I sat for hours on my laptop as I thought about a clever topic to write about, until I went on Facebook and saw a post about the Doritos brand releasing a special limited edition bag of “rainbow colored” chips that were sold to raise funds for the “It Gets Better Project." The project, which is part of a nonprofit organization, aims to send the message to young adults who identify themselves in the LGBT community that life gets better after dealing with bullying about their sexual and gender orientation(s) and to also to prevent suicides due to bullying.
I knew that controversy would soon follow, so I immediately clicked on the official Doritos Facebook page as I scrolled down to find the comments left by the thousands of people who were outraged at this charitable act that they deemed “sick,” “anti-Christian,” “perverse” and “sexually deviant.” Out of the comments posted on the Doritos page, some are expressing their disagreement with the company’s decision, such as “Lost my business, playing to perverts and gays!,” “Try standing for something that is actually good. #Doritossuck," “This is sick… donate the money for mental health to convert them straight,” and even just “Unlike.”
Wow. Those are some weird things to say about a company that makes flavored corn chips, right? The last time I ate a bag of Doritos, I was concerned about getting the biggest chip and licking the remnants of its surprisingly tasty seasoning off of my thumb (I’m still hoping they will bring back the “late night taco” flavor). Instead, people are angered by the fact that Doritos supports a charity that is promoting the well-being of people with a different lifestyle than the majority of Americans. They act as if the project is supposed to “convert” youth into having homosexual tendencies. As if America will become a massive cesspool of gay, immoral Atheists who do nothing but smoke pot, vandalize buildings and burn the American flag. Wrong. The people behind this great organization only wish to help the bullied youth of today and the future. An interesting note is that the project also helps youth who aren’t gay, but are perceived so by their peers.
It is easy to see that people are making a mountain out of a molehill with this entire "controversy." Bullying, in general, is a terrible act, so why would so many citizens of the population be so against a program that is designed to help bullied kids cope with this problem? Many claim that homosexuality is immoral according to their religious beliefs, yet as I recall correctly, America is founded on the belief of freedom from religious persecution, so by that logic, their religious beliefs should not stop another person in their pursuit of happiness, whether it be with a man or a woman.
One Facebook user claims that he will no longer buy Frito-Lay products because he “does not support child molesters and evil companies,” although there is speculation that the Facebook user had confused the Doritos page with the Subway page. Go figure.
Whatever the reason for the hatred, it doesn’t really matter. As Taylor Swift said, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate,” and it stays true, because people need to just “shake it off” and realize that our country is full of a diverse group of people who are always going to have different lifestyles than each other. We are called the melting pot after all.
