Meet Grayson

Grayson is a 9-year-old boy who lives with his family, goes to school and does pretty much what other 9-year-old boys do. With one difference. 

Grayson LOVES My Little Pony. He loves them so much, that when he needed a new lunchbox and his mum took him to buy one, he chose a My Little Pony lunchbox. And his mum, being the incredible woman she is, said nothing about the gender bias of the show and bought him the lunchbox. 

This story should end here. But it doesn't. 

Because Grayson carried that lunchbox to school, kids at the school started to bully Grayson.  How did the school react?  They asked Grayson and his mum what they expected would happen if a boy brought a girls' lunchbox to school. They told Grayson to hide it in his schoolbag. Then they banned Grayson from bringing it to school at all. So, rather than deal with the bullies and put a stop to Grayson's torment, they laid blame on the victim. 

I told Squish about Grayson last night (Banana was upstairs sleeping - she wasn't feeling well) and told her he was being bullied because he had a My Little Pony lunch box and liked the show. Squish and Banana both like the show, too. Out of curiosity, I asked Squish, "what do you think of this?" Meaning both Grayson's love of My Little Pony and the bullying. 

Her response made me think I'm doing a good job with my girls. She said:

"That's dumb. People should be allowed to like what they like and bring whatever they want to school without being bullied. If he likes My Little Pony, who cares?  No one else should."  She meant that no one else should care if a boy likes a "girl's" show. 

I hugged her and she said she wanted to write Grayson a letter telling him he should be happy about who he is. And to let him know WE care and we are speaking out for him, and with him. 

We are behind you, Grayson.