Homophobia results in
drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, and avoidance of career choices.
Is it okay to call someone a gay, queer, or faggot when you
can’t call someone a chink, wog, or nigger?
Gays and lesbians are the most isolated, and unhappy
students on any campus. They suffer verbal, psychological, and physical abuse
everyday due to homophobia.
Homophobia is as big
a global issue as racism, bullying, obesity, or any other horrendous issues that
exist in the world. These concerning issues have different causes and consequences
on people. But one thing that every issue has in common is the psychological
consequences that come with it. Such as depression, isolation, or anxiety, that
may later lead to suicide.
Homophobia is an
issue that should never be tolerated anywhere in the world. Right now, however,
the public doesn’t seem to think so. Homophobia is in the school playgrounds,
hospitals, police stations, or even in your home.
Over the past
decade, a lot of things have been done to change the public’s opinions. One
such example is Harvey Milk. Thirty years ago or so, he became the first openly
gay man to be elected as a member of the board of supervisors in San Francisco.
He gave hope to millions of people all over the world and was known as a martyr
for gay rights.
Today in 2011, the
issue of homosexuality has come a long way since 20-30 years ago. Gays and
lesbians have been more included in the media. The gay icon has been changed from
Harvey Milk to Ellen Degeneres, the famous gay television host. The
controversial gay marriage has also been declared legal in such countries as
South Korea, Spain, and Canada.
However, the fact
that countless people die each year due to gay-hate homicide will not be
ignored. Homophobia is inarguably still an enormous global issue that destroys
people’s lives and futures every day.
“Mum, dad, I’m gay”.
Try having this conversation with your parents and see how it will go down.
Will unconditional love save you from getting kicked out of the house and
getting thrown into the streets?
Twenty five percent of young homeless people are homeless as
a result encountered after they disclosed their sexuality. What happens to the
so-called unconditional love when a child needs it the most?
It is a crucial moment in a teen’s life when they decide to
finally open up to someone they’ve known all their lives. After years and years
of laying low and suffering silently by themselves, they hope telling someone will
make them feel love and freedom for the first time.
And what do parents do when their son or daughter finally
reveals the biggest secret of their life? They kick them out of the house,
leaving them with no money whatsoever, and letting them rot in the streets.
When a parent fails to provide support when their child needs it the most, what
choices does that child have?
This is the reason why seventy percent of gay teens don’t
tell their parents. Parents don’t accept their child for who they are. They
just decide to finally stop loving the person they’ve loved the most all their
life, for one reason, stereotype.
Stereotypes are passed from generations to generations. It’s
a trend that doesn’t seem to be stopping. For this reason, gays and lesbians
feel guilty for being who they are and what they are. They feel like they are
doing the wrong thing when they are just clearly being themselves.
Parents brainwash the idea of stereotypes to their baby the
moment they are born. They associate different colors with different genders,
different objects with different genders, and different attitudes with different
genders.
If homophobia can be resolved at all, it needs to start with
parents. They need to love their child for who they are. They need to learn to
be open minded, not stereotypical and close minded all the time.
Two-thirds of gay teens have support from their mother and
half from their father. This is a terrifying statistic. If this issue is to
gain resolution, a day will have to come when parents are able look beyond
their child’s personal life choices and love them for who they are.
Over the past few years, schools have done a pretty good job
dealing with racism. Right now, in school, however, it seems that racism will
not be tolerated but homophobia will. Students need to be taught that
homophobia is ‘uncool’ the same way racism is ‘uncool’.
Fifty nine percent of students perceived that teachers
ignore incidences of discrimination against gay and lesbian students. This is a
terrifying and unacceptable result. Teachers need to be more aware of
homophobic behaviour at school.
Homophobic language such as queer, gay, or homo, should also
be prohibited in school playgrounds. It is little insults like this that peers
keep feeding to homosexual teenagers which may contribute to gay-hate homicide.
It’s little things like the bumps and shoves and steely eyed stares that
graduate into punches, kicks, beatings, and death threats.
Homophobia is a global issue affecting millions of lives all
over the world. It violates people’s rights to safety. It destroys teenager’s
futures. It’s a problem that leads teenagers into homelessness, alcohol and
drug problems, avoidance of school subjects and career choices, and unsafe sex
choices.
The dominant religion in the world, Christianity, followed
by millions of followers, has a massive impact on resolving the issue of
homosexuality. It affects the way people think and act and is a religion that
appears to have connotations of prejudice written all
over it. Coming from a religion that says God blesses us all; gays and lesbians
will not be blessed.
Homosexuality is like the weather, it just is. The Society
forces you to think it’s a choice, but it’s in one’s nature. From a religious
point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have
created gay people. If love is really between two people as they often say, why
does gender matter? After all, love is,
and always will be, free.
