Over at the Village Voice Runnin' Scared blog today, we're taking a look at the bullying meme. We asked a few LGBT friends and colleagues from around NYC (and across the Atlantic) to weigh in on their own personal stories of being bullied. Some highlights:

Jessie Estrella, AVP Speakers Bureau 

“On November 25, 1999, Thanksgiving morning, I was viciously attacked by three men in Brooklyn. The reason, I am lesbian. While I was being attacked, a group of men cheered them on. I suffered five broken teeth, a broken nose and most of all a broken spirit.”

 Peter Lloyd, News Editor, Pink Paper

“I can only speak from my experience in a British school — which is that I was bullied from the age of 4 to 18. The issue of classroom homophobia was, and still is, endemic here. Fifteen years ago, when I was 15, teachers wouldn't acknowledge the concept of homosexuality in young people because it equated minors with sex, so my suffering became invisible.”

Michael Luongo, Travel Writer

“My camera was snatched away, and he and the others stripped me naked and threw me into the pool, snapping photos. I stood up in the pool, feeling humiliated, staring at everyone laughing at me. I felt like jumping up and pounding someone, but who? And besides, I was naked in the water. “

Jason Vincik, Business Owner

“By the time I was in high school, one bully turned to entire groups of guys who would corner me in the streets and beat me to a bloody mess. I started to skip school a lot — even losing credit and almost failing to graduate.”

Read their entire stories and the whole post at Runnin' Scared. And let us know who bullied you in our comments area.