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The effects of bullying on lgbt youth
Stigmas about gays
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When I was younger, my family never talked about gay people or being gay. My older cousins would mess around and call each other gay when they were obviously trying to insult one another, but I never heard it besides then. Whenever being gay was brought up, my parents wouldn't condemn it, but they wouldn't go into detail about it. Being the obedient little kid that I was, I thought that if my parents never said it, and if my cousins would use it to insult each other, then it must be a bad word that I shouldn't say. If I heard it being talked about at school, I would remove myself from the situation, thinking that the kids around me were talking inappropriately. This was my thinking till around age 12, when one of my friends came out to me and
As the world is progressing further into the future, we, as humans, are learning from our past mistakes and past judgements that were made and we are building on from the history and are working towards creating a better future for everyone. And, as we humans learn, we have learned that some words are okay to say and some are not okay to say. Like the words faggot/fag, shemale, hefemale and trannny. These word are considered nowadays to be very harmful and considered homophobic slurs. Now, I understand your question. “Okay, what makes a homophobic slur?” Well, we have to look at the definition of a slur first, then we can build off of that basis. The dictionary definition of a slur is:
Although homosexuality is not a mental disorder in and of itself, gay men and other men who have sex with men can present with poorer mental health outcomes as a result of social discrimination, rejection, isolation and marginalization.3 4, 5 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gay men and other MSM are at increased risk for major depression, bipolar disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, the common basis of which is likely homophobia.6 Sustained stress from this can also lead MSM to contemplate suicide or cope through substance use.7 Although providing appropriate mental health support for gay men and other MSM from a clinical perspective is similar to treating anyone else with mental challenges, it is critical to recognize the role that structural and social barriers play in exacerbating negative mental health outcomes among these individuals.
I chose this topic because there is an issue of homophobia around the world. I find it interesting as to why people are homosexual, and if there is a gene responsible for this or if it can be developed later in life. This area of research directly relates to the age old question of “nature Vs. nurture”.
As a society we see everyone as straight person and if you are not then others do not accept you. Last week, Arizona state legislature passed a bill permitting business owners to refuse service to homosexual customers if it conflicts with the owner’s religious beliefs. Researchers argue that homosexuality is based on genetics while religious persona believe homosexuality is unorthodox. I will be discussing research about the impact of homosexuality on the family and how people believe that when homosexuality is innate it increases LGBT rights. Also, how homosexuality can lead to at risk sexual behavior for men and prone to HIV’s.
Lately it seems like everyone is "coming out" as lgbtq because it seems like the coolest thing to do. Kids at school don't understand that just a few years ago, coming out was horrible. In the past few years, so much has changed for the LGBTQ Community. Marriage is being legalized all over the place, and people are learning to speak out about their rights. Six years ago, my parents found out I was bisexual after they went through my computer. My mom screamed, cried, threw things, and questioned me relentlessly. She couldn't possibly understand what it was that I was going through. At school, I was bullied and pushed around because I was that "weird little lesbian". In a small school of just a little under 200, once one person knew something about you, everyone knew your secret. The world dropped out from underneath my feet.
In 2002, and even today, being homosexual and/or talking about homosexuality is considered taboo and many people feel uncomfortable talking and being around
“What’s the big whoop?” asks a cute, blonde, elementary school aged boy when his teacher discusses homosexuality. He didn’t understand why people cared who other people loved. Little kids are perfect examples of how society’s negativity towards homosexuality creates homophobia. Children don’t understand why it matters who you love because they don’t see it as a problem and their opinions aren’t clouded by stereotypes. If LGBT issues were taught to these innocent, uninvolved children in elementary school, it would be more likely they would be accepting as they grew up. It is important to present LGBT in a positive light before parents, classmates, and media influence their perceptions.
But during this period of adolescence, I never really thought about what I was. All the things that took place in the emotional-sexual realm were, admittedly, real and concrete to me: I experienced real feelings for other boys (love, infatuation, sexual attraction). But at the same time, on an "intellectual" level, I never confronted these feelings, and so I continued having them without worrying about them or trying to transform them in any way. They just were, and that was fine with me. While some opponents of homosexuality often claim that it is "unnatural" (a claim which is thoroughly refuted in the essay "Homosexuality and the 'Unnaturalness Argument'"), for me, my homosexual feelings were very natural indeed.
In the rural, Catholic village that I grew up in, there were a total of 3-5 gay people ranging in age from teenagers to adults. When we would go out of town and see a presumed member of the LGBT community, I often heard homophobic comments. Most of the residents in my hometown were born and raised there, for at least two generations. Be it that homosexuality used to be considered a mental illness or the fact that everyone is Catholic, the community was moderately homophobic. This played a large role in the formation of my identity over the next several
As humans, it is natural to shy away from things that are different than the norm; we discriminate. It is very important to rid oneself of discrimination to better clarify the decision at hand. To make a valid conclusion on homosexuality, it is essential for one to forget what they were taught when socialization occurred, mainly birth to adulthood. As an example: You were told as a young child to hate and not associate yourself with African Americans because of the color of their skin, because they are different. When you grow older, you obtain a six-figure job, but y...
Though the world is constantly changing and new opinions are being formed, the older and more negative opinions still stand. Often times, a homosexual person is going to be made fun of or
Society today has become more accepting of homosexuality. There are single gender couples in the media, and gay rights, such as marriage, have become a political standpoint. In this class we have discussed how society today is changing, and how important it is to be accepting of others who are different. In a heterosexual society, it is a big deal that we are becoming more accepting of people who like the same sex. The problem is, some people aren't just heterosexual or homosexual. Similar to the gender binary, there is a sexual orientation binary being created by the media. The black and white view is damaging to people who like both genders. Society tries to put labels on people, causing people to question their own identity. In the time of adolescence this can be very damaging to someone, male or female. Education about bisexuality could be the step society needs to take to create a more accepting society. Right now, a bisexual is seen as someone who cannot make a choice, but society should not pressure people to choose. People should not have to label themselves heterosexual or homosexual. The media has become more accepting of same sex couples, however, it exploits bisexuality.
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.
Society has shaped the thoughts and minds of many individuals and because of this personal beliefs towards LGBT people came into play. Society was constantly telling people that there was something wrong with them if they were LGBT and that they would go to hell for it because God did not approve of it and it was a sin. I would like to say that because society was judging people and denying them, that they were committing a sin. It is not their place to decide the fate of certain people, the only person that can make those decisions is God. God is the one that decides whether we are deemed worthy to go to Heaven or not. With that being said, I grew up in a family that is very religious on one side and the other side had their person beliefs
If you were to ask me what exactly sparked my passion for LGBT rights, I wouldn’t be able to give a straight answer (pun not intended). I did (and still do) not identify personally to any of the terms LGBT stands for, nor did any of my close family members or friends at the time identify as such. Now a few do, but that’s hardly the only reason I’m still passionate about it. Regardless of what spurred my interest, I think one of the reasons I became invested was that, being raised by a fairly liberal family, I never entertained the thought that being LGBT could ever be considered “wrong” in any way. It simply became a natural fact of life. So by the time I discovered that not everybody though it was natural, my opinion could no