Essay on Anti-Gay Bullying Stereotypes and Suicides

First of all, stereotypes are destructive and prevent or discourage individual growth because it can cause violence and harm. For example,

What are stereotypes? How do they form? How can we solve this issue for the greater good? There are many definitions to describe a stereotype, but the one that many people agree with, like psychologists is that stereotypes are prejudgments and gossip about the world. However, one phrase that goes perfectly with this topic will be “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover”. This goes in hand with this topic, because we make prejudgments about how we see our world without knowing what exactly it’s going on around us. In addition, stereotypes start forming throughout our childhood years, since at that age; we learn to define what is right from wrong in our surroundings. One way to resolve this issue is to accept the world as it is. This means that instead

The problem of Suicide by LGBT Youth is that majority of them get bullied by their heterosexual peers. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014) Sometimes their parents will kick them out of the house because of their sexual orientation. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014) Myself being a part of the LGBTQ community, I never came out to my peers at school. I kept to myself so I never experienced the bullying due to my sexual orientation but I do hear the comments all the time by my father. My father always believed in a marriage should be a male and a female.

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

There were kids in the school that would make fun of her because of how she was. The teachers did not do anything about it, they just ignored it.” (E. Landa, personal communications, March 1 2017) I believe that middle school is the time that teachers should reach out to their students and try to connect with them. It is hard for a student to reach out to a teacher for help if the teacher hasn’t made an effort to make themselves available for their students. Should a teacher foster a healthy and open relationship with a student they are then better able to help the student who is being bullied. It shouldn’t matter the gravity of the bullying, whether it is because of how they dress, the way they look or if they identify as LGBTQ because these negative experience causes a student to feel rejected and could lead to depression and thoughts of suicide. Munoz-Plaza, Quinn, and Rounds (2002) state “Research has consistently shown that LGBT youth particularly at risk for suicide, as well as verbal and physical harassment, substance abuse, sexually transmitted disease, homelessness and prostitution, and declining school performance.” (Munoz-Plaza et al 2002) This conveys that people that are bullied or left out because of who they are, are mostly likely to fall into depression. LGBTQ cases are ignored by teachers because they might

Case Study 14.1: David’s coming Out Process 1. What are the developmental challenges for sexual minority youth, as articulated in David’s story? David’s story points out the complicated lives that LGBTQ youth experience, youth who identify as transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide, and studies show that that higher risk stems from their experiences of discrimination and victimization. David’s journey as a gay teen reveals the challenges some young people face just for being who they are.

Tyler Clementi was a freshman at Rutgers University who committed suicide after two other students posted a video of him having sex with another man. In the article, Against ‘Bullying’ or On Loving Queer Kids, author Richard Kim describes the many challenges people part

Sarah Lynn Butler, a 7th grader from Hardy, Arkansas had just been nominated queen for Fall Festival. She started receiving messages on her myspace page accusing her of being a “slut” and a “stupid naive little girl”. She hung herself on September, 26, 2009 while her family was away. In her suicide note she stated that she could not handle what others were saying about her. Many people believe that suicide is caused by mental illness, but in most suicide cases it is caused by bullying.

The article "Gay Teens Are at Risk," was written by Paula Schleis and Kim Hone-McMahan and was published in 2004 in Teens at Risk. This article describes how society is forcing the adolescents in the LGBT community into depression and causing them to attempt suicide. According to the article, gay teens risk loosing friends and loved ones if they 'come out of the closet' and thus either try to fruitlessly hide their sexuality or attempt suicide. Additionally, the article states that one-third of teen suicides are committed by homosexuals because of homophobia. With this article's use of pathos and heart-string-pulling language gain empathy and attention from their readers. Though neither authors have a personal background or connection to the

And about 30 percent of all accomplished suicides have been linked in some way to a sexual identity crisis problem. Children and young adults who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss or neglect school for the reason that they feel insecure and nervous after being bullied due to their sexual orientation and preference. About 28 percent of the youths in the LGBT community feel forced to stop going to school

LGBT youth are most commonly targeted by bullying because society does not fully understand what these kids are going through in life. One of the main reasons for this is due to something that may set themselves apart from the norm and that includes sexual orientation. Gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit suicide than any other youths. Those who are rejected by their family are up to nine times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. About 30 percent of all completed suicide have all been related to bullying.

Stereotypes to gay men can be very destructive to the manner in which society views them as well as how they view themselves. According to one source, “When society makes fun of and degrades gay men for things that are patently untrue, young gay men are left without proper role models, failed by a society that describes them with generalizations” (Elite Daily, 2016). Not only does the impact of this affect these individuals in a mental way, it ultimately has an impact on them economically and socially. For individuals who share the same cultural background, this can have a negative impact as well. Take the Jamaican culture, gay men are so hated within that culture, these individuals are subjected to shame and ridicule in that culture—some have also had to face death for their sexual preference. I am neither gay nor a lesbian, but I have felt the effect of prejudice before. As a woman, I have been told that I do not qualify for a position or job, all because of stereotypes held against women’s ability in certain jobs. Just the same, because of my ethnic background, I have had several stereotypes formed against me. When it comes to the workplace,

The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.

Marginalization may also be the explanation for the high risk of self-harm in gay, bisexual, transsexual teenagers who are 2 to 3 times more likely to self-harm than heterosexual young people, this groups results in regular absenteeism at school due to homophobic harassment. 50% of those reported bullied at school had contemplated self-harm, 40% of those had self-harmed at least once. A survey in 2000 to 2002 interviewed 2,430 lesbian women, gay men and bisexual men and women in England and Wales and concluded that there is a greater link between discrimination and mental health issues. (Truth Hurts, Mental Health Foundation 2006).

School Bullying, violence against LGBT youth linked to risk of suicide, HIV infection. (2011, June 2) Women’s Health Weekly, 138. Retrieved from